Christmas Spirit vs.

Greed and Selfishness

 The attitudes of the characters in the text toward Christmas are generally indicative
of their moral stature.
o Scrooge, who cares only about profit, calls Christmas a “humbug” at the
beginning of the text.
 He refuses to celebrate Christmas in any way.
 He tells the men collecting money for charity that the poor should
depend on prisons and workhouses or die to decrease the “surplus
population.”
o Fred, Scrooge’s nephew, determinedly keeps his good nature no matter what
his circumstances and no matter how much Scrooge mocks him for it.
 He tells his dinner guests that he invites Scrooge to Christmas dinner
every year because he believes that, eventually, it will lead Scrooge to
think better of Christmas and perhaps be a bit kinder to others.
o Fezziwig, Scrooge’s former employer, was enthusiastic about Christmas and
threw festive Christmas parties to which his employees were invited.
 As Scrooge remembers how much kindness Fezziwig showed him, he
starts to regret how he treats his own employee.
o The Cratchit family, who depend on Scrooge as an employer, despite their
poverty, make their Christmas dinner special and merry, not commenting on
the small portions but enjoying each other’s company and making the best of
everything.
 Bob Cratchit is generous enough to propose a toast to the “founder of
the feast,” Scrooge, despite how badly Scrooge treats him. The family
all agree to drink the toast for the sake of “the Day”—in other words,
to show Christmas spirit.
 Tiny Tim, the sickly son of Bob Cratchit, hopes those at church will see
him and his crutch to remind them of Jesus, who made the lame walk
and the blind see. He also says the phrase that most fully expresses
the Christmas spirit: “God bless us, every one!”
 The Ghost of Christmas Present is associated with abundance, benevolence, and
generosity.
o His first words to Scrooge are words of welcome and fellowship, inviting
Scrooge to get to know him.
 He first appears surrounded by a feast, and with a bare chest to show
he is unguarded and open.
  His scabbard is empty because he means no harm.
o Wherever he goes with Scrooge, the Ghost is delighted by any display of
Christmas cheer and fellow-feeling. He delights to see people preparing their
meals and gathering together.
o Wherever the Ghost passes, people feel a little more of the Christmas spirit,
particularly when he sprinkles a “seasoning” from his torch.
 When he sprinkles it on food, it adds flavor and enjoyment, especially
to the meals of the poor who need it most.
 When he sprinkles it on people arguing, they are immediately in a
better temper with each other.
o The Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge to many places to see people
who celebrate Christmas even in unlikely or difficult circumstances, from poor
miners to lonely lighthouse-watchmen. He also goes to see those suffering in
prisons, almshouses, and hospitals, and his unseen presence is a blessing to
those he visits.
 As Scrooge experiences his past and comes to understand how his miserliness has in
fact resulted in him robbing himself of joy, he changes.
o Near the end of the story, Scrooge laughs a rich, hearty laugh (“a splendid,
illustrious laugh”), which is emblematic of how he now embraces the
Christmas spirit, and of how the Christmas spirit enriches the lives of those
who do embrace it.

Rebirth and Transformation

 Scrooge’s story is one of moral rebirth and transformation, and the story underscores
this with other examples of transformation.
o Scrooge’s partner Jacob Marley, for instance, is transformed from a proud
man of business into a ghost doomed to wander the earth in chains.
 In Marley’s example, Scrooge sees what may become of him if he does
not learn to care for others.
 As Scrooge is made to re-experience past moments of his life, imaginative sympathy
gradually works to transform Scrooge’s heart.
o He first feels sympathy for his lonely childhood self. He weeps when the
Ghost of Christmas Past reminds him of the Christmases he was left alone at
school.
o Images of his past make Scrooge wish he had been kinder to a caroler and to
his clerk.
 o Seeing his clerk’s sickly young son, Tiny Tim, awakens a new level of sympathy
within Scrooge, and he resolves to do whatever he can to help Tiny Tim.
