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Each year the Grade Sevens use a Victorian theme, which begins with the novel The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and continues with our study of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. These novels present the students with challenging vocabulary, complex plots and sophisticated characterization. As part of the associated writing assignments for A Christmas Carol, the students learn how to construct an expository essay (on Ebenezer Scrooge) and how to write an historical journal, using a variety of background information on the Victorian era.
The following pieces of writing are excerpts from their "Scrooge essays". |
Scrooge Essay by Kimberly
Imagine yourself amongst the townspeople of London, many years ago, during the Victorian era, merrily skipping with dancing feet, to and fro through the crowded streets. Snow is lacing everything and the winter air is frosty and crisp. It was during this time that the famous author, Charles Dickens, set the scene for his world-known novel, "A Christmas Carol".
In this setting, one might ask,"why are these people so merry?" It's Christmas, of course, the most joyous and celebrated holiday of the whole year! With everyone in the spirit, with their smiles aglow, the air is full of happiness, with their heart's warmth against the bitter cold.
In an office down that street, however, sits an evil old man, immersed in his work, not spending his time foolishly being merry, but getting a day richer instead. He is colder than ice and nastier than the devil himself. Frost coats his soul, and icicles hang from his heart. "No warmth could warm him" (p.6). You may have guessed already who this stingy, solitary creature is. His name is Ebenezer Scrooge....
His life began in a terrible way, with his mother dying while giving him life. Scrooge's father blamed him for "taking his wife's life" and all through Scrooge's early childhood, showed no love towards him. Scrooge's father sent him to a boarding school, obviously not wanting his presence at home. Scrooge never saw his family (which only consisted of his father and his sister, Fan), not even on holidays such as Christmas. During these times, Scrooge's classmates would go home to reunite with their families, neglected and alone. To entertain himself during these lonely days, Scrooge would sit by a measly fire, and read wonderful fantasy books. His only friend then was his superior imagination, with characters such as Ali Baba, Valentine, and other enchanting characters, that filled the deserted schoolroom with excitement and adventure.
When Scrooge was older, one winter day, his loving sister, Fan, excitedly burst into the school room telling him that his father had forgiven him and that he was to come home.
Later on in his life, he was apprenticed by Mr. Fezziwig and learned the importance of making people happy at Christmas time, even if it cost a little money.
A tragic event struck Scrooge when Fan died, as she gave birth to Scrooge’s nephew, Fred. Forgetting his own awful experiences when his own father had blamed him, Scrooge took out his past pain on Fred.
Scrooge became engaged to Belle, a poor and dowerless but a generous and feeling young woman. They had met at Fezziwig’s Christmas party.
Unfortunately, their engagement did not last long. Scrooge, after getting a new job with a greedy boss named Mr. Jorkens, began to grow avaricious.
The new job with Mr. Jorkens brought in more money and also introduced him to his life long partner in business, Jacob Marley. The two young men worked their way up the scale of positions until they were at the top. Together they became filled with greed and hungered for more, and more money.
Jacob Marley was Scrooge’s only friend, and together they opened their own business, “Scrooge and Marley’s”, where they worked as money lenders.
Many years later, one Christmas Eve, Scrooge refused to visit the dying Jacob Marley during work hours. This just shows you how Scrooge was so intent on getting even an hour richer, not even caring if he missed Jacob’s death. When Scrooge finally arrived at Jacob’s death bed, he was left with the strange last words of “We were wrong.” From then on, Scrooge was on his own.
These horrible events before Jacob died, hardened Scrooge’s heart and changed the way he thought.
First, let’s travel back to our time now, ( not the Victorian era) so we can talk of it as itwas , not is .
With his favourite saying, “Bah, Humbug”, Scrooge really didn’t care about anything or anyone. He was obsessed with money and getting a day (or any amount of time) richer and because of that, he thought of Christmas as a waste of money and only a time to pay bills.
He didn’t think poor people should be the least bit merry during Christmas time. They had no reason to be merry. They were poor enough. Scrooge expressed this to his own now older, nephew, Fred. Scrooge still very much disliked Fred, for Fred had married, and to Scrooge, love was the only thing more ridiculous than Christmas itself.
