Even if you aren't the biggest fan of Christmas, I like to believe that everyone has their own favorite story to tell or hear around the holidays. For some, it's the Birth of Christ. To others, it's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Some enjoy the story of the Grinch and others love to see Charlie Brown fail at it. Some love Miracle on 34th Street and plenty more like The Nightmare Before Christmas or Elf. The fact of the matter is that everyone (for the most part) has that one story, movie or tale that they cannot go a singular Christmas without hearing, reading or seeing.
For me, the answer is as obvious as all the other stories above. It resonates with audiences of every age group. But mine does not just resonate with those who celebrate Christmas. Mine can be a story all should know of in some way, shape or form. Anyone can get emotionally attached to this story, regardless of whether or not you celebrate Christmas or loath how commercial it's gotten. Because this story isn't truly about Christmas. It's about the redemption of a man who has lost his way. A man who has allowed wealth to blind him to the world he once frequented. A man who must realize that in the end, he cannot take his possessions with him after he dies and must live for his fellow man instead of just himself.
Charles Dickens' most famous story, A Christmas Carol, is my favorite thing to read, watch or hear whenever the holidays come around. It demonstrates quite perfectly just what this time of year is supposed to be about and how easily someone can lose their way when they put value on possessions and trinkets over their fellow people. Ebenezer Scrooge's story is one as important to hear as any you will come across at this time of year. I truly and sincerely mean it when I say that this story should be a mandatory read for children in schools and one that we don't just dismiss as just another Christmas story. For the writing implores on all of us to appreciate the simpler and more humane aspects of life instead of focusing solely on possessions. A lesson I think more in this country should know and not just blatantly ignore. If we celebrated this story year round instead of just at one time of year, I feel this world would be a better place.
For those few of you out there who are unaware of the story, I will give you a detailed description here:
Plot: In Industrial London in the 1800's, a miserly businessman named Ebenezer Scrooge does not partake in the festive delights of Christmas, calling the whole season a "Humbug" and denounces those who celebrate it, including his own nephew Fred. He is a cruel and greedy man who will not hesitate to put a value on anything, even going so far as to claim he values his money more so than he does the poorer people of England, directly telling a few men who seek donations to the poor that the poor are better off dead so that they could "decrease the surplus population". Scrooge allows his bookkeeper, a poor yet friendly man named Bob Cratchit, to have the entire day of Christmas off, but not without threatening to withhold pay for no work. While returning home, Scrooge is beset upon by the haunting spirit of his former business partner, Jacob Marley. Marley warns Scrooge of the future that awaits him (one of forced servitude and endlessly being shackled for his greedy ways) and if he does not change his ways, he would be in an even worse state than Marley is. His only salvation will come in the form of Three Spirits, who will come to Scrooge that very night to persuade him away from the life of a miserably greedy man.
The first Spirit arrives and presents themselves as the Ghost of Christmas Past. The Ghost takes Scrooge back to his younger years in a boarding school where he was kept by his father (who's mother died in childbirth and was since blamed for her death) and later as an apprentice for a kindly man named Fezziwig. While as an apprentice, Scrooge had fallen in love with a woman named Belle, but he felt unable and unworthy to marry her as he didn't have a penny to his name. Scrooge ultimately made many sound business transactions and decisions to make himself rich, but at the expense of his relationship with Belle, who ultimately ended things with him when she correctly believed he loved his money more than he did her. Though Scrooge himself fondly recalls these memories, he finds himself unable to bear the shame of losing out on Belle and demands to be brought home.