 It is revealed that Scrooge was not always as miserly as he is in the present, but has
undergone a transformation to be who he is.
o In a scene from Scrooge’s past, his fiancee Belle tells Scrooge he has changed
into a different person from what he was when they got engaged.
o She says that money has become his idol.
 The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge his own corpse and his own
grave. Scrooge tells the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come that “I am not the man I
was” after what the ghosts have shown him.
o When he awakes, he exclaims that he feels like a schoolboy or even “quite a
baby”— innocent and youthful.
 The end of the novel shows people astonished by Scrooge’s transformation; some
even laugh at it.
o The narrator states that the change lasts for the rest of his life and he
becomes known for his generosity and friendliness.
o Scrooge’s transformation also leads to other transformations.
 Scrooge’s transformation in turn changes the lives of those around
him. Tiny Tim overcomes his illness and is given a new chance at life,
thanks to Scrooge’s intervention.

Time, Youth, and Old Age

 Images of youth and old age fill the novel, underscoring the passage of time.
 Seeing time’s progress through memories of his past self helps Scrooge see the
mistakes he has made and their consequences.
o The features of the Ghost of Christmas Past seem to combine youth and age,
capturing how the ghost represents both memories from childhood and, also,
the long time that has passed since then.
o Connecting with the innocence of his childhood self softens Scrooge’s heart.
 Scrooge’s opportunity—through the Ghost of Christmas Present’s help—to witness
the experiences of others helps him recognize the preciousness of the present and
our obligation to use it wisely.
o The Ghost of Christmas Present ages quickly, as the present moment is
fleeting.
o In their time together, the Ghost shows Scrooge how to appreciate and enjoy
the present moment, and how to use it to the benefit of others.
 o Tiny Tim is an image of a vulnerable childhood, and Dickens was particularly
concerned with the suffering of poor children.
 Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchet’s son, is ill and has only a short time left to live,
if no one intervenes to help him.
o Ignorance and Want, ragged children who appear from under the Ghost of
Christmas Present’s cloak, represent the hideous creations of a society that
doesn’t care for its most needy.
 Whereas Tiny Tim is a call to generous action for Scrooge, Ignorance
and Want represent Dickens’s call to such action for society at large,
demanding it help those it often ignores.
 When he has finished his encounter with the ghosts and realizes he has been given
more time, Scrooge feels exuberant and youthful, comparing himself to a baby and a
schoolboy.

Social Injustice
 Victorian England was characterized by laissez-faire capitalism, the pursuit of profit,
and disregard for human suffering. In this way, England of the time was marked by
greed and selfishness that were societal and systemic rather than just individual.
 A Christmas Carol was published in 1843, during a time in England known as the
Hungry Forties that was particularly rife with inequality.
 The story responds to these issues by showing the wealth gap between the rich and
poor, and between employers and workers, like Scrooge and Bob Cratchit.
 Scrooge says early in the text that the poor belong in prisons and workhouses.
o These comments, along with Scrooge’s statement that the deaths of the poor
would decrease the surplus population, express the callousness that results
from prioritizing financial profit over human welfare.
o Marley, Scrooge’s former partner, tells Scrooge that everyone must help their
fellow men, and if they do not they will end up wandering the earth as
ghosts, tormented by their inability to “interfere, for good, in human
matters.”
 Scrooge sees many such ghosts out the window as Marley leaves,
some of which he knew personally in life. One bemoans its inability to
help a needy woman with a child.
o The Ghost of Christmas Present condemns Scrooge’s uncharitable words and
shows Scrooge the human cost of rapacious laissez-faire capitalism.
  Instead of the pursuit of profit, the Ghost of Christmas Present (and
Dickens) insists on our moral responsibility for our fellow human
beings.
 But the story doesn’t solely focus on Scrooge’s greed. Through the figures of
Ignorance and Want, ragged children revealed from under the Ghost of Christmas
Present’s cloak, A Christmas Carol represents the underside of the entirety of English
Victorian and industrial society.
o Ignorance and Want are symbolic of the poor and exploited, particularly
children, who fall through the cracks of that society.
o The Ghost of Christmas Present foretells doom to society if it continues to
ignore these children of its creation, arguing that Victorian England must
transform just as Scrooge does by the end of the novel.