The poor people, to him, were insignificant and lazy and for that, deserved to be sent to and work in disgusting tread mills, prisons, work houses and other horrible places such as that. He believed it was an absolute waste of his “hard” earnings to donate money towards the poor, as shown when he turned down the gentlemen asking for some donations to help buy the less fortunate some food and drink and means of warmth. Scrooge only coldly suggested that they go to the working places. “...many would rather die” explained one of the men collecting donations. No one other than Scrooge would have had a meaner answer. “If they would rather die...then they had better do it and decrease the surplus population.”(p.11)
Scrooge was so dreadfully nasty. He didn’t even let his poor, under paid clerk, Bob Cratchit, replenish his fire, for the coal bag was in Scrooge’s office and no one would dare to enter.
With these thoughts of his, you would agree with the description of Ebenezer written by the author of the novel itself, Charles Dickens. “ He was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!” (p.6). You would think these awful personalities of his could never be changed.
One miraculous Christmas Eve, believe it or not, he did change, this time for the better, with the help of three spirits, trying to do him some good.
That mysterious night, it all began with Marley’s ghost telling Scrooge that they had done much very wrong, and if he did not change soon, he would be punished just as Jacob was. Marley also announced that he would be visited by three spirits - the Ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Future.
As Scrooge travelled “through the tenses”, he began to change.
He realized how he had been so unkind to shoo away the poor caroller boy and that the boy was probably lonely too, just like he was when he was a boy.
Back at old Fezziwig’s Christmas party, Ebenezer recollected how Fezziwig taught him that even if it cost a little, it was still worth it if it made people happy. In that memory, Scrooge knew that he had ill treated his clerk, Bob Cratchit, and he wished to change it.
The most painful memory of all, filled Scrooge with remorse. When he watched the devastating scene of Fan after giving birth to Fred, he also saw something he had missed in real life. After the past, when Ebenezer miserably left the room of Fan’s death bed, he failed to hear her last words of “Promise to take care of my boy.” (Only in movie). Scrooge was lost in despair, for he knew he had not done so, not in the least. Sobbing, he promised to change his ways toward Fred, for the sake of his beloved sister. This showed an extreme change in Scrooge, for he had never shown such emotions before.
At the scene of his departure with Belle, he wished he hadn’t become so greedy for money. That was certainly a change! He felt full of regret when he witnessed Belle’s new husband and lovely children and wished that they had been his own. He realized that in the poverty stricken streets of London, even all the poor people were merry, and had a reason to be.
Ebenezer finally began to notice the need in Bob Cratchit’s poor family and how he, Scrooge, was the only one that could change the outcome of Tiny Tim’s life. Tiny Tim was Bob’s son, and a very merry boy too. Unfortunately, Tiny Tim was sick in a way that crippled his leg and he would eventually die of it.
Right before the departure of the second spirit, the ghost showed Scrooge something most horrifying-two gross, poverty stricken children. The boy represented Ignorance and the girl was Want, both to be feared but mostly the boy. Caring for the children, Scrooge asked if they had any refuge. Scrooge felt awful when the ghost returned Ebenezer’s own careless words, “Are there no prisons? Are there no work houses?” (p.64)
The last ghost of the future, Scrooge feared most, not only because of its appearance but because he knew the future for him was not something he would like to know about.
After seeing the most dreaded scenes of the “Yet to Come”, his own death and the reaction of other people towards it, Scrooge knew he must change.
Ebenezer Scrooge did change, and it was wonderful!
In the morning, on Christmas Day, Scrooge merrily awoke with the joyous fact that he was indeed alive. Very alive! He skipped and he danced and he laughed and he chuckled with happiness. He felt as light as a feather, as merry as a school boy, and as giddy as a drunken man.
With his now warm, welcoming heart, he raised Bob’s salary to the top, did great deeds and loved everything within sight.
The masterful novel by Charles Dickens, teaches us the true meaning of Christmas and the importance of caring for all people of every kind.
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Ebenezer Scrooge -- an essay by Will
Ebenezer Scrooge -- the name will frighten any man who hears it being spoken. To people who know him the thought of him will offend their senses. I will begin my description on a snowy Christmas Eve in the fetid cesspools of London.
