SparkNotes: A Christmas Carol: Summary A Christmas Carol Context Characters A mean-spirited, miserly old man named Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his counting-house on a frigid Christmas Eve. His clerk, Bob Cratchit, shivers in the anteroom because Scrooge refuses to spend money on heating coals for a fire. Scrooge's nephew, Fred, pays his uncle a visit and invites him to his annual Christmas party. Two portly gentlemen also drop by and ask Scrooge for a contribution to their charity. Scrooge reacts to the holiday visitors with bitterness and venom, spitting out an angry "Bah! Humbug!" in response to his nephew's "Merry Christmas!" Later that evening, after returning to his dark, cold apartment, Scrooge receives a chilling visitation from the ghost of his dead partner, Jacob Marley. Marley, looking haggard and pallid, relates his unfortunate story. As punishment for his greedy and self-serving life his spirit has been condemned to wander the Earth weighted down with heavy chains. Marley hopes to save Scrooge from sharing the same fate. Marley informs Scrooge that three spirits will visit him during each of the next three nights.

After the wraith disappears, Scrooge collapses into a deep sleep. He wakes moments before the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Past, a strange childlike phantom with a brightly glowing head. The spirit escorts Scrooge on a journey into the past to previous Christmases from the curmudgeon's earlier years. Invisible to those he watches, Scrooge revisits his childhood school days, his apprenticeship with a jolly merchant named Fezziwig, and his engagement to Belle, a woman who leaves Scrooge because his lust for money eclipses his ability to love another. Scrooge, deeply moved, sheds tears of regret before the phantom returns him to his bed. The Ghost of Christmas Present, a majestic giant clad in a green fur robe, takes Scrooge through London to unveil Christmas as it will happen that year. Scrooge watches the large, bustling Cratchit family prepare a miniature feast in its meager home. He discovers Bob Cratchit's crippled son, Tiny Tim, a courageous boy whose kindness and humility warms Scrooge's heart. The specter then zips Scrooge to his nephew's to witness the Christmas party.

Scrooge finds the jovial gathering delightful and pleads with the spirit to stay until the very end of the festivities. As the day passes, the spirit ages, becoming noticeably older. Toward the end of the day, he shows Scrooge two starved children, Ignorance and Want, living under his coat. He vanishes instantly as Scrooge notices a dark, hooded figure coming toward him. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come leads Scrooge through a sequence of mysterious scenes relating to an unnamed man's recent death. Scrooge sees businessmen discussing the dead man's riches, some vagabonds trading his personal effects for cash, and a poor couple expressing relief at the death of their unforgiving creditor. Scrooge, anxious to learn the lesson of his latest visitor, begs to know the name of the dead man. After pleading with the ghost, Scrooge finds himself in a churchyard, the spirit pointing to a grave. Scrooge looks at the headstone and is shocked to read his own name. He desperately implores the spirit to alter his fate, promising to renounce his insensitive, avaricious ways and to honor Christmas with all his heart. Whoosh!

He suddenly finds himself safely tucked in his bed. Overwhelmed with joy by the chance to redeem himself and grateful that he has been returned to Christmas Day, Scrooge rushes out onto the street hoping to share his newfound Christmas spirit. He sends a giant Christmas turkey to the Cratchit house and attends Fred's party, to the stifled surprise of the other guests. As the years go by, he holds true to his promise and honors Christmas with all his heart: he treats Tiny Tim as if he were his own child, provides lavish gifts for the poor, and treats his fellow human beings with kindness, generosity, and warmth. More Help A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: Character Summary EBENEZER SCROOGE: a miserly, money-hungry businessman BOB CRATCHIT: Scrooge’s clerk FRED: Scrooge’s nephew TINY TIM: the lame son of the Cratchits PETER CRATCHIT: the Cratchit’s eldest son MRS.

CRATCHIT: Bob Cratchit’s wife JACOB MARLEY: Scrooge’s business partner who died seven years ago SUPPORTING CHARACTERS TWO PORTLY GENTLEMEN: two men raising money for the poor FRAN: Scrooge’s little sister and Fred’s mother MR. FEZZIWIG: Scrooge’s first employer MRS. FEZZIWIG: Mr. Fezziwig’s wife DICK WILKINS: another apprentice at Fezziwig’s establishment BELLE: a woman Scrooge had been engaged to in his youth GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST: the first of the spirits foretold by Marley who shows Scrooge his past Christmases.