Stave 1
 Jacob Marley is dead. This is important to remember, the narrator comments, in
order to comprehend the events of the story, much like Hamlet’s father’s death is so
critical to Hamlet.
o Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly, solitary, hard-hearted old man, was Marley’s
business partner. Marley was also Scrooge’s only friend.
o Marley has been dead exactly seven years. Their business is still named for
both of them, and Scrooge will answer to either name.
 Scrooge is in his counting house on Christmas Eve.
o Scrooge is cold and hard, and his looks match his disposition.
 No one stops to greet him on the street, and that is precisely how he
likes it.
o Scrooge keeps the office cold and keeps all the coal in his own office so that
his clerk, Bob Cratchit, cannot get it without drawing Scrooge’s attention.
 Scrooge threatens to fire Cratchit if he does take any coal.
o Scrooge’s nephew Fred comes in to wish Scrooge “Merry Christmas” and to
invite him to eat Christmas dinner with him and his new wife.
 Scrooge, however, is irritated by any mention of Christmas, which he
calls a “humbug.”
 Scrooge views Christmas as nothing but a day of profit lost, and says it
has never done him any good.
  He also points out that his nephew has no reason to be merry, since
he is quite poor.
 Fred, however, insists that Christmas has always done him good. His
praise of Christmas leads Bob Cratchit to applaud, much to Scrooge’s
annoyance.
o Scrooge also objects to his nephew’s marrying for love, which he thinks is a
silly reason.
 Scrooge brusquely refuses his nephew’s dinner invitation.
o Fred, in response, maintains his good humor and departs.
 Soon after, two men come into Scrooge’s office, collecting donations for the poor.
o The men explain that the poor are often especially in need at Christmas time.
o They hope Scrooge will donate generously.
 Scrooge refuses to donate and asks the two men whether prisons and workhouses
still exist.
o The men respond that both do exist, to which Scrooge retorts that the poor
can always go for shelter to those places.
 When the men respond that some of the poor would rather die,
Scrooge replies that they should do so and “decrease the surplus
population.”
 Scrooge sends the men away. Later, he scares off a young boy who comes singing
carols by throwing a ruler at him.
 While the rest of London is preparing for festivities despite the gloomy weather, and
even the Lord Mayor is telling his servants to enjoy themselves, Scrooge descends
into an increasingly bad mood.
o Scrooge only reluctantly agrees to give Cratchit the day off work on
Christmas, telling him he should come in even earlier the next morning to
make up for it.
o Scrooge equates Christmas to employees picking their employers’ pockets
every year.
 After leaving Scrooge’s office, and while walking home, Cratchit stops to go down a
slide twenty times, his playful Christmas Eve tradition.
 That evening, Ebenezer Scrooge eats dinner at a grimy tavern and returns to his
home in a gloomy, isolated area.
o The rooms he now occupies used to belong to Jacob Marley.
 As Scrooge reaches to open his door, he is startled as the door-knob changes for a
few moments into a likeness of Marley’s face.
 Moments later, the door-knob returns to its usual form, and Scrooge enters the
house.
o He tries to convince himself he was only imagining seeing something, and
goes up the wide staircase.
 The staircase is wide enough for a carriage to pass through, which may
be why that night he imagines a funeral hearse going up it.
 The apartment is dark, but he likes the dark, in part because darkness
is cheap.
 Once he sees that all appears normal in his room, he sits down to eat gruel.
o But as he eats, all the faces of the scriptural figures that adorn his fireplace
seem to change to Marley’s face.
o Once again, Scrooge tries to dismiss this vision as “humbug.”
 Suddenly, all the bells in the house start ringing, and he hears the sound of chains
clanking up the stairs.
 The ghost of Marley emerges up the stairs, with a long chain wrapped about him.
o Scrooge asks who he is, and the ghost says that in life he was Jacob Marley.