On the street corner there is a tiny office where there hangs a sign reading "Scrooge and Marley's". Inside the soggy lender's office there are but two rooms, one for Master Scrooge and a small tank for the jolly clerk Bob Cratchit. As usual, Scrooge is notoriously counting his earnings in a frigid chamber. Bob has one smouldering coal in his fire, and is too frightened to request more from his miserly boss. Christmas spirit is everywhere in the air, but not here, not even today on Christmas Eve.
As he does every year, Fred, Scrooge's kind, generous nephew invites Scrooge to join him and his wife at their Christmas party. As often as he is asked, Scrooge rejects this invitation. Following this visitor, some men endeavoring to raise funds for the poor and destitute come to Scrooge's office. They request a donation from Scrooge, and being told that the poor would rather die and go to a workhouse or prison Scrooge says "if they would rather die then they better do it and decrease the surplus population" (p. 11). He goes home and on his way he shoos a caroller away, then eats his cup of gruel by the fire. This is the start of the day where Scrooge witnesses his very own miracle.... |
Ebenezer Scrooge Essay by Moci
In this essay I will examine Ebenezer Scrooge, who is the main character in the book, A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. Scrooge lived in a time when greed and avarice were not uncommon. Considering this, you would say Scrooge was the greediest and most avaricious person in the world! Dickens describes Scrooge as "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!"(Page 6) As the story unfolds we learn what sad events turn Scrooge into a cold, heartless person. Eventually his conscience, in the form of ghostly confrontations, brings about a complete change of personality.
Dickens' description of Scrooge makes it clear that his personality is reflected in his appearance. Scrooge's frozen heart turned his thin lips blue and stiffened his gait. His wiry chin matched his pointed nose which had been nipped by the cold inside him. This cranky man's old age had shriveled his cheeks. Scrooge's eyes were red (bloodshot) from too much work. Ebenezer spoke out shrewishly in his grating voice and "A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin"(Page 6) where there stood a white stub of a beard. He carried a low temperature around with him. Scrooge iced his office, but the cold didn't bother him for "no warmth could warm, nor wintery weather chill him."(Page 6)
Scrooge's mother died giving birth to him. Ebenezer's father despised him because of this and sent him off to a boarding school. At Christmas time Scrooge was left abandoned by his friends. He passed this time by reading his favourite books, like Ali Baba. One year he imagined that Ali Baba had come to celebrate with him, along with Valentine, Orson and the Genie. This was a very lonely time for Ebenezer. Fortunately, when he was older, Fan, his sister, came to pick him up from school and take him home. Scrooge was never going back to that boarding school again.
Later in his life, Scrooge was apprenticed to Fezziwig, who filled his life with joy and happiness. He always enjoyed his Christmas parties. Scrooge met Belle at one of these parties and fell in love with her. They became engaged.
During this time, Scrooge's sister, Fan, died giving birth to Fred, Scrooge's nephew. Just as Scrooge's father had hated him and blamed him for the death of his mother, Fan's death caused Scrooge to hate his nephew. Her death changed Scrooge into a cold-hearted man. Seeing this change in Scrooge, Belle decided to break up with him.
After Fan's death Ebenezer turned all his focus to work and making money. This is when the avaricious soul of Scrooge emerged. Scrooge started a partnership with Jacob Marley and worked as a money lender. His business was good for fourteen years, until Jacob Marley died on Christmas Eve, leaving Scrooge alone in the world. The cold hearted Ebenezer took all of Jacob's possessions and didn't even go to his funeral. It was evident that Scrooge thought only about money and himself. Scrooge's mind was as "hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire."(Page 6) He was extremely miserly and would do anything to save some of his dear, precious money.
While Scrooge was once capable of loving Belle, his sister's death changed his personality and soured his outlook. He then saw love as a ridiculous waste of time and money. Scrooge pushed his miserly ways to the extreme. He never donated anything to the poor. Ebenezer said he paid for the workhouses through taxes, and the poor should go there. This heartless man described poor people as lazy and stated that was why they were poor. Ebenezer thought that "if they would rather die, they better do it, and decrease the surplus population."(Page ) Scrooge hated Christmas and thought it was a time for paying bills and there was nothing to celebrate.
