A Christmas Carol - Estimated Read Time = 2 1/2 hours
This Article - Estimated Read Time = 15 minutes
Time This Article Saves You = 2 hours and 15 minutes
*Most books need to be read twice before they can really be understood. This article saves you time & effort by helping you reach a solid understanding with just one read.
Recommended Cocktail (ish) | Mulled Wine
Charles Dickens has been called “The Man Who Invented Christmas.”
The evidence backing this title is none other than the legacy of A Christmas Carol, and the widespread influence his Christmas novella has had upon our understanding and celebration of the holiday these past 180 years.
Dickens was a popular and established writer already when this work appeared. But his current novel, Martin Chuzzlewit, a serial publication, wasn’t being met with the same popularity as his previous novels.
His income was slowing considerably.
The pressures of the situation were only exacerbated because Dickens’s young family had continued to grow—he had five kids at the time and was beginning to feel the financial pressure.
In this time, he took a mere six weeks and penned the work that has defined his reputation for nearly two centuries—A Christmas Carol.
The novella was a work of social critique and even uses language that was part and parcel of the public discourse at the time concerning the poor. Everyone knew poverty was an issue, but many diagnosed the root of it as a “surplus population.”
Dickens wrote this work to critique these views and to offer a more charitable and human way forward.
Seen in the light of Dickens’s financial situation, the novella perhaps contained a message even to himself. His own personal and financial situation must have caused stress.
So, he penned this tale as a reminder to himself that money is not everything. And that if one can only remember that, redemption is always possible.
Story Recap . Spoiler Alert!
If you ever run into the Dickens section in a bookstore or library, you’ll quickly notice the massive size of most of his works. This is because of how his novels were written and published—through serialization.
He wrote and published a handful of chapters at a time, typically a few each month. So, his novels operated more like ongoing television shows, rather than how most novels are published in complete form today.
This model allowed him to receive feedback from the public’s response and adapt his works as needed on the fly, which he often did.
A Christmas Carol, however, differs from the vast majority of his works in that it was not serialized, but instead was printed as a completed work from the beginning.
Here’s a quick flyover of its structure.
Chapter 1 . Marley’s Ghost
The book opens with an assertion of the fact that Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s old business partner, was dead. And had been so for several years now.
Then, we meet Scrooge and gain a sketch of his joyless, miserly character through his interactions with his clerk, Bob Cratchit, his young, jolly nephew, Fred, and two men asking for charity.
Scrooge is cold, rude, and offensive to all of them.
Then, he goes home and things begin to get weird. He sees Marley’s face on the knocker of his front door and is put off. He gets up to his room, and a small bell starts ringing loudly all on its own. Then, he hears the sound of something dragging chains, coming up from the cellar, mounting the stairs, drawing close to the other side of his bedroom door.
Then, Jacob Marley enters.
His old friend has come back in ghostly form to warn Scrooge of his fate, should he continue on his current path in life. He tells him of the plan for Scrooge to be visited by three ghosts on three successive nights.
With that, the story is off.
Chapter 2 . The Ghost of Christmas Past
The Ghost of Christmas Past is depicted as having a bright light upon its head, but also has a sort of cap that can be used to dim and dampen that light.
This light is symbolic of the past’s ability to teach us about ourselves, and the cap represents our tendency to snuff out its light, preferring to ignore the lessons it offers.
The Ghost takes Scrooge to several past Christmases, where he receives the opportunity of observing himself, as a small boy alone at school, as a young man full of joy with friends, and as a slightly older man, choosing wealth over love and so many other finer things.
The reminiscences do Scrooge some good, but they’re clearly painful. At the close of this tour, he attempts to smother the ghost’s light by drawing the cap tight over its head. Even with the cap shoved down tight, the light bursts from under it, illuminating the entire room.
Chapter 3 . The Ghost of Christmas Present
The Ghost of Christmas Present almost seems like Santa Clause. He’s jolly, massive, and intimidating, even in his joy.
He takes Scrooge on a journey as well, one that allows Scrooge to witness the effects of his actions on the people in his life.
He sees the true situation of Bob Cratchit, his grossly underpaid clerk. Bob’s family is joyful and loving, yet they are far from adequately provided for. Scrooge sees the low situation the family is in, because of his unwillingness to pay a fair or decent wage. He even sees how Tiny Tim, one of the Cratchit children, will not live to see another Christmas—unless he’s better provided for.
Yet, despite all of this, Scrooge is overwhelmed by the family’s joy and love for each other.