 Scrooge continues to doubt the reality of the specter, and only gradually is
convinced.
o He asks the ghost to sit, and it does. The ghost asks him why he doubts his
senses, and Scrooge points out that a little thing like indigestion can throw
them off.
o In response the ghost wails and shakes its chains, frightening Scrooge.
Scrooge confesses he believes in the ghost now and asks why it has come.
 Marley tells him that the chain was one he forged in life through his selfish deeds,
and that he is doomed to wander the earth and witness the happiness he could have
had while alive, had he cared about others.
o He says that Scrooge has also been forging a chain, and that it is even longer
than his own.
o Scrooge asks the ghost to offer him some comfort, but he can give none.
 Marley says he must soon leave and continue his wandering.
o Scrooge responds that he must be moving slowly if he hasn’t seen the whole
world by now.
 o Marley retorts that he has traveled fast but that no amount of space can
contain his regret.
 Scrooge points out that Marley was a good man of business, but that upsets the
ghost even more.
o The ghost says that human welfare should have been his true business, and
his trade was only a tiny part of it.
o He especially laments that even on Christmases he was not moved to show
charity and kindness.
 Finally, Marley’s ghost says that he wants Scrooge to avoid this same terrible fate in
the afterlife.
o Marley’s ghost tells Scrooge that he will be visited by three more spirits.
o One will come that night at 1:00 am, another the next night at that time, and
the last one at midnight on the third night.
 Marley’s ghost walks backward through the wall and vanishes into the night.
o It mingles with other ghosts, all in chains and wailing mournfully.
o Scrooge recognizes some of them from when they were alive.
 The ghosts fade away, and Scrooge falls into his bed and sleeps.

Stave 2
 Scrooge wakes up and finds it is still dark outside. For a moment he is confused,
thinking that day and night have merged.
o The chiming of a clock suggests he has slept through an entire day and that it
is midnight the following night.
o Scrooge is relieved that day and night are still separate, because their merger
would disrupt his ability to do business.
 Scrooge waits in suspense, and at one in the morning is relieved that no specter has
come.
 But then a small hand draws back his bed-curtains, and the first spirit appears.
o This ghost is a small figure that looks both childlike and old, simultaneously.
 It has light streaming from its head but holds a candle-snuffer that it
sometimes uses as a cap to cover the light.
 The spirit tells him it is the Ghost of Christmas Past.
 Scrooge feels uncomfortable in the ghost’s light and at first wants it to leave.
 o The ghost tells Scrooge it has come for his welfare.
 Scrooge replies that a good night’s sleep would be better for his welfare.
o The spirit responds that it has come for “your reclamation, then.”
 The Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge’s hand, and they pass through the wall.
They fly, and the city vanishes beneath them.
 To Scrooge’s amazement, they find themselves on a country road rather than in
London. Scrooge realizes they are near the school he attended as a young boy.
o He sees some boys, his old school-fellows, leaving the school for the holidays,
and he tries to talk to them. They cannot see or hear him.
o The Ghost mentions that one boy remains behind, unable to go home for
Christmas.
 Scrooge weeps because he knows the boy referred to is his past self.
 The Ghost leads Scrooge to the school. Inside, they see Scrooge’s past self as a young
boy reading.
o The older Scrooge weeps again for the loneliness of his younger self, but then
sees apparitions of characters from his childhood reading appear. One of
them is Ali Baba from the Arabian Nights, and another the parrot
from Robinson Crusoe.
o He realizes these fictional characters kept him company as a boy, and is
excited to see them, but still feels pity for his former self.
o This experience makes Scrooge think of the little boy who came to his
business place singing a carol the day before.
 Scrooge wishes he had given the boy some money.
 The Ghost of Christmas Past next shows Scrooge his past self at a slightly older age.
He is still at school, and it is another Christmas day.
o His younger sister Fan arrives.
 She is affectionate and excited to tell him he is allowed to come home
and not return to school.
