The Change In Ebenezer Scrooge

This year more than other years many people have become too wrapped up in themselves and are forgetting that many need a helping hand. Unfortunately, humanity has become a word that does not mean what it once did and it is everyone for themselves. Today it is more important than ever before to contribute to those Salvation Army kettles this holiday. If we once again focus on the popular book by Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol" we can see that even the most miserable and angry of people and the stingiest can turn their lives around just in time.

I have used the YouTube videos from the musical 'Scrooge" with Albert Finney to make this a visual story about Ebenezer Scrooge.

Ebenezer Scrooge was an old miser who had long forgotten about humanity. His life has become such that he is only concerned with himself and his money, He deplored people yet his job had everything to do with people and helping them with their businesses. What does Scrooge think about Christmas? "Bah, humbug." He lived in London, England in the 19th century a time when life was very good for the wealthy but very difficult for the poor. For the poor donations could save their lives and help keep them out of jails and poor houses. Scrooge could help a lot but he had chosen to pinch every penny he had and made the people who relied on his help especially miserable. If at least we could see that he lived a comfortable life we could understand that his thoughts were just for himself and he doesn't care about anyone else. However, even after his partner Jacob Marley died and Scrooge inherited his house he let the house fall into disrepair choosing to live in two rooms - one the sitting room and the other his bedroom. The rest of the house was left empty. Did Scrooge treat himself to restaurant meals? No, he went to restaurants and ordered the simplest food eating it with bread.

On Christmas Eve we find Scrooge at his place of business occupied with his favorite activity happily counting his money. His clerk Bob Cratchit who worked for Scrooge and received a meager salary and kept working away keeping an eye on the clock waiting to get home to his family to celebrate Christmas. Cratchit and his wife are very poor and have children to support with the youngest boy Tiny Tim having an illness. There won't be much of a Christmas dinner at their house but they are all thankful to be together, feel blessed no matter what, and still looking forward to celebrating Christmas. This Christmas Eve we get to see how cruel Scrooge can really be.

Scrooge's nephew Fred arrives to wish his uncle a Merry Christmas and as each year to invite him to his house on Christmas Day. Of course, Scrooge rebuffs his nephew's effort, bahs Christmas, and once again reminds him that he was a fool to get married to a woman who cannot offer him anything but love. His nephew takes it all and leaves his uncle with a smile on his face wishing Bob Cratchit a Merry Christmas. Two gentlemen arrive collecting donations for the poor. They are very shocked to discover that Scrooge has a black heart and no compassion whatsoever. They inform Scrooge that the poor need to be helped because they do not want to go to government-funded workhouses and would rather die. Scrooge angrily informs the gentlemen ”If they’d rather die then perhaps they had better do so and decrease the surplus population.” If at this point we are sure of one thing and then that is that Scrooge is no humanitarian.

Scrooge does not believe in taking a day off to celebrate anything particularly Christmas. He is adamant that Christmas Day is a day made for employees to pick the pockets of their employers by wanting the whole day off from work. It amuses him to see how eager his poor clerk Bob Cratchet is to receive his meager wages and having the following day free to enjoy with his family. Once Cratchit leaves work we see him meeting up with his children who are waiting for him by a decorated store window. Cratchit greets his children who are delighted to see his father and he shows them the little wages he was paid. He is prepared to spend every cent just so his family can have a Christmas dinner. This is the most important thing to him that even all the riches in the world could not replace especially seeing the smiles of his wife and children. Meanwhile, Scrooge makes his way home feeling content and satisfied with himself for having sent his nephew away, having treated his employee so unfairly and not giving to charity.

Once Scrooge reaches his drab and dreary home he starts experiencing strange visions concerning his business partner Jacob Marly who died seven years ago right on Christmas Eve. Even Marley was no humanitarian and just like Scrooge exploited the poor and hoarded his money. Scrooge makes his way to his sitting room and locks himself in. He sits down by the fireplace and takes out some soup that he has purchased to eat with some plain bread. At this moment Marley as a ghostly spirit comes back into his life. We see the ghostly apparition of Marley bound in bandages dragging long and heavy chains that make a frightening clatter. It is a sight and sound that would terrify almost anyone except for Scrooge. Scrooge looks at Marley and informs him that he could very well be an undigested piece of beef. Marley lets out a terrible noise and informs Scrooge that his fate will be the same as Marley's unless he agrees to listen to three spirits - Past, Present, and Future that will come to visit Scrooge starting with midnight. Once Marley has left Scrooge continues to be sceptic about everything and soon goes to bed not really expecting anything to happen.

