christmas spirit

• the celebration of christmas is a central theme of a christmas carol
• dickens presents christmas as a joyful time full of fun, games and feasting
• most importantly, he presents christmas as a time to enjoy the company of family and friends and show generosity and compassion to others
• as a result, scrooge's hatred of christmas is a particularly effective way of showing him to be cold, heartless and joyless
• the christmas spirit is demonstrated through the characters of fred, fezziwig and the cratchits, who all have very different social backgrounds but are all able to celebrate and enjoy christmas in their own ways
• by refusing to take part in the celebrations, scrooge cuts himself off from the joy that spending time with family and friends brings
• dickens makes it clear that without the christmas spirit, scrooge's money can never bring him any happiness
• christmas is presented as the antithesis of many of the ills of victorian society
• dickens describes how the festive atmosphere overcomes the gloominess of the smoggy streets of london, and brings a sense of companionship and cheer to those who work tirelessly in dangerous conditions to keep the country running
• dickens also shows us the importance of charity during the christmas season
• the happiness brought by christmas serves to highlight the misery faced by the poorest members of society, who have little to celebrate
• dickens brings attention to their suffering and shows how christmas serves as both a reminder and an opportunity to improve the lives of the less fortunate