Character Analysis: Ebenezer Scrooge

Character Analysis: Ebenezer Scrooge Each year, Christmas rolls around and everyone is on their best behavior and all the Christmas chaos begins. There is shopping needing to be done, food to be cooked, presents to be wrapped, and trips to the mall for a not-so-original picture with Santa and his elves. Despite the hectic nature of the season how can anyone not like the hustle and bustle of Christmas? In A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge defiantly loathes everything about Christmas. Scrooge would rather just work away at his business and say, “Bah! Humbug,” at anyone who mentions anything about Christmas. At least until Scrooge was visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. Scrooge started off having a strong hatred towards Christmas, but as the story progresses and he is visited by the Christmas Ghosts he has a change of heart. It is apparent at the beginning of A Christmas Carol that Scrooge is a stingy and miserly character who absolutely loathes the entire Christmas season. When Tiny Tim tells him “Merry Christmas” it becomes apparent that Scrooge has a foul attitude regarding the holiday. Scrooge further expresses his hatred for Christmas by replying to Tiny Tim by stating, “What else can I be when I live in such a world of fools as this? Merry Christmas! … If I could work my will every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should” (Dickens 6). Tiny Tim was just wishing Scrooge a merry Christmas and instead of replying with the normal “Merry Christmas” back, Scrooge becomes angry. Scrooge thinks that Christmas is an absolute waste of time and the people who celebrate it should not be respected. Not long after Scrooge leaves Tiny Tim, he is approached by two men who ask him donate some money to help out the poor. Scrooge, who is extremely stingy with his money, replies, “Are there no prisons? Are there no Union workhouses” (Dickens 10). This statement shows that Scrooge would rather let the poor suffer than donate a little bit of money to people it could help. Christmas time is for helping others out and instead Scrooge snaps at everyone who tells him “Merry Christmas” and to those who are just asking for a small donation. By the end of the book, Scrooge’s outlook on life has changed; he becomes more accepting of Christmas and develops a more kindhearted attitude towards others. After the three ghosts show Scrooge how he has been acting he quickly realizes that it is time to make his wrong right. Scrooge scrambles out of bed after the visits and says, “The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. O Jacob Marley! Heaven and the Christmas-time be praised for this! I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees” (Dickens 115). This is when readers can start to notice that Scrooge has had a life-changing experience and that he is developing a new humble attitude. Scrooge then sets out to try and right his wrongs. Scrooge first sets out to find the men who were previously asking him for a small donation. The men are shocked at the amount Scrooge wants to donate but he tells them, "Not a farthing less. A great many back payments are included in it, I assure you" (Dickens 121). This action shows that the stingy and miserly Scrooge is feeling a need to help others instead of complaining about them not having jobs. After the three Christmas ghosts visit Ebenezer Scrooge and show him what his future holds he realizes that it is time for a change in his life to better himself. Scrooge went from a stingy, miserly character to someone who cares. At first, Scrooge did not want to make a small donation but after he saw his future he wanted to make a large donation to make up for his past times and many times after. Now even Scrooge likes the hustle and bustle of Christmas.