The Spirit of Christmas Past arrives and Scrooge chooses to tell him to go away. However, the ghost takes Scrooge by the hand and they go flying out into the night, He takes Scrooge back to his past and we see a young Ebenezer who came from a family that lacked compassion and love for one another. Due to this Ebenezer lost his compassion for his fellow man. However, we also find out that Ebenezer had a younger sister who came to the internet school where Ebenezer was studying and with their father's permission takes him home for Christmas. We continue to travel along with Ebenezer and the Spirit of the Past to a time when Ebenezer was a young clerk with a wonderful and compassionate employer Mr, Fezziwing and his daughter Belle who was Ebenezer's fiancee.

We see that his employer let all of his employees stop work early on Christmas Eve and treated them to a party with punch, food, and dancing. Unfortunately, with time Ebenezer became obsessed with money and a workacholic and eventually deceived his kind-hearted employer and lost his fiancee. We see Ebenezer at his sister Fanny's bedside who is dying after childbirth. She has given birth to a son who is Ebenezer's nephew and before she dies asks her brother to watch over her son. Ebenezer has forgotten all this and has hated his nephew all these years thinking him responsible for his sister's death. After this traumatic journey to the past, Scrooge shows some signs of remorse but not enough yet to change in any way.

No sooner has Scrooge returned home than the Ghost of Christmas Present comes and a journey showing Scrooge how people celebrate Christmas begins. He gets to see poor people on Christmas Eve gathered together by a warm fire singing Christmas carols and praising the Lord. They have no presents and no Christmas dinner yet they all gathered together and celebrated in their own way. He gets to see that his nephew, his nephew's wife and their friends are celebrating with food, wine, dance, and games. His nephew might have spent a lot to make the celebration but to him, it is worth it to see everyone enjoying themselves and having a wonderful time. He also gets to see his former fiancee who has dedicated herself to taking care of the sick and needy and has never married.

Now the Spirit of Christmas Present takes Scrooge over to the home of Bob Cratchit and his family. Even though they live in poverty the house is filled with love and joy. They are grateful for having a tiny goose, some Christmas pudding, and some punch, Hardly enough for them all but the joy they have at being together is the most important. There is also sadness because the youngest member Tiny Tim is an invalid and in poor health but they don't have enough money for doctors. It makes Scrooge inquire if Tiny Tim will survive till another Christmas and the spirit does not reply. Instead, before the spirit leaves he warns Scrooge to be aware of two terrible evils - Ignorance and Want that are hidden beneath the spirit's huge coat in the guise of two vicious and terrifying children who appear to be more like animals than humans and shocks Scrooge. ]

They do not mourn Scrooge but instead are eager to steal his money and his possessions. The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge his shabby tombstone in a horrid graveyard. At this time Scrooge falls to his knees and begs the spirit for another chance to save his own life.

This scene is most effective in the musical "Scrooge" with Albert Finney in the title role descending into hell where he discovers that in death he will be a clerk in an ice-cold office and his chain is even larger than that of his partner Marley's. Now Scrooge is devastated and terrified.

Then Scrooge wakes up on Christmas Day he is overjoyed that he has not missed Christmas. He is actually looking forward to making up for all his wrongdoing and it appears that he has at long last embraced humanity glad to have escaped his horrible fate. Soon Scrooge is off and running, I like the idea of Scrooge dressing up as Santa Clause in the musical "Scrooge." Who better to play Santa than a reformed Scrooge? He buys a giant turkey and toys for the Cratchit children. He tears up the debts owed to him by all the people who own small businesses. Everyone is overjoyed and Scrooge heads off to his nephew's home for Christmas dinner bringing a belated wedding present. It is highly amusing to see the old miser dancing and making merry. Suddenly Scrooge loves people he is a humanitarian through and through. The story ends with Scrooge having paid for the operation needed by Tiny time who is growing up to be a healthy and happy boy and loves his Uncle Scrooge. So this Christmas let our hearts be filled with love, compassion, and understanding for your fellow humans and let the warmth of Christmas fill our hearts. Let us remember to lend a helping hand where we can, keep Christ in our Christmases and enjoy celebrations with our family and friends.

As Tiny Tim said, “God bless us every one!”