A summary of “A Christmas Carol”

A Christmas Carol is one of the most famous stories by British writer Charles Dickens. On Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge, who does not believe in the spirit of this holiday, is visited by four ghosts. His deceased partner appears to announce that three ghosts will come: one shows him his past, another the present and the last, his future. After several moving experiences, the protagonist’s life changes forever.

About the Author

Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) known simply as Charles Dickens, is one of the greatest novelists of the Victorian era. He was born in Portsmouth, England, the son of John Dickens and Elizabeth Barrow, who belonged to the middle class.

Charles only started attending school at the age of nine. Until then, he was self-taught. During his childhood and youth he was also an avid reader, especially of satires and picaresque novels, as well as adventures. Some of his favorite writers were Henry Fielding, Tobias Smollet and Daniel Defoe, among others.

Due to his father’s debts, Charles suffered many hardships and had to work from a very young age. That close knowledge of poverty years later would be reflected in all his works. At the age of twelve he was already working ten hours a day in a factory. He later began working in a law firm and later as a stenographer.

In 1828, he got a job as a reporter and chronicler in some British newspapers. He later he also worked as an editor.

In 1836, Charles Dickens married Catherine Thompson Hogarth, with whom he had ten children. However, the couple separated in 1858, after more than twenty years together.

Beginning in 1836, his literary creations were published in installments under the name The Pickwick Club Posthumous Papers . Soon after, between 1837 and 1838, he published Oliver Twist, and A Christmas Carol , in 1843, two of his most famous works. Another of his best-selling novels was David Copperfield , which he wrote between 1849 and 1850.

In the mid-19th century, Dickens’s health declined, and according to some of his acquaintances, it had a great effect on his personality. In 1865 he had a railway accident from which he was unharmed. However, it was a traumatic event from which he never recovered.

In 1870, Charles Dickens passed away after suffering a stroke. He was buried in the Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey.

Dickens received wide recognition in his time and achieved great international fame. He also received praise from various writers of his time such as Leo Tolstoy, as well as writers of the generation immediately following such as George Orwell, and GK Chesterton; they especially admired him for his realism and social criticism of him. Even thanks to his style, the term “Dickensian” arose, referring to the typical and unique themes and characters that Dickens created and portrayed in his works, which continue to this day.

Currently, his stories and novels are considered classics of English and universal literature and continue to be adapted for TV series, movies and plays.

About Christmas Song

The story A Christmas Carol , translated into Spanish as Christmas Carol or Christmas Song , is considered one of the best Christmas stories ever written. It was published in 1843 and has been very popular ever since.

Like most of Dickens’s works, this tale stands out for including a social critique of certain realities that continue to be relevant today, such as poverty, lack of compassion, materialism, and the pace of life focused on things we believe. important but they are not, especially in the context of the Christmas festivities. It is also distinguished by incorporating paranormal elements and a final moral.

In A Christmas Carol , Dickens tells the moving story of a miserly and miserly old man and his gradual transformation into a better person, as he is visited by the three Ghosts of Christmas.

The success of A Christmas Carol was evident from its publication and was also transferred to numerous films and theatrical adaptations that were subsequently made around the world about this story.

Characters

The main characters in the Christmas Carol story are:

• Ebenezer Scrooge: is a businessman, a greedy, bitter and lonely moneylender.
• The three ghosts: they are the three spirits of Christmas from the past, the present and the future.
• Fred: he is Scrooge’s nephew, son of his sister Fan.
• Jacob Marley: was the partner and only friend of Scrooge; When the play begins, he has already been dead for years.
• Bob Cratchit: is Scrooge’s employee.
• Mrs. Cratchit: is the wife of Bob Cratchit.
• Little Tim: he is one of the children of Bob Cratchit and Mrs. Cratchit and he is very ill.

A brief summary of A Christmas Carol

The story takes place on Christmas Eve. Ebenezer Scrooge is working in his office, where he, through different attitudes, demonstrates his lack of generosity to others and his hatred for Christmas.

Scrooge’s greed, despite having so much money, is evident in the office where he works, which does not have enough coal to heat the spaces despite the cold weather. She also notices in his austere house that it is always in darkness, since she only lights a few candles. His clerk, Bob Cratchit, tries to do his job despite the cold and low light.