All of this would change after the ghost's of Christmas Past, Present and Christmas Yet To Come appeared to him. When Scrooge was first visited by the ghost of Christmas Past, he was reminded of all the good times in his life. He remembered about Fezziwig's parties, which reminded him that money could not buy happiness or joy. The ghost of Christmas Present taught Ebenezer Scrooge that there was more to life than money. The ghost of Christmas Yet To Come taught him about the misery he had caused himself and others.
After these experiences, Scrooge was remorseful. He wanted to change his ways and to be kinder to everybody. He donated a large sum of money to a charity that he had previously turned down, and gave a Christmas turkey to the poor Cratchits. Scrooge even celebrated Christmas by going to his nephew's home for dinner. Scrooge became a generous man and he lost his avaricious soul. He looked after the Cratchit family and became well known for his contributions to the spirit of Christmas.
Dramatic occurrences first ruined Scrooge's outlook on life, and then further shocking experiences brought about an unbelievable transformation, turning the cold miser into a kindly benefactor.
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Scrooge Essay by Emily
A Christmas Carol is one of the world’s best known novels. It has been made into multiple movies and plays with translations into dozens of different languages. In it, Charles Dickens created his most famous character, Ebenezer Scrooge. The two best words to describe Scrooge would be avaricious and miserly. This essay will describe Scrooge and the magical world he lived in.
Dickens developed Scrooge to have both a unique appearance and personality. He described him as " a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!"(page 6)
Physical Features
Ebenezer had "a frosty rime upon his head"(page 6), with matching white eyebrows and wiry chin. His long, pointed nose and shriveled cheeks showed old age, adding to his fierce appearance. Scrooge’s red, bloodshot eyes were caused mainly by stress, while his thin lips, blue from cold, were often pursed in dissatisfaction. Ebenezer’s voice was gruff and grating like metal upon metal.. He walked stiffly, perhaps because of stress, old age or maybe because of his childhood...
Personal History
Unfortunately, Ebenezer’s mother died giving birth to him. Left to grow up in his father’s care along with his sister Fan, (short for Stephanie), Scrooge was blamed by his father for the death of his beloved wife. This became obvious in Scrooge’s life when he was sent to boarding school and neglected even for the holidays. The school was always deserted at Christmas time except for one boy, Ebenezer. He had virtually no friends with the exception of Fan, the only person who truly loved him. He didn’t know what he’d do without her.
During the holidays Ebenezer read many, many books. They were all about fictional characters such as Ali Baba and Robinson Crusoe. He knew these characters’ personality and appearance very well. With the vivid imagination he once had, Scrooge pretended they were alive and talking to him. Playing with these imaginary friends kept him occupied for hours.
While pacing up and down the schoolroom a few Christmas’ later, Fan ran, excitedly, up the stairs to Ebenezer’s side. Her face shining brightly, she explained that "Father is so much kinder than he used to be, that home’s like Heaven! He spoke so gently to me one dear night when I was going to bed, that I was not afraid to ask him once more if you might come home; and he said Yes, you should; and sent me in a coach to bring you...and are never to come back here". (Page 31) Ebenezer was obviously overjoyed by this news and told his sister that she must live forever.
A few years later, Ebenezer was apprenticed at Mr. Fezziwig’s business. Mr. Fezziwig was an extraordinarily kind person, who was thought very highly of by everyone. Ebenezer roomed with his friend Dick, as they learned the trade. Fezziwig showed them many happy times, like closing early on Christmas Eve to throw a party. This party was such a success that Scrooge remembered it for the rest of his life.
During the party Ebenezer fell in love with Belle. She was a beautiful, but dower-less girl. At the time that didn’t matter to Scrooge for he gave her an engagement ring anyway and promised to make her very happy. She accepted, only to regret the decision later.
A couple of years later, Belle broke off the "contract" with Ebenezer. She still loved him, but knew that Scrooge had changed and was interested only in money. He had changed to become a greedy man. After this incident Scrooge thought of love and marriage as a waste of time. In his opinion, people should marry for money, not love.
