History WMG / AChristmasCarol

* Safer to say that he's the traditional ''English'' personification of Christmas, known as Father Christmas or Old Christmas. He dates back to the Middle Ages at least and was a character in folk plays known as {{Mummers}} plays, in addition to which he appeared in print in mid-seventeenth century Royalist propaganda (the Puritans having banned Christmas in the mid-1640s due to it being perceived to have various Catholic overtones, in addition to which they had a downer on the partying and revelry; this ban ended with the Restoration in 1660). Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, Father Christmas (usually depicted as wearing a green robe and a crown of holly, which Dickens describes the Ghost of Christmas Present as wearing) was all about feasting and being merry at Christmastime. It was only during the mid-Victorian period (about a decade or so after the publication of ''A Christmas Carol'') that he became associated with gift-giving - following which Father Christmas gradually became inextricably linked with (and, by the early twentieth century, more or less indistinguishable from) the American personification of Christmas (Santa Claus), who has his origins in the Dutch ''Sinterklaas''.

If you look at Marley and all the other ghosts, eternally damned for their greed and misanthropy, you have to wonder: what makes Scrooge so special? Why let the others sin their way into damnation, but give Scrooge a big spectral adventure through time and space to save him? Marley says that he arranged the spirits' visit, but why would they do what he says? There must be some larger purpose to making this random cranky bastard into a nice guy for the last few years of his life. Perhaps the universe has big plans for scrappy, kind-hearted little Tim Cratchett, and is making sure he survives his childhood. Would explain why Scrooge's future visions are, you'll die, your business associates won't care, your debtors will be relieved, your servants will sell your stuff, nobody will mourn, oh and TIM WILL DIE, REPEAT, THIS KID YOU NEVER HEARD OF UNTIL TODAY WILL DIE.

** Actually, think about this, it is never stated that all those damned souls DIDNT recieve the chance that Scrooge did. For all we know, the spirits came to Jacob Marley as well, but he chose to ignore the lessons they taught him. What made Scrooge special was that seed of goodness that had been smothered by his lonely and hard life, while the other spirits may have had similar lessons, but simply didn't or couldn't change.
* There have GOT to be easier ways to get Tiny Tim an operation than a massive Time-Travel Gambit. Such as just taking Crachett to the future, letting him copy down the Stock Reports or grab a Sports Almanac or something.

Most of us seem to think Scrooge was straight as he had an ex girlfriend named Belle who then became his fiancé before she broke up with him and he was a cold hearted man because he hates Christmas and had a lonely childhood but while that is true Scrooge was actually homosexual or at least bi sexual and he became more cold hearted after Marley died. To be honest Scrooge and Marley were not just partners in business but also in a relationship. Most people think Scrooge loved money more than Belle but in truth Scrooge just covered it up as he had an affair with Jacob Marley behind Belle's back. Scrooge who was in love with Marley hid his guilt but used his excuse about money in a successful attempt to get Belle out of his life because he would be afraid that Belle found out he was seeing another man. When Scrooge revisits his old job at Fezziwig's in the second chapter of the novel he meets his old colleague Dick Wilkins who Scrooge claimed was 'attached to him'. This implies Scrooge and Dick were more than friends they were lovers. But Scrooge being young back then was confused about his feelings which was why he dated and got engaged to Belle but as he got older he realised he was homosexual and fell in love with Jacob Marley. After Marley died Scrooge became more colder as not only did he also lose his close sister Fan but Marley who was the love of his life.

Though it may be hard to believe but Scrooge actually died after he left work. The only period Scrooge was alive was the start of the novel where he refuses to dine with Fred and give a donation to the poor and homeless. Then Scrooge goes home for the night but dies in his sleep. Scrooge after seeing the ghost of Marley was punished for his mean deeds by witnessing his forgotten past and how he could had helped Bob Cratchit his clerk by offering him a better raise so Tiny Tim could had got the treatment to get well again. The future scenes actually happened while the ending where Scrooge supposedly repented was what Scrooge could had done but he must now suffer Marley's fate by wearing a chain and travel in the skies forever. Despite Marley claiming Scrooge had a chance to escape his fate he actually lied so that Scrooge would not be aware what lies in store. Technically Scrooge reunited with Marley in death but for the wrong reasons. It makes sense as Marley himself already suffers the same fate after he died seven years before the novel. And to make it more painful Tiny Tim sadly did die.

