A Christmas Carol Essay Example for Free

A Christmas Carol Essay As regrets had taken place and thoughtfulness had also entered his mind. Another place that Scrooge was brought to that night was a Christmas Eve party that Scrooges old boss had thrown and the spirit enlightens Scrooge on the fact that everybody was joyful, happy and merry and what the spirit told Scrooge was that this party must have come to three or four pounds back then and Scrooge had realised that the happiness is as such as though a fortune had provided it but this was not the case as is was not a fortune that was needed for this joy. This is Scrooges first recognition of the value of money. The Second Spirit The description of the second spirit is of a large, fat man in a robe sitting on a throne with delicious food surrounding him. Through this Dickens outlines Scrooges greedy nature in the present moment. As this spirit brings Scrooge through where he lives they see the bakers and Scrooge asks whether there is a peculiar flavour in what the spirit sprinkles from his torch and the spirit replies, There is. My own Scrooge then asks if it would apply to any kind of dinner on this day and the spirit replies, To any kindly given. To a poor one most. Scrooge asks why and the spirit tells him that the poor one needs the dinner the most. This must have made Scrooge realise that this is true and that he had not realised. Another part of this chapter that moves Scrooges feelings is when he is reminded of the evil words he has spoken from the Christmas Eve, which is, If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. The spirit says these words to Scrooge at a time where they are visiting the Bob Cratchits household. After hearing the spirits words Scrooge begins to feel remorse and shame. At this time Scrooge is feeling more and more emotional and he is also feeling sympathetic for those he has hurt during the holidays and especially for Bob Cratchit his employee after hearing the way Bob speaks of him with great respect unlike the way his wife does, Mr Scrooge! Said Bob. Ill give you Mr Scrooge, the founder of the feast! these few words tell us that Bob has recognition of the fact that the meal in front of him wouldnt be there if it wasnt for Scrooge himself. How Mrs. Cratchit speaks is different, I wish I had him here. Id give him a piece of my mind to feast upon, and I hope hed have a good appetite for it on which one drinks the health of such and odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man as Mr Scrooge. Mrs. Cratchit obviously knows exactly how Scrooge is or maybe how he used to be. Towards the end of the second spirits time Scrooge is brought to his nephews Christmas party that Scrooge was invited to but unfortunately Scrooge had turned down his nephew to go home instead. While Scrooge is at the party he hears more of how people speak of him behind his back but this time it is his own nephew, I am sorry for him; I couldnt be angry with him if I tried. Who suffers by his ill whims? I mean to give him the same chance every year, whether he likes it or not, for I pity him. What his nephew says here must of got to Scrooge for sure. Right at the end of this paragraph there is a time at which the spirit unveils to children from his robe and he describes the little boy as ignorant and the little girl as poor. From Scrooges mouth he tries to say that the children are fine children but the words choke themselves. Scrooge cannot deny the fact that the children were not fine and had a bad personification. Just as the spirit leaves Scrooge he leaves Scrooge with the words, Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses? which is also what Scrooge had said at his shop on Christmas Eve to a couple of charity workers. I now noticed that it was all backfiring at Scrooge all of his bad ways in the past had started coming back to him and he then gets a vision in his mind of when Marley had visited him just before the third spirit arrives to him. The Third Spirit The first glimpse of information that you gather about the third spirit is that the spirit is a phantom gliding along like mist which is as though it is taken out of a horror movie, lifting up his eyes, beheld a solemn Phantom, draped and hooded, coming like a mist along the ground towards him. This is what would make somebody very scared especially as it during the night as all of the spirits visit him within the night of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as Marley tells Scrooge so, Expect the first tomorrow when the bell tolls One Expect the second on the night at the same hour. The third, upon the next night when the last stroke of twelve has ceased to vibrate. The description of the Phantom is that of the Grim Reaper, It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible. This description makes me certainly feel that this Phantom resembled death by every means of its appearance and also that this last visit had something to do with death. After a visit from Marley, the first Spirit showing past and the second showing present Scrooge was very keen on listening in carefully to the third spirit a phantom showing him his future. It is almost as if this phantom was sent last to really make Scrooge learn his lesson as it is obviously intimidating Scrooge. The phantom could have been sent to scare the last bit of hatred out of Scrooge to make him pure in his mind, Scrooge feared the silent shape so much that his legs trembled beneath him I fear you more than any spectre I have seen. Scrooge is definitely seeing this is a great privilege for him to have this phantom as you read, I know your purpose is to do me good I am prepared to bear your company The night is waning fast, and it is precious time to me. What Scrooge says in this lines that I have targeted is very assuring that he knows what is to come of himself if he does not pay attention and he especially lets us know this when he says that his time is precious and this allows us to know that Scrooge does not want to end up like Marley but wants to have a better afterlife. A dreadful place that the phantom brought Scrooge to, was a conversation involving two women that knew the late Scrooge before he died. Scrooge is brought to two women talking of Scrooges ways before there was time to change, Every person has a right to take care of themselves. He always did why wasnt he natural in his lifetime? The reason he is in italics is because this is how it is in the book and the reason for that is probably because when one of the women were talking about Scrooge they probably emphasized he very much. What they also ask about him, that why wasnt he natural shows for a moment that they could have had care for Scrooge but this isnt true for two reasons and one is because they speak of him badly the rest of the time and they had also robbed Scrooge of his goods after he died and placed them in bundles, if I could have laid my hands on anything else. Open that bundle, old Joe, and let me know the value of it. This is as if there is no care in the world for Scrooge even as though they waited for him to die just to take him for what he has. Another example of horrid speaking of Scrooge is still from the same woman saying, He frightened everyone away when he was alive, to profit us when he was dead. This shows us that it was as though they waited for his death to occur. Scrooge was realising that this is not the correct way to be thought of after dying as he says to the phantom, I see, I see. The case of this unhappy man might be my own. My life tends that way now. Merciful heaven, what is this. Scrooge almost prays there to beg for forgiveness because of the life he has led, one. These visits and more from this phantom has most definitely shown Scrooge what he is walking himself into and at the end of this chapter and the end of this phantoms visit the phantom shows Scrooge a grave with Scrooges name written upon it and Scrooge had just caught on to the fact that the man he visited that was dead was him and the women thieving the man where thieving him, Am I that man who lay upon the bed? The fact that this is a question shows us is was as though Scrooge did not want this to be true. The final assurance that Scrooge has changed is right at the end of the chapter when Scrooge says himself, I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this, if I am past hope? I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the past, the present, and the future I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone! The reason I have written so many quotes here is because they are all valid for my point that Scrooge is begging for forgiveness for his past ways and that he promises he will changes and has changed. He begs that the gravestone is not to be his and he tells the phantom that he has had his lesson taught. I know knew that Scrooge had changed for the better and this is purely because he had been visited by the three spirits and Marley; this took time and gradually built more and more guilt into Scrooges mind and this is the main reason why Scrooge changed. Conclusion Throughout analysing the story and each individual spirit we see the growth of Scrooge. Overall Dickens has written a provoking story, in his use of spirits and flashbacks creating a drastic change within Scrooge. The reader almost feels a sense of relief at Scrooges achievement as you are confident it will be for the better. The power of making Scrooge regretful is carried out effectively. Dickens sums up the story with the last chapter The End of it sparking the idea that at the end of something there is a new beginning which is exactly what happens. Scrooges misery is brought to an end and his happiness is shared with everyone, leaving the reader to believe that it is possible for any one to change.