The second Spirit arrives, declaring himself to be the Ghost of Christmas Present. He takes Scrooge throughout London to see how the common people take part in the holidays. Scrooge makes a few scathing remarks, but the Spirit continues to try and show Scrooge the true meanings of the holidays: charity and devotion to family. The Spirit stops at the residence of Bob Cratchit, where Scrooge meets his family for the first time, including his sickly son, known as Tiny Tim. Scrooge empathizes with the kind and amicable boy and asks if he would live, but the Spirit informs Scrooge that if these shadows remain unchanged, the boy would die. Scrooge is then brought to the house of his nephew Fred, who has a dining party with friends and many present make jokes at his own expense. As the hour strikes twelve, the Spirit fades away and Scrooge is left in the presence of the Final Spirit, known as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
The third Spirit takes Scrooge through London in the near future, discovering that the greed and avarice has only grown worse as he sees men and women glorifying the death of someone and stealing away his possessions. He further understands that Tiny Tim has indeed died and the Cratchit Family mourns his loss dearly. Scrooge begins to understand what human life's worth really is and asks to be brought to his home, but is instead brought to a cemetery. The Spirit reveals that Scrooge himself was the man they knew was now dead and that it was too late for him to change. Scrooge pleads with the Spirit for a chance to change his ways, ultimately waking up in his bedroom on Christmas morning.
Taking the lessons he learned to heart, Scrooge sets about trying to change for the better. He purchases a prize turkey for the Cratchits and has it sent to their home anonymously. He donates a considerably amount of money to the chariteers and accepts his nephew's offer to dine with him and his family that evening, being welcomed by all. On the following day, Scrooge pretends to be angry with Cratchit for being late to work, but instead gives Bob a sizable pay raise and offers to do anything that would be needed to help Tim become healthy. And in the end, Scrooge did better than his word to change and became as good a man as London ever knew, becoming a second father to Tim and a business partner to Bob Cratchit.
Themes: The Themes of A Christmas Carol are probably the most important in any story about Christmas you will find out there. It doesn't specifically talk about being a good Christian, believing in Santa Claus or any of the other messages other Christmas movies try to implore. Treating your fellow man and woman better than the way you treat your personal treasures is the true way to salvation and finding the inner spirit within you. In times such as these, where income inequality in the United States and abroad is rapidly getting worse and worse, where monopolization is dominating every facet of our lives and in a global pandemic where the poor and less fortunate are more likely to die than those who are more affluent, the messages of this story must stand the test of time, lest we sink back into the days of hating one another for literally all reasons.
The journey of Ebenezer Scrooge takes a familiar and practical path: exploring where and why he became the way he was, showing what kind of an impact that had on people at this time and ultimately the consequences of these actions on the future of not just his world, but all of the people he knows. This is ultimately the most internally transformative piece of literature I think I've ever personally read or experienced. I think what deviates this from something along the lines of Beauty and the Beast is that Scrooges's motivation to change is not because he falls in love with someone, but because of what he sees his greed and avarice causes. People suffering and dying every day of malnourishment, struggling in gruesome underpaying jobs while the people above them scoff at them. The more people like Scrooge there are in the world, the more likely the populace will turn to radical means to overthrow them and get their needs, which in turn fuels fire for revolutionary movements. Plenty of them in France, Russia, Germany, Central and South America to show that the more greedy and miserly people there are and the more they take, the more people grow sick of it. Scrooge saw the error in his ways by empathizing with people that he was truly on the same level with and not thumbing his nose at.
But what makes A Christmas Carol the perfect story? I mean, surely there would be other stories you might cite as ones more deserving of the label of "perfect". Something like "Beauty and the Beast" or it's various counterparts (The Phantom of the Opera, etc.) or perhaps something Shakespearean along the lines of Hamlet, Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet would be more in line with that thinking? Or perhaps something like Oliver Twist, The Jungle Book or any of a menagerie of other stories? Why do I believe that A Christmas Carol deserves to be called "perfect"? Well, what is the purpose of a story? Is it to entertain or to educate? Is it to enthrall or to demonstrate? Is it supposed to be an allegory or a cautionary tale? As a matter of fact, A Christmas Carol does all of these things and more. It is a truly entertaining piece of literature, while also educating you about the plights of those less fortunate than others and why they can find joy in such simple things while others passions come from financial gain and benefit. It enthralls readers by making them question if Scrooge will indeed change his ways, while also demonstrating that even we who might be slightly better off than others should be grateful for where we are and perhaps do things to improve the lives of others as well as our own.
