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| | First published as "my little [[Christmas]] book," as Dickens described it, and priced low enough for the masses while intended to be successful enough to pay off some debt, the book was an instant best-seller when published on December 19, 1843 and became one of the most enduring and best-loved stories of Christmas ever written. The plot line has been featured in numerous books and movies, often incorporating modern events while telling the story of a miser who is changed after seeing visions of the future. | | First published as "my little [[Christmas]] book," as Dickens described it, and priced low enough for the masses while intended to be successful enough to pay off some debt, the book was an instant best-seller when published on December 19, 1843 and became one of the most enduring and best-loved stories of Christmas ever written. The plot line has been featured in numerous books and movies, often incorporating modern events while telling the story of a miser who is changed after seeing visions of the future. |
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| | + | == Background == |
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| | + | 'He was in debt up to his eyeballs,' Samantha Silva, author of the new novel, 'Mr. Dickens and His Carol' (Flatiron Books) told The Post. His last works had flopped ...."<ref name="Post">https://nypost.com/2017/12/09/a-christmas-carol-saved-dickens-from-crushing-debt/</ref> Dickens had apparently been entertaining and spending more than he was bringing in. "[T]he tale of Scrooge’s journey to redemption took shape during his nightly walks through London" as a 12-year-old child, while his father and brothers were in debtors' prison.<ref name="Post"/> |
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| | ==Plot summary== | | ==Plot summary== |
| | The setting of the story is [[Christmas Eve]], 1843. | | The setting of the story is [[Christmas Eve]], 1843. |
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| − | ''A Christmas Carol'' is essentially the story of [[Ebenezer Scrooge]], a master of money exchange who built up his own wealth through years of work, but at the same time built up his own tightfisted, miserly ways as well. He refuses to join his nephew, Fred (his only relative) for Christmas dinner, refuses to contribute to charitable solicitors seeking donations for the poor (he would rather have the poor and destitute go to the prisons and workhouses provided by his taxes and live there, and if they die then the "surplus population" is decreased), and begrudgingly gives his poor, overworked assistant Bob Cratchit Christmas Day off with pay (solely to keep the custom of the day, considering it being "pickpocketed"). | + | ''A Christmas Carol'' is essentially the story of [[Ebenezer Scrooge]] ("screw" is a combination of "screw" and "gouge"), a master of money exchange who built up his own wealth through years of work, but at the same time built up his own tightfisted, miserly ways as well. He refuses to join his nephew, Fred (his only relative) for Christmas dinner, refuses to contribute to charitable solicitors seeking donations for the poor (he would rather have the poor and destitute go to the prisons and workhouses provided by his taxes and live there, and if they die then the "surplus population" is decreased), and begrudgingly gives his poor, overworked assistant Bob Cratchit Christmas Day off with pay (solely to keep the custom of the day, considering it being "pickpocketed"). |
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| | But things change when Scrooge's dead business partner, Jacob Marley, returns from beyond, bearing the ponderous chains of guilt, and warns Scrooge that he will face similar consequences worsened by seven more years (the story is set seven years to the day of Marley's death on Christmas Eve, 1836) unless he changes from within. Scrooge will be given the chance to repent by the visitation of three spirits (the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future). | | But things change when Scrooge's dead business partner, Jacob Marley, returns from beyond, bearing the ponderous chains of guilt, and warns Scrooge that he will face similar consequences worsened by seven more years (the story is set seven years to the day of Marley's death on Christmas Eve, 1836) unless he changes from within. Scrooge will be given the chance to repent by the visitation of three spirits (the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future). |