 She says their father is much kinder than he used to be, and has given
his permission.
 The siblings sit with the schoolmaster for tea while Scrooge’s belongings are loaded
into a coach, and then he and Fan leave.
o The Ghost reminds the older Scrooge that his sister died but left behind a son,
the nephew who visited his office to wish him merry Christmas.
 The Ghost of Christmas Past next shows Scrooge his past self as a young man
apprenticed at a warehouse.
o He sees his employer of that time, Fezziwig, as well as his fellow apprentice,
Dick Wilkins.
o Scrooge remembers them fondly, especially the kindly Fezziwig.
 He sees Fezziwig and the others, including his young self, closing the store to
decorate it for that night’s Christmas Eve party. The party begins and is very merry
and festive, with food, dancing, and music.
o Fezziwig dances an especially lively dance with his wife, Mrs. Fezziwig.
o The older Scrooge enjoys watching the festivities.
 The Ghost points out that Fezziwig didn’t spend much money on the party, but
Scrooge replies that it was still no small thing that Fezziwig made his employees and
others happy.
o It was in Fezziwig’s power, Scrooge points out, to make them happy or
unhappy.
o This reminds him of his own employee, his clerk Bob Cratchit, and he feels
guilty for not treating Bob better.
 The scene shifts, and Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Past view yet another
Christmas from Scrooge’s past. In this one, his past self is an adult, sitting next to a
beautiful young woman, his fiance, Belle.
o She says that Scrooge has changed in the time since their engagement, and
that he is now more interested in money than in her.
 Young Scrooge tries to convince her otherwise, but she breaks off
their engagement.
o Belle wishes Scrooge happiness in the life he has chosen. Then the two young
people part.
 The older Scrooge is so upset by this vision from his past that he begs the Ghost to
take him back home.
o However, the Ghost has one more vision to show him.
 The Ghost of Christmas Past brings Scrooge to his former fiancé Belle’s house when
she is an older woman. She has a happy home and many children.
o One of her daughters is especially beautiful. Scrooge realizes he could have
had such a daughter if he’d married Belle.
 Belle’s husband comes home and tells her he has passed Scrooge’s window and saw
him.
 o He mentions that Scrooge’s partner Marley is dying, and that Scrooge is alone
in the world.
 Scrooge can no longer bear to see these visions, and he turns in anger on the Ghost
of Christmas Past.
o He puts the candle-snuffer over its head to cover the light that comes from it.
o The spirit seems to grow smaller so that it is completely covered by the
candle-snuffer, but still the light from it streams out from underneath.
 Now back in his rooms, Scrooge gives up and goes to his bed, where he falls asleep.

Stave 3
 Ebenezer Scrooge awakes from slumber to find that once again a full day has passed,
and it is almost one in the morning again.
o No ghost appears immediately on the clock striking, but his bedroom blazes
with ruddy light, which comes from the next room.
o Scrooge gets up to investigate, and a voice bids him enter the other room.
 When he enters, he sees that the room has been transformed with
Christmas decorations and an enormous banquet of food.
 The voice telling Scrooge to enter belongs to a “jolly giant” in a green robe with holly
in its hair, who introduces itself as the Ghost of Christmas Present.
o Scrooge has not heard of this Ghost. This surprises the Ghost, as it says it has
been preceded by more than one thousand and eight hundred brothers.
o Scrooge asks forgiveness for offending the ghost, and then says he gained
new awareness thanks to the previous spirit and expresses his willingness to
experience more.
 The Ghost tells Scrooge to touch its robe.
o When Scrooge does so, he finds himself with the Ghost out in the London
streets, which are crowded with people shopping and getting ready for
Christmas meals.
 All the shops are full of delicious-looking and smelling food.
o The shopkeepers are so busy and merry that they don’t waste time making
sure that they always get exactly the correct amount for what they’re selling.
o The Ghost of Christmas Present sprinkles incense from a torch it carries onto
the food of people passing by, especially the poor, who are going to bakers’
shops to cook their dinners.