Ebenezer moved on in life to work as a moneylender in partnership with Jacob Marley. Jacob was as miserly and stingy as Scrooge had become. Together, they bought out Fezziwig’s business, re-naming it Scrooge and Marley’s. On Christm,as Eve seven years earlier, Jacob had died. To put it plainly, "Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail."(page 5)
Within the next few years Fan died while giving birth to her son, Fred. Like his father, Scrooge resented his nephew for killing the only person who cared for him. Fred was always pleasant towards Scrooge, but Ebenezer tried to ignore him as much as possible. Fred married against Scrooge’s wishes, enraging him, for Scrooge now viewed marriage as ridiculous. Each Christmas, Fred invited Scrooge to spend Christmas with him, but everytime Scrooge quoted his favourite saying, " Bah Humbug!" Scrooge despised his nephew.
Ebenezer became an old miser, filled with avarice. He was a grumpy man that no one wanted to have anything to do with. Everybody on the streets avoided meeting him face to face. Even the blindmens’ dogs tugged their owners into doorways, away from Scrooge as he passed by.
Scrooge had been living a rather dull life. He attended to business during the day, then returned home, to eat the same gruel in the same place, beside the same feeble fireplace, before going to bed.
Bob Cratchit was Ebenezer’s only clerk. He had been loyally working for Scrooge for many, many years, but even so Scrooge still allowed him to have only a miserable little fire in the office, to keep himself warm. This fire contained only one piece of coal because Scrooge was too cheap to provide any more. This probably explains why Scrooge had barely any fire in his house either; he didn’t feel the cold like others do.
In the Cratchit household Scrooge was thought of as the "ogre" of the family. He payed Bob as little as possible, nearly froze him and was never pleasant.
Psychological Traits
Scrooge thinks only about how he can make more money. This obsession drove him to extremes. Ebenezer never went out of his office to socialize, but stayed in working day in and day out, "as solitary as an oyster...hard and sharp as a flint, from which, no stone had ever struck out generous fire." (page 6) One could also describe Ebenezer’s personality as being shaped by "the cold within him which froze his old features." (page 6)
Seven years ago, when his partner Jacob Marley was dying, Scrooge wouldn’t leave his office to go and see him until it was closing time even though that was about two hours away. Jacob would just have to hang on.
Marley died that night, as Scrooge was talking to him. Ebenezer showed no feeling at all and didn’t even take the day off work to go to his funeral. Scrooge was so caught up in work that he didn’t even bother crossing out Marley’s name on the company sign above the door.
Christmas was regarded by Ebenezer as a waste of time and money. "...What’s Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, and not an hour richer..." (page 8)
Scrooge’s view of Christmas was probably made from a few different events. These would have been when both his friends and family abandoned him during the holidays as a child, Belle breaking up with him and possibly Marley’s death on Christmas Eve.
Bob Cratchit asked for the day off on Christmas, which Scrooge permitted, but with complaint. He said "A poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December!" (page 13)
In Ebenezer’s opinion, the poor are poor because they are lazy. They haven’t helped themselves so why should he help them? For some this is true, but for many he has stereotyped them. He says that the poor or less fortunate should go to workhouses, Debtor’s prison and treadmills. None of the poor people like these places and some would rather die than go to them. Scrooge said that "If they would rather die they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population." (page 11)
Scrooge lost his imagination shortly after childhood. That is why when Marley’s ghost appeared he didn’t believe it, doubting his senses. Upon realizing that the ghost was real, Scrooge became frightened. He tried to hold back his fears though, not allowing this weakness to show. Ebenezer was always very proud.
During his visits with the spirits he started to feel terrible because everybody thought of him as a thoughtless, hangdog person. In the end, he thought of Christmas as a merry, joyous time.
Major Changes
Ebenezer Scrooge underwent many personality changes throughout his visits with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Each of these spirits, taking Scrooge, proceeded to travel in time to reveal shadows of the past, present and future.
The first phantom took him to his birthplace. Upon seeing it, he had a tear on his cheek and a catch in his voice. This was the first indication of any emotion Scrooge had felt for a long time.
They continued on to the schoolhouse where Scrooge saw himself as a little boy, alone and neglected by the world. Ebenezer’s former self sat reading about fictional characters like Ali Baba and Robinson Crusoe. Seeing this, Scrooge became exceedingly excited, remembering these dear, imaginary friends of his.
