transformation & redemption

• although dickens doesn't give the novella an explicitly religious message, the setting of christmas gives the story an undertone of christian morality
• redemption is a key concept in christianity that refers to the soul being saved from hell and welcomed into heaven
• christianity teaches that it's never too late to save your soul as long as you show genuine remorse for past sins, just as dickens shows that it's never too late to change your behaviour to make amends for past misdeeds
• at the time the book was written, the vast majority of people in england were religious and would have picked up on the christian allegory in scrooge's transformation
• free will is also a key concept for many christians, who believe that while everybody is given the chance to enter heaven, god cannot force people to be good; it's up to us to decide for ourselves how to luve our lives
• scrooge is shown the consequences of his own actions and makes the the choice to be a better man
• dickens hoped that his readers would do the same after reading a christmas carol