  The Ghost says it is his own special flavor of seasoning, and the poor
need it most.
o The Ghost also sprinkles water from the torch on anyone he sees angry or
arguing, and their Christmas spirits of warm fellowship are instantly revived.
o Scrooge asks the Ghost why it wants to prevent the poor from using baker’s
ovens on Sunday.
 The Ghost angrily replies that it does not, and that those who seek to
do any such unkind act in its name don’t actually know the Ghost.
 The Ghost of Christmas Present next takes Scrooge to the house of Bob Cratchit,
Scrooge’s clerk.
o Despite the Ghost’s size, he can fit into even this small space.
 At the house, Bob’s wife and several of his children are excitedly preparing Christmas
dinner. They wonder aloud what is taking Bob so long to get home.
o One of the older Cratchit daughters, Martha, arrives.
 She is an apprentice milliner home for a Christmas visit.
 She hides when she hears Bob approaching in order to play a trick on
him and surprise him with her presence.
o Bob enters carrying his young son Tiny Tim on his shoulders. They have just
come from church.
 The boy has a crutch and is clearly in delicate health, but they are in
good spirits.
o Mrs. Cratchit tells Bob that Martha isn’t coming home for Christmas.
 Seeing his dismay, Martha can’t keep up the joke, and emerges from
hiding to embrace her father.
 Mrs. Cratchit asks her husband how Tiny Tim was at church. Bob says he was “good
as gold,” and that he even wanted others to see him with his crutch, as a reminder of
Jesus who made lame men walk.
 The Cratchits continue to prepare their modest feast, and then sit down to enjoy it.
o The atmosphere is warm and loving, and everyone is content even though the
portions are small.
o When Bob proposes as a toast “God bless us,” Tiny Tim responds “God bless
us every one!”
 Looking at the frail child, Scrooge feels an unaccustomed concern, and asks the Ghost
of Christmas Present if the child will live.
 o The spirit replies that he will die within a year if nothing happens to alter the
future.
o When Scrooge is dismayed, the Spirit pointedly reminds Scrooge of his own
prior words to the men collecting donations for charity that the poor should
die to reduce the surplus population.
o The Ghost adds that Tiny Tim may be more fit to live than Scrooge.
 The Cratchits drink a toast to Bob’s employer, Scrooge, because Bob proposes it. Mrs.
Cratchit and the children do so only reluctantly.
o Bob discusses them finding a job for their eldest son Peter, and Martha talks
about her employment as a milliner’s apprentice.
o The family are content and happy and appear even more so when the Ghost
sprinkles something from its torch on them.
 Then the Ghost and Scrooge leave.
 As they go out onto the snowy streets, the Ghost of Christmas
Present and Scrooge see people going to gatherings with family and friends.
o Their happiness delights the Ghost, who adds to the festivity by sprinkling the
substance in his torch as he passes by.
 The Ghost next brings Scrooge to a mining town on a moor, then to a ship at sea, and
finally to a lighthouse where two men are watching the light.
o In all these unlikely places, people are singing Christmas songs or in some
other way showing their Christmas spirit.
 The Ghost of Christmas Present next takes Scrooge to Scrooge’s nephew Fred’s
Christmas party.
o Fred is laughing good-naturedly while telling his guests about Scrooge’s
calling Christmas a humbug.
 When his guests ask why he keeps inviting Scrooge, he says that he
will continue to invite his uncle for Christmas every year because he
might eventually come.
o Fred’s wife plays a tune on the harp, which Scrooge feels has a softening
influence on his heart.
o Then all the guests play party games. A guest named Topper flirts with Fred’s
sister-in-law.
o Scrooge enjoys watching the festivities so much he even tries to participate,
forgetting no one can see or hear him.
o He begs the Ghost to let him stay for one last game.
  In the last game at the party, the guests try to guess who Scrooge’s nephew is
thinking of.
o Based on Fred’s answers to their questions, they think it is some disagreeable
animal.
 The answer turns out to be Scrooge.
o They all laugh, but the nephew reiterates that he wishes his uncle a merry
Christmas, wherever he is, and they toast to Scrooge.