Scrooge started to wish that he hadn’t been so nasty towards the Christmas caroler who had come to his door the previous day.He also wished he hadn’t treated Fred so beastly. Fred had never done anything unfeeling to him, but Scrooge had made it clear that Fred’s presence was not welcome.
In the next scene the Spirit showed him, Scrooge saw himself at Fezziwig’s Christmas celebration. Ebenezer’s face lit up when he saw old Fezziwig because he respected him greatly and thought he was awfully kind. Scrooge realized that Fezziwig had only spent a couple of pounds, but the evening was fun-filled and everyone had a great time. He figured out that money doesn’t buy happiness. This was one of the most important things Scrooge learned. Money doesn’t buy happiness.Watching Fezziwig and seeing how nice he was to his former self, Scrooge thought of how badly he had treated Bob.
Ebenezer started to slowly realize that money ruined his life. If he hadn’t been so greedy he might have led a happily married life with Belle and maybe even had a couple of loving children.
Traveling onto the next scene, Scrooge witnessed the Cratchit’s Christmas. He saw Tiny Tim and, by watching, figured out how much his family loved him. When Scrooge asked the spirit if Tiny Tim would live and got a negative answer, Scrooge became very depressed. He didn’t want such a nice little child to suffer like that. Scrooge realized that the poor deserve to live as much as the rich and that they value life tremendously despite their lack of money and belongings. The surplus population that Scrooge had earlier thought should die were actually people like himself.
The spirit lifted his robes, revealing two children. The boy represented Ignorance and the girl Want. The spectre warned Ebenezer to beware of both, but mostly Ignorance.
Ebenezer changed his attitude towards the ghosts tremendously. "Ghost of the Future! I fear you more than any Spectre I have seen. But as I know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to live to be another man from what I was, I am prepared to bear you company, and do it with a thankful heart." (page 66) Accompanying the ghost of Christmas Future, Scrooge realized that if he didn’t change his attitude nobody would care about his death. They’d only want his money and he didn’t like that thought.
After waking up from his sleep and adventures with the spirits, Scrooge wanted to honour Christmas in his heart. Every person he passed in the street he wished a Merry Christmas.
Scrooge asked a boy in the street to go and fetch a huge turkey from the butcher’s shop. Upon doing this, he paid the boy and anonymously sent the turkey to the Cratchit’s house.
Becoming extremely merry and happy, Scrooge donated a large sum of money to the poor. His heart had grown about three times the size it used to be.
Scrooge joined Fred, his family and friends for dinner, apologizing for being such a beast. They all had a wonderful time!
The next day when Bob Cratchit entered his office, Scrooge immediately raised his salary and told him to go out and buy more coal for the fire. Scrooge’s efforts to help Tiny Tim saved his life and Scrooge became his second father.
People started to like Scrooge, as a friend, as a man and as an extremely generous person.
Conclusion
I’ve read this novel many times and each time I get a better sense of the message Dickens tried to tell. We should all be grateful for what we have. For example, consider Tiny Tim who couldn’t walk properly and had many problems, but he was probably the happiest, most grateful character in the story. Each day we learn something new and this book is just another example of how much we have to learn. It also shows us that you’re never too old to change. |
Scrooge Essay by Gina
"Bah-Humbug!" was a saying used the most by Scrooge, the main character from the heart-warming novel, A Christmas Carol. This favourite saying was directed to the people who wished him a `Merry Christmas'. Oh, he was as cold-hearted as anyone could be! He had not even taken a day off work when Marley had been dying and that's the same reason he did not go to Marley's funeral. Charles Dickens was the famous writer of this novel, and described Scrooge as a "Squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner (pg.6)". In this essay, I will describe Scrooge's Physical
Features, Personal History, Psychological Traits, and Major Changes.
Scrooge, the old sinner, had flaming, red eyes from working too hard, which made him look extremely evil. A long, wiry chin and pointed nose gave him an even more terrible appearance. Dickens described Scrooge as having a"frostyrime (pg.6)" on his head and eyebrows, that were whitened by age. His fingers were skeleton-like which made them look weak, but they were actually agile from the counting of money. He dressed conservatively, but at night he wore a red robe over his nice suit. He had a stiff gait, and a rough-sounding, grating voice that was harsh enough to scare little kids away. He never had a smile on his face, but was always grumpy and unpleasant. His appearance matched his personality perfectly, as you will soon see.