Alright, this one has some Catholic theology behind it. Thanks to this site, most people who end up on this page are familiar with the concept of [[Main/EverybodyIsJesusInPurgatory Purgatory]] in some shape or form. Now, in Catholic parlance, Purgatory is the place where you go when you die when you're not quite ready for Heaven but not deserving of Hell. In Catholicism, you can be forgiven of your sins since God is all merciful, but there are also consequences to be paid, since God is also all just. You can pay those consequences on this side of life through acts of penance or if you aren't finished when you die, in Purgatory. A somewhat good analogy would be a teen who sneaks out of the house to go to a forbidden party, realizes their mistake and calls mom or dad to pick them up. Do mom and dad forgive the kid? Yeah, because they love him or her. But does that mean the kid will not be grounded forever?

Fun fact about Purgatory: it's not going to last forever. Once the End of Time is hit, Purgatory goes with it leaving only Heaven and Hell behind. Since Marley notes that he is doomed to walk the Earth until the End of Time and ''not'' for eternity, this indicates his punishment will indeed one day end. Just as Purgatory will one day end. And Marely's punishment seems very Purgatoryish, having to learn to come to terms with what a sad, sorry, excuse of a human being he was and how much hurt he caused.
* Scrooge gets another chance. Why should the guy who's helping a friend and is sorry for how he lived his life be screwed?'

** There's nothing in the book that says he has to change the way he does business, though, just that he needs to stop being such a pissed-off dick to everyone. And is he really doing that much economic good by putting absolutely the smallest amount of money back into the economy as he possibly can? He pays taxes only very begrudgingly, lives on cheap gruel and doesn't want to even buy coal when it's cold.

* He seems to act like a man who has, or ''thinks'' he has, no choice. A man in such financial dire straits doesn't want to take any chances. Remember the economic circumstances of the times. It was the Poor Law days. You might say he could have done better than Scrooge, but that's assuming he could get another job ''at all'', and his family may not have survived the transitional period, especially with a sick child in tow.

What could be more appropriate than the most important person in Scrooge's past showing him the way to the future? It makes since in that the GOCYTC was argueably the ghost that Scrooge most needed to hear from, and Fan cared more for Scrooge than anyone else ever had.

It doesn't seem like that radical of an idea to this troper, but it seems like most people take it for granted that Scrooge really was visited by ghosts, when there's really no clear indication that it wasn't just a dream. All the inconsistencies and unanswered questions (ie, why was Scrooge singled out for redemption, what made Tiny Tim so important, etc.) could easily be because it was all a product of Scrooge's subconscious. He could well have been right from the begining--it was all just [[AcidRefluxNightmare a bit of undigested cheese]].

We know Scrooge has no children of his own and very little time to live- certainly not enough to spend or give away all of his money. Furthermore, his nephew has never shown much interest in material goods anyway. Therefore, it stands to reason that Scrooge will bequeath to his nephew enough money to pay his debts and a little extra as a personal gift. As to the rest of his property, he will turn the business over to his new partner and longtime employee, Bob Cratchit, figuring he earned it with all those years of faithful service. He will order his personal assets to be liquidated with the proceeds used to build a hospital dedicated to treating the indigent, especially children.

* This explains why he did a complete 180 personalitywise and sent Fran to bring Scrooge home for Christmas instead of keeping him at that boarding school.

[[WMG: Ebenezer Scrooge's miserly ways were a defense mechanism to all the trauma he experienced from loved ones dying, intended to shield him from anymore pain.]]

* Since no mention is made of Fred's father, it can be safe to assume the man was a deadbeat who left Fan the moment he learned when she was pregnant. Scrooge, having just entered his partnership with Marley, decided that he needed the money not only to provide for himself and Belle, but for his sister and her new child. Belle, unfortunately [[PoorCommunicationKills had no idea about this]], and only felt Ebenezer was being greedy for the sake of being greedy. Scrooge was willing to let her go if it meant Fan would be able to provide for her child, but letting go of Belle ended up being a SenselessSacrifice as Fan ended up dying giving birth to Fred. Scrooge, blaming his new nephew for the loss of the two most important people in his life, became cold-hearted towards Fred, leading to the relationship we see between them at the start of the story.

* Credit for this goes to [[https://www.marottaonmoney.com/belle-didn-t-really-love-scrooge/ David John Marotta's editorial]]. Rather than leaving Scrooge because he was a cold-hearted money grubber, Belle dumped him because she was a GoldDigger. Because of Scrooge's miserly ways, Belle was upset that he didn't spend money on her. Proof of this theory? As mentioned above, she wore morning dress when breaking up with Scrooge. Back in those days, mourning dress was expensive; it shows how easy it was for Belle to spend money on herself. Also, we see Belle married someone else and her husband comes home full of Christmas presents for their children; they promptly tear them open to get at the toys therein. Belle has clearly passed on her gold digger habits to her children.

