Themes

• Christmas Spirit

  Christmas is presented as a time when people 'open their shut-up hearts freely'. Several characters in the novel demonstrate Christmas spirit through showing generosity, charity, kindness and goodwill to others.

  Dickens uses A Christmas Carol to suggest that the spirit of Christmas is important all year round:

  - the Ghost of Christmas Past carries winter holy but wears a dress 'trimmed with summer flowers'. This suggests that the spirit's lessons should be observed all year round, not just at Christmas.

  - the presence of Ignorance and Want in the robes of the Ghost of Christmas Present are a reminder that these problems will still exist once Christmas is over, and that people should remember those less fortunate than themselves at all times.
• Christmas Spirit - Fred


  Fred fully embraces the spirit of Christmas. He refers to Christmas as a 'kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time' that brings out the best in people and he hopes that Scrooge will embrace Christmas too.

  Fred also believes that Christmas should encourage people 'to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave'. This shows how he thinks that people should help each other, rather than carrying on with their business as isolated individuals.
• Christmas Spirit - Fezziwig


  Fezziwig demonstrates generosity and kindness. He has the power to make his apprentices 'happy or unhappy', to make their work 'light or burdensome', 'a pleasure or a toil' and chooses to behave in a way that brings happiness to others.
• Christmas Spirit - the Cratchits

  The Cratchits' Christmas celebration demonstrates their love for each other and their happiness at being together. For example, when Bob is told that Martha was not coming home, there was a 'sudden declension in his high spirits', which shows the importance of being together for Christmas.
• Christmas Spirit - charity collectors

  The charity collectors show that Christmas is a time to help those less fortunate than themselves. They refer to Christmas as a time when 'Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices'. They try to bring some festive 'Christian cheer' at a time when poverty is made most obvious by the excesses enjoyed by the wealthy.
• Christmas Spirit - religion

  Many of the aspects of Christmas spirit in A Christmas Carol are related to Dickens' view of Christianity. For example, the values of kindness, forgiveness and charity that Fred associates with Christmas are the kinds of 'Christmas cheer' that Dickens associated with Christianity - he thought that helping others should be an important part of people's faith.

  However, Dickens also believed that Christmas had a secular element, which is shown when Fred says that Christmas is 'a good time' even 'apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin'. A good example of the secular element is the childish excitement and games at Fred's house.

  Dickens links this giddy, childish behaviour back to the religious side of Christmas by saying it's 'good to be children sometime', especially at Christmas when 'its mighty Founder was a child himself'.
• Christmas Spirit - Scrooge's transformation

  At first, Scrooge's reaction to Christmas is 'Humbug' (deceptive or false behaviour) and he thinks anyone who says 'Merry Christmas' should be 'boiled with their own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart'.

  Scrooge's attitude is ridiculed at Fred's part and during the Cratchits' celebrations, he is referred to as the 'Ogre of the family' and his name casts 'a dark shadow' on the party.

  By the end of the story, Scrooge is transformed by what he has learned. He wishes everyone a 'merry Christmas', he makes a large donation to charity, he buys a huge turkey for the Cratchits and he attends Fred's Christmas Party. Scrooge promises to 'honour Christmas' in his heart and to 'try keep it all the year'.
• Redemption

  Scrooge's redemption is the main focus of the text. For Scrooge to achieve redemption, he needs to give up is mean and miserly ways and make up for the bad things that he has done. The question of whether or not Scrooge will achieve redemption is a significant source of dramatic tension throughout the novel.

  At first, it seems impossible that Scrooge will change. In Stave One, he is negatively portrayed as a misanthropist whose dislike of other people is shown by his attitude to charity - 'It's enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people's.'

  By the time Scrooge is visited by the last ghost, his attitude has changes and he wants to change his ways, but he is concerned that he is 'past all hope'. Despite this, Scrooge keeps his promise to change for the better and starts to set thing right in the final chapter.

  Dickens argues that even the very worst people in society can find redemption. To do this, they must make the choice to start changing their ways - Marley admits that his chains were forged of his own 'free will' because he chose not to change his miserly ways when he was alive.
• Redemption - hints

  - The visions shown by the Ghost of Christmas Past show that Scrooge was not always mean-spirited,

  - Scrooge's relationships with Fan and Belle show that he is capable of showing love and kindness, and suggest that he can show them again. They also prove that things like love and companionship were once more important to him than money and they might become so again.

  - Scrooge's father became 'much kinder than he used to be'. This change foreshadows Scrooge's own change and redemption.

  - Marley, who is portrayed as being very similar to Scrooge, claims that he is responsible for 'procuring' the 'chance and hope' that will help Scrooge to save himself. The fact that Marley is now prepared to help someone else makes it seem more likely that Scrooge will be able to change.
• Redemption - religion

  Scrooge's redemption does not rely on a religious conversion or him going to church and praying more frequently. Instead, he is redeemed because he changes his behaviour towards other people. This is consistent with Dickens' views on religion - he thought that Christianity should be about practical kindness and willingness to help other people.