The first thing I should tell you about Scrooge is that he hated Christmas. He thought Christmas was a waste of time, money, and was just a time for paying bills. He even suggested that taking a day off was unfair! He certainly thought it was "a poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every 25th of December (Pg.13)". He was an avaricious individual who never thought of anything but money! He was so obsessed with it, that he would not go to see Marley when he was at the point of death for fear of losing customers and money. Working hard is one thing, but don't you think Scrooge overdid it a little?
Yes, he had a lot of money from working continuously, but he never spent it, not even on righteous things! He was a greedy, yet miserly person. Dickens described him as "hard and sharp as flint, from which no stone had ever struck out generous fire (Pg.6)". He had never spent any money on something new until the old one was entirely gone. For example, to save money, Bob Cratchit, Scrooge's clerk, was made to have a feeble fire that looked like a single piece of coal. He had a box of coal in his office but gave his clerk only one coal when the other had completely burned out.
He was ignorant toward the poor, thinking they were poor because they were lazy, although that wasn't true for the most of them. Unfortunately, most of the upper and high-middle class Victorians thought the same thing. When two men came and asked Scrooge if he wanted to donate some of his money to the poor, he replied with anger, that they should go to Prisons, Treadmills, Workhouses, or just die and decrease the surplus population. What a cold-hearted, sinister fiend!
He certainly did not like his family members ever since Fan, his older sister died. Unluckily, her death was caused when she gave birth to Scrooge's nephew, Fred. Ebenezer resented Fred for `taking' his beloved sister away from him. He had never gone to any Christmas parties. With the death of Fan, Ebenezer began to show no emotions. His beloved sister's death caused lots of problems for Scrooge. He started thinking that love did not exist, and that marriage was just a waste of time. He announced that people should marry for money, instead of love. When his nephew told him that he had gotten married because he had fallen in love, Scrooge responded with a ridiculous 'Good Afternoon'. Perhaps his behaviour now is just a reflection of how he was treated in the past.
Ebenezer's father resented him because his mother had died giving birth to him. He said that Ebenezer `took' her from him, which was the same reason Scrooge hated Fred. His father sent Scrooge away to a Boarding School for seven long years and never cared, or worried about him. Ebenezer was always alone during Christmas time, because no one took him home. He read about the adventures of Ali Baba, Valentine, Robinson Crusoe, and other interesting characters. He was mostly abandoned by friends and was a loner as a child, as well as when he grew older. Gladly, he had a sister named Fan (short for Stephanie), as I mentioned before. She was the only person that loved Ebenezer. Around Christmas time, many years before, Fan had taken Ebenezer home for a Christmas celebration that they had not had for several years. Fan died giving birth to Fred, as I referred to before, and no one loved him after the mournful death. Fan had asked Ebenezer to take care of Fred before she died, but he was not aware of this. The Ghost of Christmas Past took him back to the time to show him what she had asked him before she died. He was very sad and mad at the same time, so he left the room. He felt ashamed of himself, because he didn't carry out the wish of the one he loved the most.
After Fan's death, Ebenezer Scrooge was apprenticed to Fezziwig, and he looked up to him with great admiration. He met a young woman named Belle at one of Mr.Fezziwig's Christmas parties, and they fell deeply in love. They cared for each other, loved each other, and so they became engaged. But that was before Ebenezer became obsessed with his job. Therefore, Belle wanted to break the engagement and let him go. She was dowerless, so she thought Ebenezer would've wanted a rich woman rather than her. She knew in her heart that she wasn't as important to Scrooge as money and told him, " Another idol has displaced me; and if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as I would have tried to do, I have no just cause to grieve. (pg.37)". Their relationship ended, and Belle had not missed Scrooge, which I think is why Ebenezer thought love did not exist.