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: the second of the spirits foretold by Marley that shows Scrooge Christmas celebrations in the present time BELINDA CRATCHIT: the Cratchit’s second daughter LITTLE BOY CRATCHIT: another Cratchit son LITTLE GIRL CRATCHIT: another Cratchit daughter MARTHA CRATCHIT: the eldest daughter of the Cratchit’s FRED’S WIFE: the wife of Scrooge’s nephew PLUMP SISTER: the sister of Fred’s wife TOPPER: a guest of Fred’s, who is in love with the plump sister THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS YET TO COME: the third spirit foretold by Marley that shows Scrooge Christmases in the Future OLD JOE: a pawnshop owner CHARWOMAN: Scrooge’s housekeeper MRS.

DILBER: Scrooge’s laundress UNDERTAKER’S MAN: a man who has no ethics about stealing from the dead CAROLINE AND HER HUSBAND: two people who owed money to Scrooge who are happy when he dies BOY: the boy Scrooge sends to buy the big prize turkey BELLE'S HUSBAND: a man who sees Scrooge on the night Marley dies SparkNotes: A Christmas Carol: Characters A Christmas Carol Summary Stave One: Marley's Ghost Ebenezer Scrooge - The miserly owner of a London counting-house, a nineteenth century term for an accountant's office. The three spirits of Christmas visit the stodgy bean-counter in hopes of reversing Scrooge's greedy, cold-hearted approach to life. Bob Cratchit - Scrooge's clerk, a kind, mild, and very poor man with a large family. Though treated harshly by his boss, Cratchit remains a humble and dedicated employee. Tiny Tim - Bob Cratchit's young son, crippled from birth. Tiny Tim is a highly sentimentalized character who Dickens uses to highlight the tribulations of England's poor and to elicit sympathy from his middle and upper class readership.

Jacob Marley - In the living world, Ebenezer Scrooge's equally greedy partner. Marley died seven years before the narrative opens. He appears to Scrooge as a ghost condemned to wander the world bound in heavy chains. Marley hopes to save his old partner from suff ering a similar fate. The Ghost of Christmas Past - The first spirit to visit Scrooge, a curiously childlike apparition with a glowing head. He takes Scrooge on a tour of Christmases in his past. The spirit uses a cap to dampen the light emanating from his head. The Ghost of Christmas Present - The second spirit to visit Scrooge, a majestic giant clad in a green robe. His lifespan is restricted to Christmas Day. He escorts Scrooge on a tour of his contemporaries' Holiday celebrations. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come - The third and final spirit to visit Scrooge, a silent phantom clad in a hooded black robe. He presents Scrooge with an ominous view of his lonely death. Fred - Scrooge's nephew, a genial man who loves Christmas. He invites Scrooge to his Christmas party each and every year, only to be refused by his grumpy uncle.

Fezziwig - The jovial merchant with whom the young Scrooge apprenticed. Fezziwig was renowned for his wonderful Christmas parties. Belle - A beautiful woman who Scrooge loved deeply when he was a young man. Belle broke off their engagement after Scrooge became consumed with greed and the lust for wealth. She later married another man. Peter Cratchit - Bob's oldest son, who inherits his father's stiff-collared shirt for Christmas. Martha Cratchit - Bob's oldest daughter, who works in a milliner's shop. (A milliner is a person who designs, produces, and sells hats.) Fan - Scrooge's sister; Fred's mother. In Scrooge's vision of Christmases past, he remembers Fan picking him up from school and walking him home. The Portly Gentlemen - Two gentlemen who visit Scrooge at the beginning of the tale seeking charitable contributions. Scrooge promptly throws them out of his office. Upon meeting one of them on the street after his visitations, he promises to make lavish donations to help the poor. Mrs. Cratchit - Bob's wife, a kind and loving woman.

