In a Victorian Age society where making money is everyone’s goal, one may forget that making money isn’t the most important thing. Children grow up knowing they’d be no one without money, but they aren’t being taught that this isn’t the most imperative thing to worry about. A lot of people tend to ignore the negatives that come with having a lot of money. One such book that teaches this lesson would be A Christmas Carol. In A Christmas Carol, wealth is a sign of a moral corruption and the devastating effects of greed because it changed Scrooge into a cheap, selfish person who valued money above all. Scrooge was a perfect example as in to how wealth changes a person for the worse. When he was younger, he was engaged to Belle. She eventually left him because he changed into a man she no longer loved. He had begun to value money more than her and their love. She even told him, “You are changed” (Dickens, 45) straight out to emphasize just how much he had really changed. Money really changed Scrooge into a different person and not for the better. This conveys how powerful the influence of money can be on anyone. Scrooge used to be very poor, …show more content…
One such quote that depicted his cheapness was,” Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it” (Dickens, 15). He preferred the darkness because then he didn’t have to pay for the electricity bill. He even refused to give donations to the two men who came collecting money for the poor (Dickens, 10). Scrooge didn’t want to give his money away, and instead, wanted to keep it all for himself. In addition, he didn’t allow Bob to take the day off on Christmas (Dickens, 12). For Scrooge, this was a day went to waste because he wouldn’t be making money. He constantly worked because his work was his life. Working meant making money, which was very significant in his life. It was his purpose in life. Wealth caused Scrooge to become very cheap and selfish with his
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a moral tale that depicts the protagonist’s Ebenezer Scrooge’s moral journey from selfishness to redemption. It can be seen that his new found way of life is derived from the desire to be a good man of the community and to assist others such as Tiny Tim. The idea of Scrooge’s transformation not being selfish can also be seen in his aspiration to contribute to the wider community that suffers from a poverty stricken way of life. In addition to this, Scrooge also reforms his way of life in order to feel love and care from family, which satisfied his nephew Fred aswell as himself. However, this selflessness is only to an
In Charles Dickens film and novel A Christmas Carol, he shows his feeling of capitalism and how it affects societal wellness and individuals. The setting of the story is in Victorian England where Ebenezer Scrooge, the main protagonist, lives and dwells. In this time period in England many are poor and few are rich; the economic state of the city is in poor health. Scrooge is one of the scare rich individuals in the land and practices capitalism to a T. Dickens shows how his story is related to economics by using the setting of the story and also the capitalistic ideals of Ebenezer Scrooge.
As it is shown in A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is a man that cares mainly about his wealth. In the beginning of the story he is asked to give money to the less fortunate and destitute, his response is shocking, Scrooge says,” … I can’t afford to make idle people merry… they cost enough”. The men are tremendously disgusted by his statement. Scrooge shows that he mainly cares about keeping his wealth to himself, he doesn’t feel the need to give to others who are less fortunate. After they continue to speak, Scrooge also states,” If they would rather die, they better do it, and decrease the surplus population”. Scrooge feels that if people are going to be poor and not have as much wealth as him, that they should be put to work in factories, or they should just go away altogether. He mainly cares about how much
In conclusion when you change how you act and what your values are your entire life changes typically for the better. Scrooge was at first ignorant and greedy, but through the help of the spirits Scrooge changes into a better person who is capable of caring for others. This shows that anyone can change their
Often times, many people enjoy the gift of money and the happiness it brings. However, Charles Dickens writes to persuade otherwise. A Christmas Carol authored by Charles Dickens, a fiction story, and is about a man, Scrooge, who despises Christmas with all his heart whilst he lives in London. Furthermore, Scrooge regrets not appreciating people, not realizing that money is not everything, and is happy to live in all the stages of Christmas.
Greed is a part of human nature, therefore a prominent theme in the novel A Christmas Carol, is the greed of Scrooge and the greed of the people after Scrooge’s death shown by the Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come. The theme of greed is shown by Scrooge mistreating Bob Cratchit, the cheapness of darkness, Scrooge doing business on the day of Marley’s funeral, the scavengers taking Scrooge’s various possessions after his death, and the gentlemen only organizing a funeral if they could get something out of it.
Stave 1-Greed The theme presented to the reader the most in stave 1 of A Christmas Carol is greed. Throughout the book the theme of greediness is presented and backed up by the many sections that point out how much Scrooge strives to get more money. One of these parts is when it is pointed out that Scrooge won’t spend money on anything valuable, so his most valuable possession is his knocker. Another piece of evidence is when he only gives his clerk one piece of coal, and no more. The final piece of proof I have is that he could not part with a single coin to help the poor, and needy. Those were the main parts of stave 1 that emphasize the theme of greed.
Dickens has accredited greed in the course of his novel and discusses Scrooge as a “covetous old sinner.” Scrooge believed that poverty could be avoided by hard-work and claims that the prisons
Charles Dickens’s, a British social reformer which has presented to an audience a brilliant novel: A Christmas Carol. The play is set in the mid 1900’s where the industrial revolution was introduced which resulted in inventions such as machines; people consequently were fleeing the countryside for work in city for good paying jobs, for good achieving business people this gave their business a massive amount of money but a small minority of people were underprivileged because money was distributed unfairly. The basis of the story is to show the audience that money alone cannot bring happiness, but it is how you use it.
“Merry Christmas and a happy new year to everyone,” This says how the last spirit changed Scrooge fully into a good man. This quote shows us how the future spirit changed Scrooge into a more joyful, polite, and generous man. The third spirit changed Scrooge by scaring him with his looks and the future by showing him he died the next day on Christmas, this scared Scrooge so bad that he had become a good man, Scrooge the next day went out saying Merry Christmas and happy new year to everyone, he even gave money to a boy to buy a turkey and keep the
In the beginning of the book, “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge is a cold, selfish and greedy man. He owns a business and is rich, but never does anything good with his money and keeps it to himself. He thinks of Christmas as a useless holiday and does not care to talk or smile to anybody he sees. However, as the spirits of the past, present and future visit him, Scrooge becomes much kinder and wants to become a better person. He learns to care for others and becomes more engaged in his community.
A Change for the Better Published in 1843 A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens has withstood the test of time as a classic telling the story of Scrooge as he changes for the better. He is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, showing him his life in segments as this happens, he finds the good in himself and changes his ways. Scrooge has changed significantly throughout the text, specifically through his actions, thoughts, and dialogue. To begin, Scrooge changed through his actions. At first, Scrooge was a parsimonious, rapacious, and niggard person who was selfish and was to above himself to care about others and their needs.
Progress is impractical without change, and the people who never change never make a difference. Sometimes, it can seem almost impossible to change, especially when it is hard to see a reason for it. Even the slightest effort with the littlest change could alter someone’s world. Scrooge, the main character in A Christmas Carol, took an extraordinarily long time to realize this. Even someone as cold and harsh as Scrooge, the man who had no family or friends, was able to change his life.
An anonymous writer once said, “ Life is about trusting your feelings, taking chances, finding happiness, learning from the past, realizing everything changes.” This quote reminded me of Scrooge the second I spotted it. I think that this quote has a very important meaning. Everyone can agree that this quote has a bunch of different meanings. I think this quote is a guide through life and everyone should follow this guide.
Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ presents a warning to society through the representation of characters and the journey and transformation of the notorious miser, Ebenezer Scrooge. Dickens warns society of the grim future that awaits humanity if people fail to respond to the plight of the poor. Finally, if Dickens intentions weren’t made clear enough through these examples, his preface says it all. “I have endeavoured in this ghostly little book, to raise the ghost of an idea…May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and