Scrooge left Fezziwig to work somewhere else. He met Jacob Marley and they were now business partners. This was the beginning of their obsession with money and working. His only friend, or shall I say a person that he knew well, was Marley, no one else. They had a splendid business, but they both were greedy and did not like to use lots of money. When Marley died, Scrooge had no sadness in him, since he was emotionless.
After Marley's death, Scrooge had not changed one bit. He always ate in the same tavern, then had his gruel in front of a small, feeble fire, wearing his red robe every night before he went to bed. Also, he still worked as a money lender.
The aged fiend was so scary-looking, that he scared everyone away, even the blindmen and their dogs. None of the beggars asked him for change, no one talked to Scrooge, or visited his place even once.
However, Bob Cratchit, Mr.Scrooge's Clerk, had worked for him for many years. Scrooge had never paid him enough money to have a wealthy dinner even around Christmas time. His salary was much too low. Anyhow, who would expect a large amount of salary from Scrooge? Bob Cratchit was a large, warm-hearted person who didn't hate Scrooge even though he treated Bob unreasonably. On the contrary, his family was against Scrooge and thought he was the 'ogre' of the family. If anyone mentioned his name, it would bring unaccustomed quietness and a big moment of silence to this joyous family.
This is how he was, before the three spirits, Spirit of Christmas Past, Present, and Future came to visit Scrooge and change his entire, miserable life.
The new Ebenezer Scrooge was born! He had been turned around from a dark side to a light side. Scrooge wanted to change and ask the three spirits for help to change. Regretting to say that the poor should die, he noticed that they are not miserable; he was the miserable one. Ebenezer also learned that the "surplus population" was someone more like himself, not the poor, and some poor deserved to live more than Scrooge. He called the two men, who asked for some money in the beginning of the novel, and gave them lots of money and wanted the poor to have the money, but didn't want the glory for himself. He wanted to apologize to Bob Cratchit that he had been cruel to
him, when he saw Fezziwig filling him and some other clerks with joy and happiness. He wished he had given some money to the caroler that was by his office, when he was reminded of his loneliness when he was at a boarding school.
Money cannot buy happiness such as having friends and being able to help people, and `The happiness he gives, is quite as great as if it cost a fortune' were other lessons that Scrooge learned from Fezziwig.
When the Spirit of Christmas Present showed Tiny Tim, with his hurt leg and about to die, Scrooge started to care for other people, like Tiny Tim. He hoped that Tiny Tim would live and decided to raise Cratchit's salary. After the visits of the spirits, he sent the Cratchits an enormous turkey, anonymously.
Mr.Ebenezer Scrooge became pleasantly nice to Fred, and went to his
Christmas party. Beginning to realize that families were more important than work, he began to spend time with Fred, who was the only relative that he had. He became "as good as a friend, as good as a master, and as good as city knew (Pg.87)". Delighted to say `Merry Christmas', hello, or `Happy New Year', he felt "... As light as a feather, happy as an angel, merry as a school-boy.... Giddy as a drunken man!... (pg.81)" As he changed, more people began to like him, and Scrooge became one of the nicest people in town. He started to feel emotion, antithetically to the way he was before, when he was stiff and emotionless.
Tiny Tim lived, and Mr.Ebenezer Scrooge became his second father. Scrooge began to love kids, especially Tiny Tim. He decided to live in the past, present, and future, also to respect ignorance and want.
It was incredible to see how Scrooge's character had changed from the evil, dark side to an angelic, bright side. Out of all the good things that Dickens taught us, I would only like to say a few things. He is telling us that anyone, even someone like Scrooge, can totally change by realizing what he has done wrong. Whether you are rich or poor, everyone is equal; there is no rule that the rich are first, nor that the poor are nicer or gentle. It really depends on the personality. Money cannot buy happiness, which means happiness is worth a lot more than money. The last thing that I want to say is, that if a person doesn't know what love is, then the person turns out to
be like Scrooge. So, love people as much as you can to make their lives happier and share love with everyone. In conclusion, give a second chance to people for what they have done wrong, just like the spirits did to Scrooge.
Merry Christmas! God Bless you all. |
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Montroyal Elementary 5310 Sonora Drive
North Vancouver, B.C.
V7R 3V8
Phone: 604.903.3650
Fax: 604.903.3651
Attendance: 604.903.3711
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