More Help The Naming of Names in Charles Dickens's Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" [ Victorian Web Home —> Authors —> Charles Dickens —> Works —> The Christmas Books ] This essay first appeared in the 1987 Dickens Quarterly 4:1 (1987): 15-20. mong "those devices of language and rhetoric that produce the characteristic ring of Dickens' style" (Stoehr, vii) one of the most obvious, even in his earliest writings, is the naming of names. Already in The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist we find that the name of a given character may work on us as readers at both literal and connotative levels — "Sowerberry" and "Bumble" in Oliver Twist being excellent examples of the sorts of names that conjure up an immediate image or, at a stroke, capture a characteristic action, or, at every repetition (consider "The Honourable Samuel Slumkey, of Slumkey Hall" in The Pickwick Papers), deliver a personal or social criticism, or simply sound progressively sillier!

[15/16] Perhaps nowhere in Dickens is the aptness of names more marked than in the first of the Christmas Books, A Christmas Carol (1843), whose homiletic nature is enhanced by the names of the principal characters: Ebenezer Scrooge, Jacob Marley, and Bob Cratchit. Upon a first reading of the story, as John Butt points out, one probably is struck by the generally-accepted connotation of the protagonist's surname: “Scrooge is not only cross-grained; he is, as his name suggests, a "screw," a "squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching. covetous old sinner." Although there is no humbug in him — indeed, he constantly suspects it in others — he belongs with the rapacious, self-seeking characters of Martin Chuzzlewit ” (17). Butt's definition of the term "scrooge" is supported by the OED: "Scroodge, var. forms of Scrouge, v." or "Scroudge. sb. colloq. or vulgar. Also scrowge [f.

Scrouge v]." Wright in The English Dialect Dictionary (1904) notes exceptions to the usual spelling of "scroodge" with a "d" in several counties, including Kent, where Dickens spent his formative years. So far, then, there is nothing in the protagonist's last name that is inconsistent with his proclaims to the audience in C. Z. Barnett's 1844 dramatic adaptation ​: "Folks say I'm tight-fisted — that I'm a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, clutching miser. What of that? It saves me from being annoyed by needy men and beggars" (Act One, Scene One). However, apart from the fact that it too 'sounds right' for him, no one has remarked on the significance of the protagonist's first name, which most recognize as some sort of allusion to the Bible, and possibly to the Old Testament. In fact, its connotation is as telling as its denotation. As indicated by the OED, the name is an allusion to the memorial stone which the prophet Samuel set up to commemorate the Israelites' victory at Mizpeh (I Samuel, vii, 12).

Prior to the age of Dickens, the term, which had literally meant "the stone of help" in Hebrew, was "Used appellatively in religious literature in fig. phrases, alluding to the sentiment' Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.' associated with the origin of the name" (OED), as in Robinson's 1758 hymn, "Come Thou Fount": "Here I raise my Ebenezer, Hither by Thy help I'm come." The OED supplies a secondary, more colloquial use of the word that was current in Dickens's own time: 1. Occasionally (like Bethel, Zoar, Zion, etc.) adopted by Methodists , Baptists , Independents, etc. as the name of a particular chapel or meeting-house. Hence used contemptuously as a synonym for ' dissenting chapel.' 1856 Sat. Rev. II. 318 Such low resorts as public-houses and Ebenezers.

To these denotative meanings we must add the connotation of "Eben," which, in the eighteenth century, was a variant spelling of "Ebon," defined by Samuel Johnson as "A hard, heavy, black, valuable wood, which admits a fine gloss." From the outset, Ebenezer Scrooge is a man of good business who, like Shakespeare's Shylock, stands for judgment and the law. He, too, demands his pound of flesh from all who fall into his power. He sees himself as he remembers his partner: "a good man of business" rather than, simply, a good man, for the latter he patently is not. "Scrooge never painted out Old Marley's name. There it stood. The firm was known as Scrooge and Marley. Sometimes people new to the business called Scrooge Scrooge, and sometimes Marley, but he answered to both names: it was all the same to him" (p. 46). [16/17] His conception of himself is clearly bound up with his conception of Jacob Marley as he was.

