Ebeneezer Scrooge, A Christmas Miracle

Ebenezer Scrooge is a prime example of a Christmas miracle: he realized what he had been and improved himself for the better. What is the Christmas spirit? Charles Dickens describes it as being generous by aiding those less fortunate. Charles Foran challenges us to carry the spirit out passed the holiday and into every day of the year. William Morris believes it is a get-a-way from reality where society moves into a state of joy by not thinking of each individuals economic hindrances, but of genuine human love for others. A Christmas Carol tells the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge’s conversion from a selfish and lonely outcast to a loving, socially acceptable being. A rough childhood plagued Ebenezer Scrooge and was the root cause to his adult behaviors. He spent most of his time in solidarity and developed a resentment of society. The tyranny of his father did not help, who drilled the importance of money and financial security into Scrooge’s brain (Morris 4). The Ghosts of Christmas made Scrooge relive all his hardships growing up in order to help him move on. They succeeded because Scrooge realized that if he didn’t change his lifestyle, he’d end up like Jacob Marley, “dead as a door-nail” (Dickens 1). Ebenezer Scrooge was an outcast; however, he was not evil. Ebenezer Scrooge’s root problem was not fully understanding society. He did not see the worth of Christmas and treated it like he would any other day (Foran 3). Also, due to his economic anxieties, did not comprehend the pressures that people placed on themselves in spending, or giving away, their hard-earned money on other people. Scrooge was a selfish man because he didn’t know otherwise. The Ghosts, in his dreams, illuminated this aspect of the Christmas spirit in revealing the joy everyone was sharing on Christmas Eve in giving. Immediately everything made sense to Ebenezer Scrooge. Christmas was not any other day on the calendar, but one filled with enjoyment and giving. The Ghosts opened Scrooge’s eyes to society and therefore was able to assimilate himself with giving as others in society. Business dehumanized Ebenezer Scrooge. He placed all his effort into earning cash and therefore was a cold-hearted man. This lust for money drove Scrooge’s relationship with Belle into the ground. He had to choose between his love for money or his love for Belle, and due to his insecurity and subconscious fears, traveled down the path which, “necessitates avoidance of human love,” and chose money (Morris 4). An integral part of Scrooge’s conversion was moving away from selfishness and into generosity. The Ghosts facilitated the change by displaying the effects greed had on him. The “New Scrooge” is a good man who spread love onto his peers and was rich not only economically but socially as well (Morris 1). Ebenezer Scrooge underwent major changes. He was the victim of solidarity in his childhood which led him to foster resent in his heart; Scrooge gave no mercy to his peers due to his corrupt economic goals, and therefore was ousted. By the end of the novel, these traits were removed and Scrooge was reborn into society (Foran 2). He grew to become a happy and generous man who defied all his peers perceptions and expectations. Ebenezer Scrooge finding his soul was a true Christmas miracle.