“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year.” – Scrooge
Charles Dickens wrote the original story known as A Christmas Carol in 1843 but over 175 years later, we are still quite familiar with the story, although fewer people have read the original in the last several decades.
The story takes place in 19th century England. It is about an old man named Ebenezer Scrooge who absolutely hates Christmas. His business partner, who died on Christmas Eve seven years earlier, visits Scrooge and warns him to change his ways, promising visits from three other ghosts that night.
The Ghost of Christmas Past arrives and shows Scrooge how he and his friends used to celebrate the holidays and Scrooge begins to remember the Christmas spirit he had. The next visitor is The Ghost of Christmas Present, who shows Scrooge what he is missing by avoiding the holiday joy. He gets to see how happy his employee is, even though he is poor, and Scrooge starts to realize how miserable he is as he focuses on money. He tries to justify his behavior, but his argument is week. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!” he says.
The final ghost, The Ghost of Christmas Future, warns him that he will be unloved if he doesn’t change his ways.
My favorite part of the book is when Scrooge starts to become a sort of father-figure for Tiny Tim and starts to pay his father more money and offers to provide for the family’s needs, starting with Christmas dinner.
Most people are familiar with the movies made from the story over the last 120 years. One of the earliest versions was a short silent film made in 1901 called Scrooge, or Marley’s Ghost. On December 19, 2019, a new miniseries of A Christmas Carol starring Guy Pearce and Tom Hardy is scheduled to begin.
The adaptations over the last decade have been diverse. There are animated versions suitable for children. There are humorous versions that make our sides ache. There are horribly cheesy versions, especially in light of today’s film technology. And some versions are the thing of nightmares. A quick look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptations_of_A_Christmas_Carol can show you how overwhelmingly popular the story has been on stage, in movies and on TV.
