Richard Law is a retired web engineer and writer living in Switzerland. ‘Tis the season for Charles Dickens’ (1812-1870) deservedly popular tale of the time-travels of Ebenezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol (1843). As everyone knows, Ebenezer’s transformation from hard-bitten, misanthropic grump to cheerful friend of the poor is effected through the agency of three spirits: the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. It’s a good tale well told, which carries us along with an effortless suspension of disbelief.
Maybe I could add something I found the last time that I read A Christmas Carol.
In the second chapter of A Christmas Carol Scrooge meets the Spirit of Christmas past. That spirit is described in the following way,
“The curtains of his bed were drawn aside, I tell you, by a hand. Not the curtains at his feet, nor the curtains at his back, but those to which his face was addressed. The curtains of his bed were drawn aside; and Scrooge, starting up into a half-recumbent attitude, found himself face to face with the unearthly visitor who drew them: as close to it as I am now to you, and I am standing in the spirit at your elbow.” (pg 32).
The narrator speaks directly to the reader in this passage and tells us that he is as close to us as the spirit is to Scrooge. The narrator reaches past the 4th wall to speak directly to the reader and offers a kind of analogy. The spirit is to Scrooge as the narrator is to us; so if there is something wrong about Scrooge’s orientation towards the world, the narrator warns us that we ourselves might be in possession of the same malady that Scrooge has. That is, Scrooge’s name is synonymous with greed and miserliness; he is so extreme or spectacular in embodying his vice that we are likely not to think that we participate in it insofar as when we compare ourselves to Scrooge, we see a lot of distance. But the narrator warns us that we shouldn’t let ourselves off of the hook too easily.
Masterful rendering of the wisdom in this classic and enduring literary work. Like most who love this story, I'd never considered it from this perspective. Thank you Mr. Briggs and Mr. Law and a Merry Christmas to you both.
A very thorough and thoughtful interpretation!
Maybe I could add something I found the last time that I read A Christmas Carol.
In the second chapter of A Christmas Carol Scrooge meets the Spirit of Christmas past. That spirit is described in the following way,
“The curtains of his bed were drawn aside, I tell you, by a hand. Not the curtains at his feet, nor the curtains at his back, but those to which his face was addressed. The curtains of his bed were drawn aside; and Scrooge, starting up into a half-recumbent attitude, found himself face to face with the unearthly visitor who drew them: as close to it as I am now to you, and I am standing in the spirit at your elbow.” (pg 32).
The narrator speaks directly to the reader in this passage and tells us that he is as close to us as the spirit is to Scrooge. The narrator reaches past the 4th wall to speak directly to the reader and offers a kind of analogy. The spirit is to Scrooge as the narrator is to us; so if there is something wrong about Scrooge’s orientation towards the world, the narrator warns us that we ourselves might be in possession of the same malady that Scrooge has. That is, Scrooge’s name is synonymous with greed and miserliness; he is so extreme or spectacular in embodying his vice that we are likely not to think that we participate in it insofar as when we compare ourselves to Scrooge, we see a lot of distance. But the narrator warns us that we shouldn’t let ourselves off of the hook too easily.
Masterful rendering of the wisdom in this classic and enduring literary work. Like most who love this story, I'd never considered it from this perspective. Thank you Mr. Briggs and Mr. Law and a Merry Christmas to you both.
Merry Christmas!
Excellent essay, thanks. Merry Christmas.
Very interesting.
Very insightful, thanks for that review. Makes me appreciate that work more and reminds me what a truly great writer Dickens was.
The older I get, the more I'm horrified at the idea of a spirit making me relive the parts of my life I regret.