Perhaps his refusal to blot out Marley's name is not so much laziness or parsimony as an outward and visible sign of his reluctance to accept not only Marley's death, but his own inevitable demise. That Scrooge should so closely identify himself with Marley even seven years after his partner's death becomes appropriate later on, for the physically-dead but spiritually-awakened partner will become Scrooge's vehicle to salvation in this life through the good works both have thus far neglected. Scrooge and Marley are twins of business who stand in marked contrast to those more kindly twins of business who preceded those of A Christmas Carol, the Cheerybles of Nicholas Nickleby . To compensate for the sufferings of his childhood and youth, Scrooge has hardened his heart into the Hebraic stone of the law and put a limit to his humanity and fellow-feeling, as his name in Hebrew, suggests. Like the Hebrews of the Old Testament and the English Puritans who revived the spirit of its law, Scrooge lives under the old dispensation, without hope for salvation. But Scrooge's law is not even that of the Mosaic Code, but that of the Reverend Malthus.

He advocates the principles behind Malthus's Essay on the Principle of Population (1798,1803) by staunchly defending prisons, treadmills, union workhouses, and the Poor Law as necessary checks on the inevitable increase of population. Scrooge's dispassionate view of the problems of the lower orders is precisely that of Malthus: "'lf they would rather die,' said Scrooge, 'they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population"'(p. 51). This for Scrooge and for Malthus is an inexorable law of Nature, the deity or idol Scrooge's fiancée accuses him as worshipping. The "golden" idol that has "displaced" her suggests the golden calf which the Israelites erected after their escape from Egypt; Belle identifies Scrooge's "one guiding principle" as "Gain," that is, the fertility and plenty which the golden calf represented to the wayward followers of Moses. Scrooge thinks of himself as a man singularly lacking in what he terms "humbug" (fraud, sham, deceit, and delusion) but what we readers see as sensitivity and compassion.

He contributes to those useful and necessary agencies of society, the prison and the workhouse, so why (he reasons) need he contribute to charities which would merely prolong the sufferings of a class who perform no useful function in the social mechanism? Seeing society as a well-oiled machine and the poor as merely a pool of surplus labor prevents Scrooge from identifying his humanity with theirs and reckoning himself and those so far below him in material prosperity as "fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys" (p. 48). Unlike his nephew, at the outset the protagonist possesses not a shred of that Samaritan spirit that permeates the New Testament. An advocate of the letter of the law, Scrooge is dead to the spirit of the law, namely that . . . Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." A Christmas Carol is far more, then, than a jolly, fireside tale extolling all the good things of the festive season.

It is the story of one man's epiphany, an inward change-of-heart that is reflected in his becoming "as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world." A Christmas Carol, [17/18] then, is the nineteenth-century equivalent of Milton's Nativity Ode, a prose tract which celebrates the birth of the Christian message and the death of pagan materialism in the heart of a man of business who comes to learn that mankind is his business. Scrooge's deceased partner plays an important part in this spiritual rejuvenation. Indeed, the elements of childhood and death are curiously intertwined in this tale, which involves the death of the old self and the restoration of a naive, childlike wonder and goodness. These twin elements of the tale meet, of course. in Tiny Tim, the crippled boy who is destined to die. But it is the arrival of Jacob Marley's ghost in the figure of the door-knocker that ushers in the miser's contemplation of death.

Most readers recognize in Marley's business name an association with the earth and soil, although we usually fail to make the connection between the grave and the man. But aside from this primary association there are several secondary connotations that may work on us at a subconscious level. As used by Romantic-era novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott in Nigel (1822), a "marl" was "A marvel, wonder" (Wright, 40). The name may also refer to the Yorkshire expression for "sleet;" also, the English Dialect Dictionary establishes that in Scotland, Cheshire, and Warwickshire, "Marley" meant "a marble." One does not have to strain credulity to accept "headstone" or "tombstone" for the term. Thus, the name "Marley" is wholly appropriate to a long-dead character who reappears on a cold and bitter night to excite fear and wonder in his hard-hearted partner. He has, apparently, fertilized Scrooge's little-used imagination and long-dormant conscience as his body has fertilized the earth those seven years.

The supernatural visitations begin with the face of Marley and end at the verge of Scrooge's grave; the progress of the story depends upon Scrooge's contemplation of the death of his commercial twin leading him to the fearful consideration of his own death. As for Marley's first name, Jacob, most of us dismiss it as just another vague allusion to the Old Testament — after all, unlike Ebenezer, Jacob seems a common enough name in the nineteenth century English-speaking world. We may dismiss, I think, the word's archaic association of "Jacobus,"a gold coin of the Restoration period, and concentrate on the patriarch Jacob of Genesis. The biblical Jacob was a sharp trader, a keen bargainer, and — as Scrooge would say — a good man of business. Moreover, his name reinforces that Old Testament connection spoken of in the consideration earlier of Scrooge's first name. What then does the name of Scrooge's clerk contribute to the thematic texture of A Christmas Carol? First of all, why is he "Bob" rather than "Robert"? Our usual response is to welcome this familiar form.