 Scrooge wishes to stay among his nephew’s guests longer, but the Ghost of Christmas
Present leads him on to other homes as well as hospitals, almshouses, and jails.
o The Ghost leaves its blessing on all those places.
 Scrooge notices that the Ghost is growing old. The Ghost acknowledges that its life is
short and will end tonight at midnight—it’s life lasts only as long as the current
Christmas.
 Scrooge notices a claw-like foot under the Ghost’s robe. The Ghost of Christmas
Present then opens its robe, revealing two hideously starved and ragged children.
o The Ghost says they are Man’s children. The boy is Ignorance, and the girl is
Want.
o They are an indictment of mankind, and of the city of London, although some
try to deny or ignore their existence.
o The Ghost says both children are dangerous, but especially Ignorance.
 Scrooge asks if any resources could help these children.
o The Ghost repeats back Scrooge’s words to the charity collectors, when he
asked if there are no prisons or workshouses.
 The clock strikes midnight, and the Ghost disappears.
 Then a new phantom appears, draped in black, its face invisible.

Stave 4
 Ebenezer Scrooge realizes that the spirit approaching him now is the Ghost of
Christmas Yet to Come.
o He anticipates that it will show him Christmases from his future that he will
learn from.
 Scrooge says he will follow the Ghose with gratitude. Even so, he is
more afraid of this spirit than any of the previous ones.
 The Ghost does not speak or show its face; it only points the way with its
outstretched hand.
 Scrooge finds himself with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come among a group of
merchants in the city.
o They are men Scrooge knows. They speak about a man who has just died.
o They say they thought he’d never die and wonder who he left his money to.
 They assume he’ll have a cheap funeral.
 One man jokes that no one will go to it, and another says he’ll go as
long as there is food.
o One man says he was probably the dead man’s best friend because they
actually greeted each other when they passed in the street.
 The Ghost points Scrooge to another group of wealthy businessmen.
o They are men Scrooge knows too, who he has tried to impress tin the past.
 They joke about the dead man having gone to Hell.
o Scrooge isn’t sure why the Ghost wants him to hear these conversations but
assumes it is important.
o Scrooge notes that he hasn’t seen himself in these visions of the future.
o It occurs to him that hedoesn’t see himself in his usual spot because his
future self has changed his ways and lives somewhere else.
 The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and Scrooge go next to a grimy, crime-ridden
part of town.
o In a rag-and-bone shop owned by a man named Joe, they see two women
and a man entering the shop with bundles of goods to sell.
 These people are at first a little embarrassed to see each other
because each of them is carrying goods taken from the dead man’s
room.
 However, they justify themselves, saying that it’s no sin but a
judgment on this man. They say he died alone because he frightened
everyone away in life.
 One of the women has the bed-curtains and blankets she’s taken from
the dead man’s bed.
 Scrooge tells the Ghost he realizes his own life is going in the same direction as this
dead man’s.
 The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come next takes Scrooge to a darkened bedchamber,
where he sees the bed that has been plundered of blankets and bed-curtains.
o The corpse of the dead man is lying on it.
 The Ghost points at the corpse’s head, indicating that Scrooge should remove the
thin cover over it.
o Scrooge is too frightened to do so.
o Scrooge considers what it would be like to die alone.
o He pleads with the spirit that he has learned his lesson and that they should
leave.
o He asks to see someone who feels emotion due to the man’s death.
 The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge a room where a woman with
children is waiting anxiously for her husband’s return.
o When the husband comes in, she asks him what news he brings and if they
are ruined.
o He tells her that the relentless creditor who has been tormenting them has
died. They will have more time to be ready with their money.
o The woman’s face shows she is thankful and happy, and both of them have
lighter hearts due to the creditor’s death.
 Scrooge realizes the only real emotion caused by the man’s death is this one of
pleasure and relief. He begs the Ghost to show him a scene of tenderness in
connection with a death.