At one point Fred, Scrooge’s nephew, arrives, who invites him to celebrate Christmas with his family. Scrooge sullenly declines the invitation, insisting that he prefers to be alone.

After failing in his attempt, his nephew leaves and two men arrive who are collecting donations for the poor. Scrooge also rejects this request, and dismisses the men arguing that he already contributes to society by paying his taxes. In his words, he highlights his lack of empathy and compassion towards others, and especially towards the most unfortunate people.

Arriving at his gloomy and dilapidated house, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his friend Jacob Marley, who had died seven years earlier. Marley is shown wearing a chain, where he has the ledgers, money, and other assets he had clung to in life.

Scrooge is terrified to see him, although Marley does not try to scare him, but to make him understand what his future can be like. He tells her about the terrible experience of his life in the afterlife due to his greed and the regret he feels for not having lived more generously and fully. He also warns him that he will have the same fate if he doesn’t do something to change his reality. In addition, he announces that he will have one last chance to save himself and change his life and that in the next few hours three other spirits will visit him. Each of them will arrive at one in the afternoon.

The visit of the first ghost of Christmas

At the indicated time the first spirit appears, which is the ghost of Christmas past. He has the appearance of a child but also of an old man, with white hair and an unlined face.

This ghost transports Scrooge to his childhood and youth. First, they go to a moment where Scrooge appears alone and poor. Scrooge remembers how he was as a boy and wishes he could have done something for other people he saw in the same situation.

In another Christmas, Scrooge sees himself at school with his sister Fan, who was still a girl. Scrooge remembers his sister, who passed away a few years ago, as well as his son Fred.

Then they go to a moment in Scrooge’s history where he is working with his first employer, Fezziwig, who was curiously the opposite of him. He was a kind and generous man, who loved Christmas and sharing with others.

Then, they go to another Christmas, where Scrooge’s girlfriend shows up crying and dumps him because his greed, greed, and lack of empathy changed his personality. Finally, he sees this woman years later, but this time, she’s happy. She is married to another man, she is the mother of a daughter and they are celebrating Christmas.

At the end of the trips with the first ghost, Scrooge remembers how happy he had been with so little and all the good things he had in life and he failed to appreciate. He also longs for the family he may have had.

The arrival of the second ghost of Christmas

The second spirit is the ghost of Christmas present. He is a giant who takes Scrooge on a vacation tour of his nephew Fred and his employee Bob Cratchit.

At his nephew’s house, Scrooge sees all the reunited and joyous people sharing a Christmas table in a special and affectionate way.

The same is true when he visits Cratchit’s house. There he discovers that his dependent lives in poverty because of the low salary that she pays him. Also, he realizes that he has a sick son, little Tim. This arouses his concern and the ghost warns him about the child’s future, which will surely worsen because his family has no resources to pay for his medical treatment.

Scrooge also notes that despite the difficulties, Cratchit’s family lives Christmas with love and happiness.

Although Fred and Bob Cratchit have no reason to be happy with Scrooge, they take pity on him and drink to him.

After this visit, Scrooge realizes how cruel he had been in speaking of the poor and the sick, and how unfairly he had treated his nephew and his clerk.

The appearance of the third ghost of Christmas

He is eventually visited by the third Ghost of Christmas, who has the appearance of a dark shadow, humanoid in shape but featureless. This ghost transports him to a future Christmas, to a gloomy room where there is a dead man. Not only is no one mourning his death, but the few people around him mock and speak ill of him and take some of his belongings.

Scrooge feels compassion for this man and later discovers that it is him. Horrified by the omen of a lonely and miserable death, he acknowledges the mistakes of his life and prays for a chance to make things right. When he wakes up, he discovers that only one night has passed, and that, in reality, it is still Christmas Day.

Happy not to have missed the chance to celebrate Christmas, he sends Bob Cratchit a large Christmas turkey and promises a large donation to the man who had earlier come to ask him for money for a charity. She then goes to her nephew’s house to spend Christmas with him and his family.

The next day, he also raises his dependent’s salary and helps him so that little Tim can be cured.

From then on, Scrooge becomes a more generous and grateful person, enjoying life and trying to make the world a better place.

Bibliography

• Dickens, C. Christmas song. (2019). Spain. Selector.
• Dickens, C. Christmas song. Available online at: http://usi.earth.ac.cr/glas/sp/literatura/Cancion%20de%20navidad.pdf