Some have criticized that it was the final scene with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come that was what scared Scrooge straight instead of the demonstrations of the other Ghosts, though I actually believe each Ghost did their fair share to compel him to change his mind, including Jacob Marley. Had the first Ghost that appeared to Scrooge been someone other than Jacob Marley, there's always the chance that Scrooge would either ignore this ghost or disbelieve it. The first Ghost had to be someone Scrooge knew personally, a role which his formerly greedy and wicked business partner fit to a tee. The leg work of the other spirits and most importantly the order with which they come is also important. The Past needed to display to Scrooge what he'd been through and remind him of what he'd lost out on. His sister's death drove a wedge between him and his nephew and his loss of Belle likely greased the trail of avarice and greed with which he walked. Present compelled Scrooge to think of others and warns him against his selfish and coldhearted desires. He bluntly tells him that wishing for Tim Cratchit to live would not make it so and it required bold, precise and timely action. He also makes Scrooge bear witness to those who do not like him and just bear living with him, including Bob's wife and his own nephew's friends. And Future shows him what will become of his world and these people when he inevitably dies. It locks in the warnings that Present made and shows to him that he can and must change his ways lest these shadows become unalterable.
The books and it's adaptations also have a keen sense of reminding Scrooge (or whoever is in the Scrooge role) of his own selfishness in his moments of vulnerability. In the Past, he's reminded that these are just memories fashioned by his actions and he cannot change them. The Present shoves his own words in his face often, including the harsh words he'd said to the collectors:
"Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?"
"If they are to die than let them die, and decrease the surplus population"
And Future, in a brilliant twist, usually serves not only as a symbolic take on Death itself, but also often never converses with Scrooge, leaving him to talk solely with himself and draw his own conclusions. Sometimes an adaptation bucks the trend, like "Mickey's Christmas Carol" did by having Pete serve as the third ghost and casually mock Scrooge as he falls into the coffin symbolizing his hellish fate.
The last few scenes of Scrooge changing his ways are also important to see. You cannot just assume Scrooge did change as a reader. You have to see it. And they give us multiple ways of seeing it. He purchases the largest Turkey at the butcher's shop and has it sent to the Cratchit's anonymously after he sees the meager meal they can afford to eat. He donates a sizable amount to the poor and needy. He visits and dines with Fred and his family. And above all, he raises Bob's salary and vows to help him however possible. Not for his own salvation, but strictly for Tim's wellbeing. It shows that even a cold and unrepentant man like Ebenezer Scrooge is not completely without salvation. And that is what literature and storytelling need to do. To show us transformative change (internal, external or perhaps both) while also being entertaining a read, play, film or TV Special.
Adaptations: There have been plenty of adaptations of A Christmas Carol over the years. Plays have been going since a few years after Charles Dickens first published the story. Film adaptations can be traced as far back as the beginning days of cinema. The most acclaimed and beloved versions of A Christmas Carol tend to be 1984's made for TV version starring George C. Scott, the Alastair Sim version from 1951 or my personal favorite being Muppet Christmas Carol starring Michael Caine as Scrooge. Beyond that, there have been plenty more that are usually shown around this time of year, including ones where Scrooge has been portrayed by Patrick Stewart, Bill Murray, Jim Carrey and even the aforementioned Disney one with Scrooge McDuck taking on the role. A fair amount of television shows that tackle Christmas episodes tend to make Christmas Carol adaptations, including Family Ties, Sanford and Son, Mr. Belvedere, 101 Dalmatians: The Series and even the Looney Tunes getting involved. The majority of adaptations keep true to the word of the story, despite many ironically being considered cash ins and made strictly for profit. The moral remains the same throughout the majority of adaptations, though some can skirt the line. One of the few surprising things I've noticed is that some shows that have overly greedy and avaricious characters don't do Christmas Carol themed episodes. I would imagine Mr. Burns from The Simpsons or Mr. Krabs from Spongebob would be perfect characters to have these kinds of stories about, even if the shows are episodic in nature and thus would revert to the status quo by the end.
In short, if you haven't seen/read/been told this fabulous story, I cannot express enough how much you've been missing out. Pick an adaptation, sit down and get involved in the story, because I'm certain you'll lose yourself in the world created as soon as it begins. In short, Dickens likely did for Christmas the same thing "A Charlie Brown Christmas" did back in the day: held back the forces of commercialism for even a little bit to show us that the spirit resides in all of us, even the greediest of misers.
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