 In accordance with Scrooge’s request to see people feeling tenderness in connection
with someone’s death, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come takes him to the
Cratchits’ house.
o Scrooge hears someone speak the biblical words “And He took a child, and set
him in the midst of them.”
o Tiny Tim has died, and the house is very quiet now. The mother and children
are seated by the fire, waiting for Bob Cratchit to return.
o The family remarks that Bob moves more slowly these days, though he used
to walk quickly carrying Tiny Tim.
 Bob returns; he has been visiting the place where they will bury Tiny Tim.
o He likes that it is a green and pretty place and says he promised Tiny Tim to
go there every Sunday.
o They all try to comfort each other, but Bob can’t help weeping. He goes up to
the room where Tiny Tim is laid and kisses his face.
  When Bob comes back downstairs, he is calm again. He says that while he was out he
ran into Scrooge’s nephew Fred, who was very kind and concerned when he heard
about Tiny Tim’s death.
 The family discusses their future plans. They all promise never to forget Tiny Tim, the
first to part from them, and to keep his spirit alive by following his patient, kind
example.
 Scrooge senses that his time with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is coming to an
end, so he asks the spirit to tell him the identity of the man who died.
 The spirit takes him back to the part of London where Scrooge’s house is. But instead
of his house, the spirit points him to an overgrown, poorly-kept churchyard.
o The Ghost points to one grave in particular.
 Scrooge is frightened to read the name on it.
o Scrooge asks the spirit if these visions of the future are things that must be,
or things that may be but that can be changed.
 The Ghost doesn’t answer.
o Scrooge reads the name on the tomb, and it is his own.
o hen Scrooge asks if he was also the corpse lying on the bed, the spirit points
at him, affirming that he was.
 Scrooge falls to his knees and pleads with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come to give
him the chance to change his future.
o He asserts that he is a changed man and will honor Christmas and the
Christmas spirit forever.
 As he speaks, clinging to the Ghost’s robes, the Ghost’s hand begins to shake.
Scrooge grabs the hand, which collapses into just a bedpost.

Stave 5
 Ebenezer Scrooge finds himself clutching his own bed-post in his own room.
o He is delighted when he realizes he has been returned to his normal life to
make amends.
o He laughs joyfully, and voices aloud his gratitude to his former
partner Marley and the other ghosts, swearing to always keep Christmas in
his heart.
 The church bells ring, and Scrooge dresses and looks out the window. He asks a boy
passing underneath what the day is.
 o It turns out to be the morning of Christmas Day. His whole encounter with the
ghosts actually took place in one night.
 He gives the boy money to buy an enormous turkey and offer the boy quite a bit of
extra money if he returns with it soon
 Scrooge is very happy when the turkey arrives and he can send it anonymously to the
Cratchits.
o He is so giddy he can hardly shave, and he even thanks the door-knob for its
role in turning into his former partner Marley’s face.
 Scrooge goes for a walk, cheerfully wishing merry Christmas to everyone he sees.
o He runs into the one of the two men who came into his store the day before
seeking money for charity.
o He apologizes for how he behaved at that time and donates an amount that
astonishes the man with its generosity. Scrooge also invites the man to visit
him.
 In the afternoon, Scrooge surprises Fred and Fred’s wife at home, where he says he
wishes to stay for Christmas dinner after all.
o They have a jolly and festive evening with their guests, just as the Ghost of
Christmas Present had shown him.
 The next morning, Scrooge goes to his counting house and waits eagerly for Bob
Cratchit to arrive.
o When Bob appears, he is late, and Scrooge pretends to be angry about it.
o But then he surprises Bob by telling him he plans to pay him more and to help
his family.
 Scrooge is true to his word in helping the Cratchits and becomes a second father
to Tiny Tim.
o Thanks to him, Tiny Tim does not die.
 Scrooge becomes a well-loved man in London.
o Scrooge never sees any more ghosts but becomes known for keeping
Christmas well.
o The narrator ends the story with Tiny Tim’s prayer, “God bless us, every one!”