How is the theme of Greed presented throughout the novella?

In a Christmas Carol, Stave I, Dickens strongly presents greed through the idea of
giving and generosity. Scrooge is kindly asked to donate some money; however
Scrooge disliked the idea of giving ‘poor people’ money because he views them as
lazy as they got themselves into poverty and aren’t trying to get themselves out of it.
He quotes “I can’t afford to make idle people merry,” meaning he can’t supply the
poor people happiness even if that meant giving a couple of pennies. Dickens
successfully illustrates this greed as it almost portrays those in higher classes being
very selfish and ignorant about willing to help and shows the class difference
between not only Scrooge but people with money and those living on streets
through Scrooge’ harsh comment about donating money for others in need. His
apathetic personality is also displayed not soon after being asked to donate as he
advices the poor it would be better to die as it would “decrease the surplus
population.” Dickens demonstrates greed in a way where the higher class couldn’t
care about what would happen to the working class as long as they are doing fine. It
shows us how self-absorbed they are, and Dickens clearly illustrates it perfectly. This
engages the reader as it shows them how selfish higher-class people were and still
are and makes people feel some sympathy towards working class people because of
the way they have been treated and named.
Dickens once again effectively shows greed through the use of Marley’s ghost. When
Marley visits Scrooge he is described to be wearing heavy chains which pulls him
down and drags around with him, everywhere he goes. Marley quotes “I wear the
chains I forged in life,” meaning all the greed and the money Marley owned and lived
for is now torturing him even as a ghost. Dickens clearly shows the greed through
these chains that are physically and metaphorically weighing Marley down. This
grabs the readers focus because since Marley is now facing the consequences for the
way he lived, they might feel slightly worried for Scrooge because if he doesn’t stop
his greed hunt and his ignorance towards helping he will also end up like Marley.
Furthermore, Dickens clearly conveys the theme of greed through his idea of time
being precious. When Scrooge was visited by Marley, he was also told that there
would be visits from the 3 spirits (past, present and yet to come). Marley quotes
“Expect the first to-morrow, when the bell tolls One, Expect the second on the next
night at the same hour. The third upon the next night when the last stroke of Twelve
has ceased to vibrate.” Dickens shows this greed effectively as it is showing that the
time he is now experiencing is very precious otherwise the greed he lives with will
end up torturing him like Marley. Therefore, when Scrooge was told this, it was
almost a warning about looking back at how his greed will differ overtime. This can
engage the reader as it makes them wearier of the time Scrooge has got left and how
he will spend it.
The theme of greed is once again displayed very clearly through Dickens use of
people. Dickens introduces us to Belle who is Scrooge’ ex-fiancé solely due to the
greed that swallowed Scrooge up. Belle quotes “another idol has displaced me” to
Scrooge when wanting to leave the relationship. She mentions “idol” which is when
almost worshiping someone or something and now she is using it in context to
Scrooge and his love for money. This shows us how attached he is to money,
conveying his greed and ignorance. Which she then refers to the idol as “a golden
one” which replaced her spot in Scrooges life. She wanted to leave due to the fact
that scrooge now lives for money and Belle doesn’t even recognise him since the
greed and selfishness has taken over him. At the beginning, Scrooge had only a
desire and heart for Belle yet that changed once he started making money and since
that his life only ever revolved around money and Belle wasn’t seen as much in his
eyes anymore. Belle quotes that “you fear the world too much” meaning Scrooge is
so afraid to lose this money and run back into poverty and money is now his only
business. Dickens powerfully portrayed greed through the corruption of their
relationship and showed how toxic greed can be. It shows greed perfectly because he
doesn’t feel the need to help others because if he donates, he feels as though he
may then lose all his money which links to stave I when he refused to donate. This
engages the reader as they now know that Scrooge didn’t defend himself
whatsoever and brought this whole situation upon him.
In Stave IV, Dickens displays greed very successfully through the thieves. When we
are introduced to these thieves, they are stealing materials from the dead person.
This itself portrays greed because it shows that these people are willing to take
anything if they receive valuables or money in return regardless of the situation.
They quote “he frightened everyone away from him when he was alive, to profit us
when he was dead” which almost contrasts the action of the thieves. Dickens is
showing that scrooge’ greed and isolation scared away everyone, but the thieves are
also showing their greed as they are finding glee from a corpse’ possession. The
theme of greed is repeatedly shown and is emphasised very clearly through both
Scrooge and the thieves as it is greed on top of greed. This can make the reader feel
worry for the dead man because people are making profit of his belonging.