"Bob" the OED defines as "A pet form of the name Robert," and he is not merely his wife's 'pet' but everyone's; witness his sliding on the ice of Cornhill with the boys of the City as soon as he is liberated from the tedium of Scrooge and Marley's. He is an irrepressibly good fellow who, despite his large family and low weekly wages, has a keen, childlike enjoyment of life, in marked contrast to his employer's withdrawal from the sanguine pursuits of hearth and home. However, several other meanings of "Bob" contribute something to his character. An obsolete meaning of the word is derived from the Spanish [18/19] "bobo" [fool]: "Bob" the OED defines as a verb "to befool, cheat, make sport of . . .

mock, deceive"; a meaning consistent with Scrooge's deriding his clerk for a fool who can make merry at Christmas "with fifteen shillings a-week, and a wife and family, " those hostages to fortune whom Scrooge has eschewed as conducive to "Bedlam." Most commonly, however, we think of Bob not as a fool, or one cozened, but as a pun on the colloquialism for a shilling. Scrooge's clerk is then the cherished, childlike, inferior, and underpaid subordinate that his name suggests. And what of his surname? The usual association must be with "crotchet" and "crotchety," the former being defined by the OED as 9. A whimsical fancy; a perverse conceit; a peculiar notion on some point (usually considered unimportant) held by an individual in opposition to common opinion. b. A fanciful device, mechanical, artistic, or literary. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. II. Ix. Nothing but innuendoes, figurative crotchets.

All of this admirably fits the humble but merry clerk whom his employer scorns for a fool who has rejected the utilitarian values Scrooge himself personifies. Setting aside the early seventeenth-century meaning of "Crotch" as a dilemma, we might stretch Bob's surname to the dialectal substantive "stomach" since he and his family are hearty eaters and mighty enjoyers of goose and plum, pudding. As a verb in Cheshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, and Herefordshire, "Cratch" is used as a verb "To eat heartily; to eat as a horse . . . . Hence (1) Cratch, sb. Keep, feed; (2) Cratcher, sb. A hearty eater" (English Dialect Dictionary, I, 778). It is no accident that the scenes in which the Cratchits appear collectively are dominated by eating and drinking and general good-cheer. The names of the clerk and his employers, however, are not precisely in the vein of Ben Jonson's Comedy of Humours, with its immediate correlation between the characters' names and their behaviour. As we have seen, this direct connection does not fully describe Dickens's practice in A Christmas Carol.

In his first Christmas book , the names work on us at a subconscious or associative level as well as a literal or conscious level, giving the transformation of its protagonist particular seasonal significance. Scrooge's being recalled to the life and good will of his fellow men and women makes his night with the spirits analogous to St. Paul's experience on the road to Damascus — a divine moment, an epiphany effected by the Holy Spirit for the reclamation of his soul. Related Materials Recent editions particularly useful for students and scholars Reference List Allingham, Philip V. “>The Naming of Names in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol” Dickens Quarterly 4:1 (1987): 15-20. Barnett, Charles Zachary. A Christmas Carol; or, The Miser's Warning. Dicks' Standard Plays, No. 722. London: John Dicks, [1844?]. Butt, John. "A Christmas Carol: Its Origin and Design." Dickensian 51 (1954): 17. Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol. (1843). The Christmas Books. Ed. Michael Slater. Il. John Leech.

Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1978. Stoehr, Taylor. Dickens: The Dreamer's Stance. Ithaca, NY: Cornell U. P., 1966. Wright, Joseph, ed. The English Dialect Dictionary. London: Frowde and Corner, 1904. Vol. 4 (R-S): 40. Who is Ebenezer Scrooge? Who is Ebenezer Scrooge? Save Ebenezer Scrooge is a fictional character, the name of the protagonist in the novel “The Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens which was published in 1843. Ebenezer Scrooge is a rich businessman who is stingy and despises the poor. His harsh dealings with his fellow men including his clerk Bob Cratchit are described in the novel in a vivid manner. Content What are the characteristics of Ebenezer Scrooge? Ebenezer Scrooge is a fictional character, the name of the protagonist in the novel “The Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens which was published in 1843. Ebenezer Scrooge is a rich businessman who is stingy and despises the poor.