* When Scrooge initially began work, his past selves are initially betrayed as friendlier and more benevolent, but he becomes more financially ruthless later. While the timing of his partnership with Marley is not officially confirmed, it seems likely that this partnership ended up encouraging Scrooge's worse habits until he became the man we are more familiar with. As a result, since Marley was responsible for corrupting Scrooge, he was given "permission" to try and reform Scrooge after death because he was the reason Scrooge became a villain in the first place, giving the now-repentant Marley hope that he could bring Scrooge back to his better nature.

* From the Ghost of Christmas Past, we know that Scrooge was sent to a boarding school, and that his father was apparently mean and cruel. Then one Christmas, his little sister Fran comes to pick him up from the Boarding School so they could spend Christmas together; she notes how he's become much kinder and gentler to the point that Fran could ask to bring Scrooge back. It is entirely possible that, on the night before, Scrooge's father was also given a second chance, haunted by Christmas spirits, and changed for the better for Christmas day.

* Safer to say that he's the traditional ''English'' personification of Christmas, known as Father Christmas or Old Christmas. He dates back to the Middle Ages at least and was a character in folk plays known as {{Mummers}} plays, in addition to which he appeared in print in mid-seventeenth century Royalist propaganda (the Puritans having banned Christmas in the mid-1640s due to it having various Catholic overtones; this ban ended with the Restoration in 1660). Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, Father Christmas (usually depicted as wearing a green robe and a crown of holly, which Dickens describes the Ghost of Christmas Present as wearing) was all about feasting and being merry at Christmastime. It was only during the mid-Victorian period (about a decade or so after the publication of ''A Christmas Carol'') that he became associated with gift-giving - following which Father Christmas gradually became inextricably linked with (and, by the early twentieth century, more or less indistinguishable from) the American personification of Christmas (Santa Claus), who has his origins in the Dutch ''Sinterklaas''.

* An alternative to the above. The reformed Scrooge will take better care of his health because he's not stingy anymore, will stop overworking himself, will be constantly surrounded by friends and family who can send for a doctor when he needs one, and will have more will to live because he's finally happy. The illness that would have killed him in the BadFuture will either never happen or not be fatal in the new timeline and he'll have many more years to live.

* Marley went out of his way, possibly against the rules of the afterlife (it's stated that wandering, tortured spirits are unable to or not ''allowed'' to try and help the living, as being unable to is part of their punishment), to warn his former partner that he would suffer the same fate he did if he doesn't change his ways. Since this is perhaps the first truly selfless act that Marley had ever done, and in the process he saved the soul of a living individual, it was likely enough to redeem Marley himself as well, permitting him to shed his chains and finally lay his soul to eternal rest.

The genuinely damned have no good left in them, after all.

She's described as wearing mourning dress. It would be odd to wear mourning just because you're sad about breaking up with a boyfriend. Someone in Belle's immediate family (parent or sibling) died and she was wearing the customary mourning. She wanted Ebenezer to come with her to the funeral, but he wouldn't take time off from work. It wasn't the first time he blew her off in pursuit of wealth, but it was the last straw for her.

Credit for this goes to [[https://www.marottaonmoney.com/belle-didn-t-really-love-scrooge/ David John Marotta's editorial]]. Rather than leaving Scrooge because he was a cold-hearted money grubber, Belle dumped him because she was a GoldDigger. Because of Scrooge's miserly ways, Belle was upset that he didn't spend money on her. Proof of this theory? As mentioned above, she wore morning dress when breaking up with Scrooge. Back in those days, mourning dress was expensive; it shows how easy it was for Belle to spend money on herself. Also, we see Belle married someone else and her husband comes home full of Christmas presents for their children; they promptly tear them open to get at the toys therein. Belle has clearly passed on her gold digger habits to her children.

Why are three ghosts visiting after Marley leaves? Perhaps Marley asks the spirits to pay a visit to his old business partner.

In the novel, it was only after seven years that Marley visited Scrooge as a ghost. Why did it take so long for Marley's ghost to come back? Because Marley was damned for a long time.

In Catholic theology, as stated above, Purgatory is a place you go if you aren't good enough for Heaven or bad enough for Hell. At the beginning of the novel, Scrooge was an unrepentant miser who did nothing to help people. If Marley was the same way, he likely would've gone to Hell. It was only after years of suffering did Marley truly repent his ways.

Reformed or not, he just learned that he's placed a large amount of trust in someone who would literally pick his corpse clean the moment he's dead. Both she and Mrs. Dilber will shortly be informed that their services are no longer required.