  By the end, Scrooge is 'glowing with good intentions'. This kindness and generosity allows him to change his fate and 'sponge away' his name from the neglected gravestone. It is as though he is reborn and has a second change to do things better - he even says 'I'm quite a baby.
• Redemption - empathy

  Scrooge is transformed by learning the value of empathy. At the start of the novel, Scrooge is used to 'warning all human sympathy to keep its distance'. However, the spirits teach him how to empathise with other people:

  - he feels pity for his lonely, boyhood self, which makes him regret his treatment of the carol singer - 'I should have liked to give him something: that's all.'

  - he remembers the fun at Fezziwig's party and empathises with his own clerk, Bob

  - he learns from the example of Fred, who is his foil at the beginning and frequently displays empathy - Fred pities Scrooge 'whether he likes it or not' and he is also 'heartily sorry' for the death of Tiny Tim, someone who he did not know

  - he is terrified and disgusted by other people's indifference towards him in his own death - for example, the rich businessmen and Joe and the thieves

  The most important example of empathy occurs when Scrooge witnesses the Cratchits' Christmas dinner and feels 'an interest he had never felt before' when he asks if Tiny Tim will live. This marks an important change in Scrooge's views and his empathy for Tiny Tim is the key to his redemption.
• Poverty and Social Responsibility - Scrooge

  At first, Scrooge is apathetic about the plight of the poor. He believes that his taxes pay for the prisons and workhouses, so he feels as though he does not need to donate to charity. He suggests that if they would rather die, 'they had better do it' and 'decrease the surplus population'.

  Scrooge's views lead him to exploit people like Bob Cratchit - he makes Bob work for low pay (15 shillings a week) and without a decent fire - 'it looked like one coal'.

  Belle explains that Scrooge lies in fear of poverty. He has become engrossed by 'the master-passion, Gain' in the hope of being beyond the 'sordid reproach' of poverty. Scrooge even remarks of the world 'there is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty'.

  By revealing Scrooge's fear of poverty, Dickens makes Scrooge's attitude to the poor in Stave One seem even worse. Scrooge knows that poverty is awful, but his fear has made him selfish towards those actually in need.

  Context - Dickens' childhood experience of poverty influenced him and he worked hard to get financial security. Scrooge's fear of poverty echoes Dickens' own concerns about money.
• Poverty and Social Responsibility - context

  Dickens says that some of the chained phantoms in Stave One might be 'guilty governments'. This could be Dickens' criticism of the government's treatment of the poor, for example in the 1834 Poor Law. The chains these ghosts wear are the same as Marley's - they are the result of an uncaring attitude towards the poor.

  Dickens uses the Ghost of Christmas Present to condemn the 'bigotry and selfishness' of those who supported Sabbatarianism. Dickens attacks Sabbatarianism because of the restrictions it places on the poor on their one day of rest.

  The Ghost of Christmas Present also reveals Ignorance and Want - children who are described as 'horrible' monsters. The spirit suggests that these hidden problems are a product of society's neglect of the poor.
• Poverty and Social Responsibility - wealthy's responsibility

  The Ghost of Christmas Present gives a clear warning - ignorance will lead to the 'Doom' of society. Dickens is pointing out that to avoid this, society must address the lack of education received by the poor.

  The fate of Tiny Tim makes a clear link between poverty and death - it is only Scrooge's intervention that saves him. Dickens is showing that the wealthy have a responsibility to help the poor and also the effect that their help can have.

  Dickens' message can also be found in the words of Jacob Marley, when he explains to Scrooge that he must take responsibility for those around him - his true 'business' is the 'common welfare' of mankind. It is this lesson of 'charity, mercy, forbearance and benevolence' that Scrooge eventually learns.
• Poverty and Social Responsibility - Cratchits

  The Cratchits show what living in poverty can be like. Dickens uses the Cratchits as an example of the deserving poor. The Cratchits live in a four-room house. Their clothes are threadbare, but they appreciate and try to make the most of what they have - Belinda and Mrs Cratchit are 'brave in ribbons' and Peter feels 'gallantly attired' in his handed-down 'shirt collar'. The Cratchits' Christmas dinner has to the 'eked out' and their goose was as rare as a black swan to them.

