To Be A Santa

Abstract: Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol depicts the dramatical turn of Scrooge from an odd mean who was indifferent about anything to an amiable warmhearted Santa in the help of three ghosts. In Victorian Age, beneath the great prosperity and richness, there existed widespread poverty and wretchedness among the working class, and this is a big issue that attracts the societys attention. They need societys humanistic care. Besides, Charles Dickens is the greatest representative of English critical realism and he was called “the expression of the conscience of his age”. A Christmas Carol, probably is the most popular piece of fiction that Charles Dickens ever wrote. It is helpful to analyze Scrooges turn of humanity in this book for learning about both Victorian Age and Charles Dickens .

Key Words: turn; humanity; Scrooge;ghost;Christmas

I Introduction

Charles Dickens (7 February 1812 -- 9 June 1870) was an social critic and the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. Over his career he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, 5 novellas and hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively. A Christmas Carol was first published by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843. The story tells of sour and miserly Ebenezer Scrooges ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation resulting from supernatural visits from Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The book was written and published in early Victorian Era Britain.

II Scrooges Turn in Humanity

The first spirit, the ghost of Christmas Past, came at him. What he did was bring Scrooge back to the past, reminding him of some warm divine clips of his memory. He realized that he had changed: once he was poor, and happy to be poor; now he was rich, but unhappy to be rich. In this period, the warm memory came back to his mind, and defrosted his frozen heart.

The next day, Scrooge and the spirit came at his clerks small house, and saw Poor Tiny Tim who had not walking since he was born, who made Scrooge sad and full of sympathetic. It remarks that Scrooge was changing to a half-new self with the common people feelings. Then they visited his nephew house. By then, Scrooge had learned sorrow, happy, sympathy etc.. He was ashamed for what he did to all the people around him. These two spirits had changed him a lot, but not enough.

Thus, the last salvation came. The ghost of Christmas Yet to Come gave him the image that he was dead. Scrooge was almost scared to death by the terrible miserable end. Thus he made a fateful decision--- he would remember the past, and think of the future, and be good to other people, and try to be kind, be cheerful, be merry. The story ended with Tiny Tims words--- God bless us, every one. That means Scrooge has saved himself and turned completely. He expelled the darkness of human---selfish, mean, money-centered etc., and explored the brightness of human which Charles Dickens always advocated.

III Reasons of the Turn

A. The Fear from Ghosts

Part of Scrooges change is out of the fear from the spirits and his terrible miserable death. In western culture, when it comes to ghost or spirit, that makes people uncomfortable, scared, and unlucky. So does Scrooge. Out of the fear, he has to follow the spirits, reexperiences his past, restarts his present Christmas, and looks at his future. Besides, in the story, there are some gothic descriptions, which also has a telling impact on the gloomy frightening setting. In other words, the setting is the outside reflection of Scrooge. He is in great confusion, and tangles in a net of fear.

B. The Care and Love from Others

In the book, Charles Dickens has asserted the nature of Christmas: Christmas is a time to be helpful and kind to other people, the only time of the year when men and women open their hearts freely to each other. Christmas is a symbol of advocating humanity. Spirits made Scrooge see how his clerk and nephew thought of and treated him. Surprised to him, they drunk to his health! There is no doubt that he was touched. This is the main reason why Scrooge turned dramatically and suddenly.

The biggest character about humanity in the story is the peoples precious love and care to Scrooge. No matter how mean Scrooge is, they would drink to him. It is this very sincerity and kindness that touch him deeply, and Scrooge decided to be a Santa. It is well-known that everyone needs to love and to be loved, which is one of the themes of this story.

IV Conclusion

According to this paper, on the bases of analyses about Scrooges turn and its reasons, Charles Dickens praises the good in humanity and expels the evil, with the purpose to uncover the life of poor people in Victorian Age critically. At the same time, he created some Christmas customs in western countries, for instance, to enjoy a delicious feast, to send families some fine gifts. More important, his series of ghosts stores is like a warehouse of spiritual food for the whole world, affording the humanistic values.

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作者簡介

何潔（1992-），女，云南省楚雄市人，西南大學外國語學院2010級本科生，主要研究方向：英語師范。