Review: A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens

One of Charles Dickens' best known books is certainly also one of his most memorable, poignant and best loved works. I am, of course, referring to 'A Christmas Carol'. Its influence is easily seen throughout modern Western culture in one form or another (particularly during the festive season); in dozens of theatre productions, in silver-screen movies, as an opera, and most prolifically in film including adaptations such as 'The Muppet Christmas Carol', 'Mickey's Christmas Carol', 'Ghosts of Girlfriends Past', and most recently 'A Christmas Carol' starring Jim Carrey.

What impact does this extensive media exposure have for the first-time reader?

Succinctly, it means that the climax is spoiled, the plot holds no surprises and the concept is clichéd - although it is worth bearing in mind that at the time it was written the concept was marvellously original. Should all this prevent you from reading 'A Christmas Carol'? Not at all.

Dickens delivers this charming tale with all the aplomb he is best known for. His skill as a storyteller transports us back in time to the Victorian era and our preconceptions about this book fall away in his hands; we forget much of what we know of this story, it is fresh, new, diverting. Dickens almost wholly overthrows the disadvantages of reading such a universally known novel (as listed above) through sheer skill and the timelessness of his themes. I say almost, for the reader is still conscious of where the plot will lead – the gratification is found in the journey.

For those unaware of the general concept (if you have been living on Mars. In a cave. With your fingers in your ears [The Simpsons]), at the heart of this classic tale is a cantankerous, miserly man named Ebenezer Scrooge. In spite of his large fortune, Scrooge is “a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster”. He is a cold and callous man, and he is in for a rude awakening.

The tale begins on Christmas Eve when Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his late friend and business partner, Marley. The apparition warns Scrooge of the misery awaiting him in the afterlife should he continue his churlish ways, and notifies him of three ghostly visitors to follow him that night. The visitors are to be the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, respectively. The Ghost of Christmas Past is the very personification of memory, who uses scenes from Scrooge's childhood and past to motivate change. The Ghost of Christmas Present is generosity incarnate with his jolly demeanour and cornucopia-like torch, who takes Scrooge on a tour of various scenes of that night (Christmas Eve), including a miner's cottage, a market, Bob Cratchit's family gathering (Scrooge's impoverished clerk), among many others. His is the task of imbuing our protaganist with a sense of responsibility for his fellow man. The third and final visitor is a dread figure, shrouded in darkness and silent as the grave; appropriate, since the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come shows Scrooge how his own death impacts those around him. Scrooge's future demise is largely met with indifference, save for those who hope his death may benefit themselves; there is scarce any grief for him, no tears are shed, no hearts broken.

This is the catalyst for change for our Ebeneezer Scrooge, he beseeches the Spirit to allow him to reform in the hope that such a doom may be avoided. The Spirit shifts and changes, becoming a bedpost, and Scrooge abruptly awakes from this encounter as from a dream. He is a changed man,the frosty heart has thawed, generosity has awoken in his heart. This is evinced by the philanthropy he promptly demonstrates, anonymously ordering a prize turkey for the Cratchit family and then spending the day with his nephew's family. He makes good on his resolve to better himself, averting the manner of his future demise and learning to really live in the interim.

Charles Dickens does not condemn Scrooge for his tight purse strings alone – it is the lack of communion with humanity, the loss of empathy and feeling that 'damns' him in the first stave of the Carol (get it? Carol, song, staves...). As such it is not his financial benevolence which redeems him, it is his softened heart and newly awoken amity towards his fellow man. This is not to say that Dickens was unconcerned with social justice, on the contrary, he used Scrooge's miserliness as an indictment against an exploitative society which abused the poor and downtrodden. Dickens himself was no stranger to poverty spending part of his childhood labouring in a factory whilst his father was incarcerated in a debtor's prison. Nor did the now-famed author outstrip the pressures of privation in his adult life; this particular novel was written in six weeks (!) and funded from his own pockets under fiscal pressure from his publisher who was displeased with Dickens lack of commercial success with his previous novel (Martin Chuzzlewit).

Perhaps it is because Dickens mined his own past for the gems that form the basis of this tale that is so timeless in its themes and applicability. We are exhorted to be attentive to the needs of those around us, to demonstrate compassion, to change negative behaviours and to value the relationships in our lives. 'A Christmas Carol' is then not a novel for Christmas alone, but an ever-pertinent reminder of life's true riches. As I said, timeless.

Rating: * * * * * (5 out of 5 stars, I'm a sucker for a classic)