  The Ghost of Christmas Present hints that 'if these shadows remain unaltered' - if the Cratchits continue to live in poverty - Tiny Tim will die. It is only because of Scrooge's intervention that Tim does not die.
• Poverty and Social Responsibility - undeserving poor


  Joe's shop, where Scrooge's stolen possessions are sold in Stave Four, is in a filthy part of the city where the streets are 'foul and narrow' and the alleys 'like so many cesspools, disgorges their offences of smell, and dirt'. The people who live there are 'half-naked, drunken, slipshod, ugly'. Three thieves gather there to sell the property they have stolen from Scrooge. They are not embarrassed or remorseful when they go through the stolen goods, and instead laugh about it.
• Poverty and Social Responsibility - simple definitions

  Dickens goes beyond simple definitions of rich and poor. He shows that while people can be rich financially, they can also be rich in other ways, such as enjoyment, love and companionship.

  The Cratchits are poor but they appreciate what they have. They are portrayed as an unrealistically perfect family who don't need money to make them emotionally rich. By contrast, Scrooge is financially wealthy, but he is poor in companionship and enjoyment. Fred explains that, even though Scrooge is rich, he is deserving of pity because 'his wealth is of no use to him'.

  Fred emphasises the value of emotional richness to him when he says that although Christmas never put 'a scrap of gold or silver' in his pocket, it has made him richer in spirit and 'done me good'.

  Fezziwig is a successful businessman, but he is also rich emotionally. He uses some of his wealthy to bring happiness and joy to those around him. He is an example of the man Scrooge will become.
• Family

  Dickens highlights the importance of family. Family is shown to be a source of comfort, strength and joy throughout the text.

  Several examples of this can be found in the visions shown to Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas Present - children 'running out into the snow' to greet 'sisters, brothers, cousins, uncles, aunts', the 'cheerful company' of a miner's family and a companionable group of sailors, each one comforting himself with thoughts of 'those he cared for'.

  The Cratchit family are symbolic of a perfect family. They are very close, and they enjoy affectionately teasing and talking with each other. They are also very supportive and loyal - they unite in grief over Tiny Tim's death.

  Dickens emphasises that there is nothing special about the Cratchits ('nothing of high mark'), but their family love strengthens them and makes them happy.

  Context - In the middle of the nineteenth century, large families were very common and many families had five or six children.
• Family - happiness

  Dickens links the theme of family with the idea of happiness. For example, Fred's family are shown having fun together as they celebrate Christmas. Fred's laughter is 'irresistibly contagious', his wife 'laughed as heartily as he' and their friends 'roared out, lustily'.

  Scrooge is also shown a vision of Belle's boisterous and playful family. Belle and her daughter laugh 'heartily' at the turmoil caused by the younger children and Dickens says the family is full of 'joy, gratitude and ecstasy'.
• Family - Scrooge at beginning

  In contrast to the other main characters in the novel, Scrooge does not see the virtue in family life. Every year, he dismisses Fred's invitation to dine with his family in favour of solitude.

  When Fred tells Scrooge that he married because he fell in love, Scrooge laughs at him and says that love is the 'one thing in the world ridiculous than a merry Christmas'.

  Scrooge can only think about the financial burden that family brings. He wonders how Bob Cratchit can feel 'merry' at Christmas when he has to support his whole family with his low wage - 'my clerk, with fifteen shillings a-week, and a wife and family, talking about a merry Christmas'. Similarly, his reaction to the Ghost of Christmas Present's eighteen hundred brothers is to mutter that it's 'a tremendous family to provide for'.
• Family - Scrooge

  Scrooge is isolated and alone. When he was younger, Scrooge was 'a solitary child, neglected by his friends'. He weeps when he is shown a vision of himself 'alone again' in the 'long, bare, melancholy' schoolroom. Scrooge had to create companionship for himself out of the characters in his books to replace his own absent family. This scene foreshadows Scrooge's solitary life later on, after his failure to make a family with Belle. The break off of his engagement with Belle appears to be a turning point for Scrooge - he stops caring about other people and become even more obsessed with money. Scrooge argues that his fixation on money is due to him becoming 'wiser', but it is the cause of his loneliness.

  In Stave Four, Scrooge sees the result of his rejection of family and the isolation this brings him. After Scrooge's death, one of the thieves says that if the 'wicked old screw' had been more 'natural' in life, he might have had someone to look after him in death. Scrooge's selfishness means he has no-one to take care of him after he dies. Scrooge's corpse is left 'plundered and bereft, unwatched, unwept, uncared for'. This contrasts with the tears the Cratchit family shed over the death of Tiny Tim.
• Family - Scrooge at end


  When Scrooge was a child, he was rescued from his isolation when his father changed and became kinder. When Fan collects Scrooge, she says that the family home is 'like Heaven'. Without a family of his own, Scrooge cannot be saved from loneliness in the 'haggard winter of his life'. He regrets that he missed his chance to have a family with Belle and will now never have a child to call him father.

  However, at the end, Scrooge becomes a part of two families. He becomes like a 'second father' to Tiny Tim and endeavours to help the struggling Cratchit family. He also embraces his relationship with Fred, and visits him on Christmas day.