His harsh dealings with his fellow men including his clerk Bob Cratchit are described in the novel in a vivid manner. What is the story involving Ebenezer Scrooge? The story of the novel “A Christmas Carol” shows Ebenezer Scrooge, on Christmas Eve, being visited by the spirit of Jacob Marley, his former business partner. Jacob Marley had grossly exploited the poor during his life time and has since been condemned with eternal punishment. Hence he advises Scrooge to reform his behavior if he wants s to be saved from a similar punishment. Later in the night Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the three ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come who take him through the different stages of his life and explain the consequences of his actions and behavior. How does Ebenezer Scrooge relive the Past? Through the ghost of Christmas Past Ebenezer Scrooge remembers the feeling of loneliness as a child during his stay at the boarding school. He grows up devoid of familial love and plunges into business in his youth. His obsession for money estranges him from the love interest of his life which further hardens him.

He remembers the love for his sister and how her death had pained him. How doe the Ghost of the Christmas Present and Future help Ebenezer Scrooge? The Ghost of Christmas Present helps Scrooge relive the happiness of his nephew’s simple life and the poor Cratchit family who may loose Tiny Tim for lack of food and good medical care. Ebenezer Scrooge is appalled by the final scenes of his actions presented by the Ghost of the future. He is haunted by the idea of dying with out anyone to mourn his loss. At the end Scrooge realizes the futility of his actions and transforms into a humane and kind personality. In fact he wakes up to the Christmas morning as a changed person, having love in his heart and who treats others with joy and compassion. Scrooge’s transformation is complete and symbolizes the true spirit of Christmas. What are the characteristics of Ebenezer Scrooge? Ebenezer Scrooge, the main character of the story- “A Christmas Carol”, is a money lender by profession described by Dickens as a “...covetous old sinner!” The description of his physical features also shows the coldness of his heart.

Scrooge has a general dislike for the poor and feels the world would be a better place without them. He treats his fellow men shabbily. The name Scrooge has come to represent, in the English language, miserliness and a general attitude of misanthropy. At the beginning Ebenezer Scrooge is portrayed as a cold-hearted, greedy and stingy man who expresses dislike for the Christmas traditions. He embodies winter and the accompanying coldness and despair. But just as the warmth of spring and life follows winter, so also, Scrooge’s stinginess and cold heart sees a revival of goodwill that was part of his growing up years. External References BBC - School Radio - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. 6: Scrooge's nephew A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. 6: Scrooge's nephew To download the video of this episode right click on this link . To download the podcast of the audio only click here .

The Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge away from the Cratchit's home and presents him with a series of Christmas scenes: a mining family on a bleak moor; the keepers of a solitary lighthouse out at sea; the crew of a ship. In each case the circumstances of the individuals concerned are difficult; yet each hums 'a Christmas tune'. Then the scene changes again. Now Scrooge sees his nephew – Fred – at his Christmas party. Fred is in the process of relating to his guests his encounter with Scrooge that very morning, during which Scrooge described Christmas as 'humbug'. The essence of the scene is generosity, Christmas cheer and a refusal to censure Scrooge for his behaviour. They journey on and 'in misery's every refuge, where vain man had not made fast the door and barred the Spirit out, he left his blessing.' Finally Scrooge asks the Ghost about two children he has noticed sheltering in the folds of his robe. The Spirit says they are the children of mankind: 'This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want.

Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased!' The bell strikes twelve and the Ghost disappears, to be replaced by the ghoulish sight of the last of the three spirits 'coming, like a mist along the ground, towards him.' Dickens - A Christmas Carol - Lesson plans and supporting resources: A Christmas Carol - Text of Episode 6: Scrooge's nephew Text: A Christmas Carol, Episode 6 - Scrooge's nephew By this time it was getting dark, and snowing pretty heavily; and as Scrooge and the Spirit went along the streets, the brightness of all the roaring fires in kitchens, parlours, and all sorts of rooms, was wonderful. Here, the flickering of the blaze showed preparations for a cosy dinner and curtains, ready to be drawn to shut out cold and darkness. There all the children of the house were running out into the snow to meet their married sisters, brothers, cousins, uncles, aunts, and be the first to greet them.