Then, he’s taken to see his nephew’s Christmas party, which he declined to attend earlier. It’s a merry time, filled with so much fun, and Scrooge gets caught up in the moment, having fun himself even just as an observer.
Then, he finds himself as the butt of a joke at the party and is confronted by his treatment of his nephew thus far.
At the end of the night, the Ghost grows old and grey, his youth and strength having lasted only for the night. He disappears and is immediately replaced by the third and final ghost.
Chapter 4 . The Ghost of Christmas Future
The Ghost of Christmas Future is perhaps the most terrifying of the three. This ghost never speaks and has no discernible face. It merely points Scrooge in the direction in which he’s to go and observe.
The Ghost takes Scrooge to where he overhears a rather trite and careless conversation about someone’s death. He’s confused at first but then discovers that it’s he himself that has died, and none could care less.
He witnesses his unmourned death.
He begs the Ghost, that if there is any one person who is moved emotionally by his death, to show him.
The Ghost takes him to a family who is in a desperate financial situation, on the brink of ruin. When the news arrives of Scrooge’s death, they rejoice, because it means they are free from the clutches of this monster.
Then, the Ghost leads him to the Cratchit’s home, where the family, though they support each other, is overwhelmed by grief at the loss of Tiny Tim.
Tiny Tim, a child who has nothing in this life, is mourned by a loving family, while Scrooge’s death brings nothing but relief to those he haunted.
Scrooge is overwhelmed by all of this.
Falling into a fit of near hysteria, he begs and pleads with the Ghost to tell him, if these things are certain to occur, or are they only what might happen should he not change? Are they fixed, or is there still hope for repentance and redemption?
The Ghost never speaks, but only points Scrooge on to witness his own grave, before finally parting from him for good.
Chapter 5 . A Man Redeemed
The final chapter displays the redemption of this miser. Scrooge awakes in his bed, a changed man, and finds it to be Christmas Day all over again.
He buys a massive turkey and sends it anonymously to the Cratchits for their Christmas feast. He attends his nephew’s party and rekindles that relationship.
The day after Christmas, he catches Bob Cratchit coming in late to work, and plays at punishing him, only to offer him a significant raise, one that ensures the necessary provision for Tiny Tim, saving that boy’s life.
Scrooge becomes close friends with the Cratchits and becomes a sort of second father to Tiny Tim.
Forever afterward, it was always said of him, he knew how to keep Christmas well. It’s the true portrait of a man redeemed.
An Interpretation . What’s Your Story?
A Christmas Carol is so dense in meaning that it can be interpreted in several ways. In one sense, the plainest meaning is clear and easy to understand.
A life aligned to the joy and charity of Christmas is the best life one can live. Or,
Greed produces misery; charity produces joy.
Something along those lines, which are absolutely ideas worth spending time with.
However, the novella is worth reading again and again because there’s a depth to it that goes beyond this. Like exploring an old school, where undiscovered passages and places abound, some filled to the brim with trinkets and trophies, hidden away in dark corners you never knew were there. Much like that, in this novella, there’s always more to be found.
On this read, I noticed this—humans want their lives to tell a story, and they’d prefer that the story’s a good one.
When we meet Scrooge, he is submerged within a particularly narrow and damaging story, but it’s a story he’s faithful to no less. It’s the story of a poor boy who, through hard work and disciplined frugality, rises above his circumstances into financial security. This story frames his field of concerns and guides him into leading a particular life. It just happens to be a story that leaves no room for charity, friendship, or joy.
What’s offered to, or rather forced upon, Scrooge is an opportunity to re-evaluate his story. And what he gains is a more accurate depiction of himself.
The Ghosts take him on a tour of his upbringing, where he faces the most painful aspects of his childhood that drove him to such a focused pursuit of wealth. He sees how the desire for Gain arose, drew strength, and eventually forced out every nobler ambition he possessed.
Then he’s forced to examine the present, and witness, in the poverty of the Cratchits, how he’s shoving others currently into the very pain he strives so desperately to avoid. At his nephew’s Christmas party, he observes the friendship and joy he’s forsaking, day after day, in order to retain his financial focus.
Finally, he’s given a glimpse into the future, a depiction of what his devotion to money will give—an unmourned death, that also produces the death of Tiny Tim, and is met only with relief by those who finally find themselves free of his clutches at last. He realizes in the eyes of everyone around him, he is at best a miserable miser, and at worst, an absolute villain.
In these three stages, an examination of the past, present, and future, Scrooge is given a story. The true story of what his life is.
