Discuss_the_Ways_in_Which_the_Theme_of_Redemption_Is_Explored_in_a_Christmas_Carol

Discuss the ways in which the theme of redemption is explored in A Christmas Carol In ACC, Charles Dickens explores the theme of redemption countless times throughout the novella. Through the salvation and alteration of the main character Scrooge, redemption is discovered. Transformed from a cold, miserly protagonist who seemed to live only for himself as he aged, to becoming as ‘as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew’. Dickens also portrays redemption through the social injustice, society’s flaws in terms of its accumulation and greed for money and its neglect of the lower classes in society. The general theme of A Christmas Carol is one of redemption, a spiritual enlightening causing a person to lead a new and better life. Scrooge’s priorities throughout the novella change upon the visit of three apparitions, instead of greed and the accumulation of material wealth, to one of generosity and kindness. On awake of Christmas morning, an entirely renewed Scrooge awoke, not as a cold, miserly creditor but as happy as an angel, as merry as a school-boy and as giddy as a drunken man. Scrooge, who demised Christmas, greeted the world with joyous merry Christmas and a happy new year. Charles dickens didactic structure makes the redemption of Scrooge so much more poignant. Dickens shows and depicts a cruel and wretched human, who ‘weighed everything by gain’ in the beginning, now viewing a changed man, makes the transformation so much sweeter. At the beginning of stave one, Charles Dickens depicts the character of Scrooge, a wretched, covetous old sinner, hard and sharp as a flint, where external heat and cold had no influences on him. Scrooge was but a mere mask for Dickens to display his awareness of social justice. Scrooge represented the Victorian rich, the ones who have flourished with industrialization, who neglect the poor and think only of their own well-being. We, as the reader realize this in the office of Scrooge and Marley’s. Scrooge being egocentric and cheap, obtains warmth from a small fire within his room, but his overworked and underpaid clerk, who has to support his family off a selfish 15 shillings a week, had a fire which ‘was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal’. Stave one, is where the comparison is made with the last stave, where scrooge is a completely different character from when we, the reader first met him. On Christmas eve, the miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted on his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold, death or redemption Scrooge’s, transformation gradually takes place from the visits from the three spirits; the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The Ghost of Christmas past, shows scrooge memories of his childhood. They show his isolation and lack of relationships. Scrooge is shown memories of him sitting inside the school by his lonesome and also positive experiences of generosity which he failed to live with as he got older. As Scrooge got older, Dickens showed that he seemed determined to live only for himself as he aged. The Ghost of Christmas Present represents the celebration and charity at the present time. He shows also shows scrooge the Cratchit family and how they celebrate Christmas, despite them being poor. They Cratchits may not be rich in wealth but are rich in love and can still celebrate a happy Christmas. Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchits crippled son, the youngest of the family, even he had an overwhelming goodness of the Christmas spirit. “God bless us, every one!” This was the true meaning of Christmas, not truly based religious wise but from a secular point of view as well. Scrooge understands the meaning of giving, family bonds, sharing, and generosity. This is what the ghost of Christmas Present portrays. Furthermore by revealing to scrooge that the boy will die unless the future is changed, suggest to Scrooge, that he has a control in the boy’s future. If he stays to be ignorant, the boy will be doomed to death. In stave four, the gloomy, silent and mysterious Ghost of Yet to Come shows Scrooges the future, and the horrific consequences of greed and selfishness. After his confrontation with the black hooded phantom, Scrooge now knows his fate is not written in stone, it is alterable. Dickens is didactically teaching the reader that redemption is possible in anyone and urges people to do it now rather then later. Dickens also shows the influence someone has after they die. What cheers up Bob after his son’s death is that his son’s memory will live on and remind them of the good in the world. Conversely, the only joy Scrooge’s life will provide for others after it is over is though their acquisition of his material goods and release from debt, not through his memory. In the conclusion to the novella, Scrooge does right by everyone he previously wronged in stave one. He offered a large unknown amount of money to the portly gentleman, bought and sent the largest turkey to the Cratchits, and Fred by accepting the invitation to dine with him on Christmas Eve, not too mention everyone else in the city.