If you had judged from the numbers of people on their way to friendly gatherings, you might have thought that no one was at home to give them welcome when they got there. How the Ghost exulted! How it poured its bright and harmless mirth on everything within its reach! And now, without a word of warning from the Ghost, they stood upon a bleak moor, where nothing grew but moss and furze, and coarse, rank grass. Down in the west the setting sun had left a streak of fiery red, which glared upon the desolation for an instant, like a sullen eye, and frowning lower, lower, lower, was lost in the thick gloom of darkest night. ‘What place is this?' asked Scrooge. ‘A place where Miners live, who labour in the bowels of the earth,' returned the Spirit. ‘But they know me. See!' A light shone from the window of a hut, and swiftly they advanced towards it. Passing through the wall of mud and stone, they found a cheerful company assembled around a glowing fire.

An old, old man and woman, with their children and their children's children, and another generation beyond that, all decked out gaily in their holiday attire. The old man, in a voice that seldom rose above the howling of the wind, was singing them a Christmas song, and from time to time they all joined in the chorus. The Spirit did not tarry here, but bade Scrooge hold his robe, and passing on above the moor, sped towards the sea. To Scrooge's horror, looking back, he saw the last of the land behind them, and his ears were deafened by the thundering of water, as it rolled, and roared, and raged. Built upon a reef of sunken rocks, there stood a solitary lighthouse. Great heaps of sea-weed clung to its base, and storm-birds rose and fell about it, like the waves they skimmed. But even here, the two men who watched the lighthouse light had made a fire, that shed out a ray of brightness on the awful sea.

Joining their hands over the rough table at which they sat, they wished each other Merry Christmas, and one of them, with his face all damaged and scarred with hard weather - as the figure-head of an old ship might be - struck up a sturdy song that was like a Gale in itself. Again the Ghost sped on, above the black and heaving sea - on, on - until, being far away, as he told Scrooge, from any shore, they lighted on a ship. They stood beside the helmsman at the wheel, the look-out in the bow, the officers on watch; dark, ghostly figures. But every man among them hummed a Christmas tune, or had a Christmas thought, or spoke below his breath to his companion of some bygone Christmas Day. And every man on board had remembered those he cared for at a distance, and had known that they delighted to remember him. It was a great surprise to Scrooge, while listening to the moaning of the wind, to hear a hearty laugh.

It was a much greater surprise to Scrooge to recognise it as his own nephew's and to find himself in a bright, gleaming room, with the Spirit standing smiling by his side, and looking at that same nephew with approving affability! ‘Ha, ha!’ laughed Scrooge's nephew. ‘Ha, ha, ha!' If you should happen, by any unlikely chance, to know a man more blest in a laugh than Scrooge's nephew, all I can say is, I should like to know him too. Introduce him to me, and I'll cultivate his acquaintance. There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour. When Scrooge's nephew laughed in this way, holding his sides, rolling his head, and twisting his face into the most extravagant contortions, Scrooge's niece, by marriage, laughed as heartily as he. And their assembled friends roared out lustily. ‘Ha, ha! He said that Christmas was humbug, as I live!' cried Scrooge's nephew. ‘He believed it too!' ‘More shame for him, Fred!' said Scrooge's niece, indignantly.

‘He's a comical old fellow,' said Scrooge's nephew, ‘that's the truth: and not so pleasant as he might be. However, his offences carry their own punishment, and I have nothing to say against him.' ‘I'm sure he’s very rich, Fred,' hinted Scrooge's niece. ‘At least you always tell me so.' ‘What of that, my dear!' said Scrooge's nephew. ‘His wealth is of no use to him. He doesn’t do any good with it!' ‘I have no patience with him,' observed Scrooge's niece. Scrooge's niece's sisters, and all the other ladies, expressed the same opinion. ‘Oh, I have!' said Scrooge's nephew. ‘I am sorry for him; I couldn't be angry with him if I tried. Who suffers by his ill whims? Himself, always. He takes it into his head to dislike us, and he won't come and dine with us. What's the consequence? He doesn’t lose much of a dinner.' ‘Indeed, I think he loses a very good dinner,' interrupted Scrooge's niece.