Initially, he was immersed in a certain understanding of his life, but it was patently false. When he’s faced with this true account of his story, he begs for a second chance to alter his course. When he receives that second chance, he is changed.
This leads me to believe this—how we understand our story dramatically shapes our lives.
Unfortunately, we often don’t get the chance to receive such a clear picture; we don’t get taken on tours of our lives to see what the real story is. We’re left to our faculties of memory, imagination, and reflection to make sense of where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re heading.
Along these lines, I’d offer these questions, to help us understand our own stories.
Questions for Reflection on Story
What are some of the most painful experiences you’ve had in life, in childhood or otherwise?
What convictions did you form to avoid feeling that pain ever again?
For example, Scrooge felt the pain of poverty. So, he devoted himself to financial gain, to avoid ever feeling that pain again.
How might those convictions lead to further pain in the present, for yourself and those around you?
If you stick to these convictions, to what end will they lead? And is that end desirable?
The goal of these questions is to provide the self-awareness necessary to see how your story has shaped you. In gaining that, you give yourself the ability to revise the unconscious convictions you’ve developed that currently guide your life.
For example, here’s one way I’d work through the questions.
Partway through my childhood, my parents divorced. Following that, I saw less of my father, because I lived with my mother.
That caused some pain.
Now that I’m a father with my own children, I’ve discovered an unconscious conviction that I’d formed—I want to be present with my kids. It’s a good, healthy, and solid conviction, usually.
I’ve found that occasionally, the conviction is too strong, and I feel the need to be present to my detriment, failing to take time for myself. In the end, that’s not good for anybody. Because what good is it being present if you’re just a jerk?
Recognizing this has brought some much-needed self-awareness, and to see that taking time for myself allows me to provide a healthier presence with my kids.
A Christmas Carol is an invitation to consider your story. And it’s an invitation worth heeding because if you’d prefer to have the story of your life be a good one, you’d do well to understand where you are, how you got there, and where you’re going. These questions are designed for just that.
Closing Thoughts. On Baptism
Baptism is curiously related to this theme of understanding our stories.
It’s a practice that Christians have observed for nearly 2,000 years, in obedience to this command given by Jesus.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
-Matthew 28:19–20 (NIV)
It’s a passage commonly referred to as the Great Commission, at the very end of Matthew. In it, Jesus commissions his disciples, followers of his particular way of life, to go and make more disciples from every nation or people group. Wrapped up within becoming a disciple is the practice of baptism.
There’s a physicality to the practice that’s significant because it pushes back against the modern assumption that we are basically “thinking beings.” There’s something about the experience of being immersed in the water and then rising out of it that’s substantial.
The experience is made more meaningful, however, when you understand why you’re doing it. The practice guides us to a certain kind of reflection that’s easy to avoid in adulthood.
Baptism offers us the opportunity to consider our stories.
The act itself is symbolic and points to what’s transpired spiritually within us as a result of beginning to trust Jesus—it depicts a death and resurrection.
Sinking beneath the water symbolizes a death to the life we lived before.
Rising up from it symbolizes a resurrection into “a newness of life” with Jesus.
As the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 6,
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
-Romans 6:3–4 (NIV)
Therefore, part of the process is coming to understand our stories through this lens.
First, who were you before? Who or what functioned as your authority? Where did you turn for your identity, to provide you with value and worth? What was your life before trusting Jesus?
Second, how did you come to believe that you needed a savior? And how did you come to trust that Jesus is that savior? What evidence led you to these convictions?
Finally, how has your life changed, since you’ve trusted Jesus as your authority and as the one in whom your identity is found? How is your life different than it was prior?
This process of reflection is a necessary piece of the process because once someone understands this, it’s clear what baptism symbolizes. And it becomes so much more meaningful.
Along those lines, I find it curious that both A Christmas Carol and the Christian practice of Baptism recognize something:
Humans possess a universal desire for their lives to constitute a story and for that story to be good.
Charles Dickens had a knack for writing great stories, ones that continue to bring joy and delight to readers all over the world, nearly two centuries after he wrote them. My invitation to you is to write a great story yourself. Not necessarily with a pen or keyboard, but with the days and hours that you’ve been given.
The first step to writing a great story with your life is gaining a solid understanding of the story you’re already in.
Loved this! I did a deep dive on the various shows and movie portrayals of A Christmas Carol to find the consensus on the best one. Ended up watching the 1950s one and the newest spin on it with Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds. Enjoyed both! The Adam Sandler movie Click reminds me of A Christmas Carol as well. The pure joy of getting a second chance.