A Christmas Carol

I think I mentioned that in my Creative Writing class, over the past few weeks I have been reading Dickens' A Christmas Carol out loud to everyone. I also think I mentioned that I love reading Dickens out loud. He wrote such rich language which then formed such memorable characters. A Christmas Carol is the best entry to reading Dickens, I think. First, everyone knows the story and second, it's really a novella being not that long. I can tell you, if you read at the rate I do (which I admit is a tad on the fast side), you can read the entire story out loud in just over three hours. If you have never read the actual story or have never read it to your children, do it this year. There is far more going on in it than even the best movies can put in. 

Of course, since it was written in 1843, there is some language and customs that a reader in 2021 might not understand. When I can, and when it doesn't interrupt the flow of the story too much, I will pause and explain a few of these. Among some of the things we discussed was why everyone was taking their goose to the baker's and who Old Scratch was. On the whole, though, even if not every single thing is understood, the story itself is entirely accessible.

Here is what struck me from today's reading. This passage is at the very end of the visit of the Ghost of Christmas Present.

"From the foldings of its robe, it [the ghost] brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. They knelt down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment.

"Oh, Man! look here. Look, look, down here!" exclaimed the Ghost.

They were a boy and girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shriveled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread.

Scrooge started back, appalled. Having them shown to him in htis way, he tried to say they were fine children, but the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to such a lie of such enormous magnitude.

"Spirit! are they yours?" Scrooge could say no more.

"They are Man's," said the Spirit, looking down upon them. "And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. 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. Deny it!" cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city, "Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And abide the end!"

"Have they no refuge or resource?" cried Scrooge.

"Are there no prisons?" said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. "Are there no work houses?" 

The bell struck twelve.

... "

Scrooge is only redeemed by changing the way he looked at the world after being shown his wrongs. The only way we can change our world is to look upon our societal wrongs... wrongs towards our other human beings which ultimately wound them. Ignorance and want. I don't really think that Dickens is telling us that we need to make sure that children are learning to read at an early age and are conquering algebra by sixth grade. I think in this case, the ignorance is ours towards our fellow humans... ignorance of the pain we cause; then want for basic needs and humane treatment. This is blind ignorance which is willful. 

Beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom. 

Not a terribly merry Christmas message. But Scrooge, having seen the way towards salvation accepts the truth of it and willingly goes with the third ghost, asking it to tell him what he needs to learn. Scrooge was shown many things through those three visits which made him uncomfortable, which were not easy, which did not make him look good. Through looking his ignorance straight in the face, acknowledging it, and willfully changing his view of his fellow humans, he changed. "He knew how to keep Christmas well." Scrooge became liberal with his wealth and with his life. "His own heart laughed; and that was quite enough for him." 

We each have a choice. To be filled with laughter and liberality, sharing our blessings with others with great joy, or to be filled with anger, clutching at what we perceive to be ours, worried that those who don't deserve it get a single penny. 

Doom or joy. It is both an individual question as well as a societal one. Let us choose wisely.