Everybody else said the same, and they must be allowed to have been competent judges, because they had just had dinner. ‘Well! I'm very glad to hear it,' said Scrooge's nephew. ‘I just wish to say that the consequence of his taking a dislike to us, and not making merry with us, is, as I think, that he loses some pleasant moments, which could do him no harm. I mean to give him the same chance every year, whether he likes it or not, for I pity him. He may rail at Christmas till he dies, but he can't help thinking better of it - I defy him - if he finds me going there, in good temper, year after year, and saying Uncle Scrooge, how are you? If it only puts him in the mood to leave his poor clerk fifty pounds, that's something.' After tea, they had some music, for they were a musical family. Scrooge's niece played well upon the harp, and played among other things a simple little tune which had been familiar to the child who fetched Scrooge from the boarding-school, as he had been reminded by the Ghost of Christmas Past.

When this strain of music sounded, all the things that Ghost had shown him, came upon his mind; he softened more and more; and thought that if he could have listened to it often, years ago, he might have cultivated the kindness of life for his own happiness. But they didn't devote the whole evening to music. After a while they played at forfeits. There might have been twenty people there, young and old, but they all played, and so did Scrooge; for, wholly forgetting what was going on and that his voice made no sound in their ears, he sometimes came out with his guess quite loud, and very often guessed quite right, too; for the sharpest needle, was not sharper than Scrooge. The Ghost was greatly pleased to find him in this mood, and looked upon him so kindly, that Scrooge begged like a boy to be allowed to stay until the guests departed. But this the Spirit said could not be done. ‘Here’s a new game,' said Scrooge.

‘One half hour, Spirit, only one!' It was a Game called ‘Yes and No’, where Scrooge's nephew had to think of something, and the rest must find out what it was; he only answering to their questions ‘yes’ or ‘no’, as the case was. The brisk fire of questioning to which he was exposed, elicited from him that he was thinking of an animal, a live animal, rather a disagreeable animal, a savage animal, an animal that growled and grunted sometimes, and talked sometimes, and lived in London, and walked about the streets, and was not a horse, or an ass, or a cow, or a bull, or a tiger, or a dog, or a pig, or a cat, or a bear. At every fresh question that was put to him, his nephew burst into a fresh roar of laughter; and was so inexpressibly tickled, that he was obliged to get up off the sofa and stamp. At last someone cried out: ‘I’ve found it out! I know what it is, Fred! I know what it is!' ‘What is it?' cried Fred.

‘It's your Uncle Scro-o-o-o-oge!' It certainly was…though some objected that the reply to ‘Is it a bear?' ought to have been ‘Yes’, inasmuch as an answer in the negative was sufficient to have diverted their thoughts from Mr Scrooge. ‘He’s given us plenty of merriment, I am sure,' said Fred, ‘and it would be ungrateful not to drink his health. Here is a glass of mulled wine and I say, ‘Uncle Scrooge!' ‘Well! Uncle Scrooge.' they cried. ‘A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to the old man, wherever he is!' said Scrooge's nephew. Scrooge had become so gay and light of heart that he would have toasted the unconscious company in return, and thanked them in an inaudible speech, if the Ghost had given him time. But the whole scene passed off in the breath of the last word spoken by his nephew; and he and the Spirit were again upon their travels. Much they saw, and far they went, and many homes they visited, but always with a happy end.

The Spirit stood beside sick beds, and they were cheerful; by struggling men, and they were patient in their greater hope; by poverty, and it was rich. In almshouse, hospital, and jail, in misery's every refuge, where vain man had not made fast the door and barred the Spirit out, he left his blessing. It was a long night, if it were only a night; but Scrooge had his doubts of this, because while Scrooge remained unaltered in his outward form, the Ghost grew older, clearly older. Scrooge had observed this change, but never spoke of it, until they stood together in an open place, and Scrooge noticed that the Spirit’s hair was grey. ‘Are spirits' lives so short?' asked Scrooge. ‘My life upon this globe, is very brief,' replied the Ghost. ‘It ends tonight.' ‘Tonight!' cried Scrooge.

Question: What was the name of Scrooge's clerk in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"?
Answer: Bob Cratchit