* Safer to say that he's the traditional ''English'' personification of Christmas, known as Father Christmas or Old Christmas. This character dates back to the Middle Ages at least and was a character in folk plays known as {{Mummers}} plays, in addition to which he appeared in print in mid-seventeenth century Royalist propaganda (the Puritans having banned Christmas in the mid-1640s due to it having various Catholic overtones; this ban ended with the Restoration in 1660). Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, Father Christmas (usually depicted as wearing a green robe and a crown of holly, which Dickens describes the Ghost Of Christmas Present as wearing) was all about feasting and being merry at Christmastime. It was only during the mid-Victorian period (about a decade or so after the publication of ''A Christmas Carol'') that he became associated with gift-giving - following which Father Christmas gradually became inextricably linked with (and, by the early twentieth century, more or less indistinguishable from) the American personification of Christmas (Santa Claus), who has his origins in the Dutch ''Sinterklaas''.

* Safer to say that he's the traditional ''English'' personification of Christmas, known as Father Christmas or Old Christmas. This character dates back to the Middle Ages at least and was a character in folk plays known as mummers plays, in addition to which he appeared in print in mid-seventeenth century Royalist propaganda (the Puritans having banned Christmas in the mid-1640s due to it having various Catholic overtones; this ban ended with the Restoration in 1660). Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, Father Christmas (usually depicted as wearing a green robe and a crown of holly, which Dickens describes the Ghost Of Christmas Present as wearing) was all about feasting and being merry at Christmastime. It was only during the mid-Victorian period (about a decade or so after the publication of ''A Christmas Carol'') that he became associated with gift-giving - following which Father Christmas gradually became inextricably linked with (and, by the early twentieth century, more or less indistinguishable from) the American personification of Christmas (Santa Claus), who has his origins in the Dutch ''Sinterklaas''.

* Other than WordOfGod and the appearance of his ghost. :D

* There have GOT to be easier ways to get Tiny Tim an operation than a massive Time-Travel Gambit. Such as just taking Crachit to the future, letting him copy down the Stock Reports or grab a Sports Almanac or something.

* The story starts with Marley's death to foreshadow Scrooge's mortality. Scrooge is brought to his senses when he sees his own death in a year. While Scrooge can prevent Tiny Tim's death by paying the Cratchetts more money, he has no way of preventing his own death. Marley came to Scrooge so that in a year, Scrooge could go to Heaven, and not float forever as a chained spirit.

[[WMG: The whole thing was for the benefit of the Cratchett family in general.]]

* Scrooge is a greedy moneylender, and a stereotype of Jews is that they're greedy. Also, Christians weren't supposed to handle money but Scrooge DOES. His miserliness is really his Jewishness and his new love of Christmas is conversion. Charles Dickens is basically saying that all Jews should convert, because then they will be good and people will like them.

There is a play, "Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol," by Tom Mula that is essentially that: The only way Marley can escape damnation is to reform Scrooge. In that version, Marley is also the ghosts of Christmases Past and Present. Future, on the other hand ...

RegencyRomances aside, England was not a good place to be during, and for some decades after, UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars. The economy had been dreadfully strained by the long wars, and had only just recovered by the late 1840s. Since Literature/AChristmasCarol is set, sometime in the 1840s (when it came out), it's quite likely that Scrooge was the equivalent of a Great Depression survivor who can't let go of things that made sense then.

* This could aslo explain why Yet To Come is the only ghost who never actually ''speaks'' to Scrooge. It's unclear whether he would have been able to recognize her voice as a spirit (he didn't recognize Marley at first, though), but even if he couldn't have, she might have avoided speaking lest she accidentally say something to tip him off.

[[WMG: Or, the GOCYTC was Fezziwig.

[[WMG: The Ghost Of Christmas Present is Santa Claus]]

*** Having read Dickens' full text via ''The Annotated Christmas Carol'', [[PrimeEvil I've]] concluded that Scrooge's primary failing was ''not'' his greed as such, but his utilitarian philosophy of reducing literally everything to simple, bottom-line numbers. His stinginess is his secondary failing, but its impact is doubled in tandem with the first: he reduces things to numbers, yet forgets that workers are ''people''. Ironically, that even applies to himself--his apartment is dark and mostly bare of personal effects, and his favorite food is gruel, ''which was served in workhouses''.

In TheScrewtapeLetters, or perhaps "Screwtape Proposes a Toast," Screwtape says that demons are intimidated by the pressure of working with particularly nasty people because they know how much they have to lose if the stupendous sinner repents and sets an example. "The great sinners," he says, "are made out of the same material as the great saints."