Review of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens

So in the spirit of the Christmas season, I read a "Christmas Carol" the other day and it was a pretty good story. This is a well-known story that's been around for over 170 years with many adaptions. so thought to myself, why not join in on it? I honestly did not understand what the appeal of this simple story was, but after reading it, I did enjoy the story for what it is worth.

So, I did feel like Charles Dickens could have gone deeper into the reasons why Scrooge was such a hard person to deal with, but I understand that Charles Dickens had a simple point. While more detail might have been nice, I can see how it might obscure the one point he was trying to make and the effects it had on the character. It seemed. to me that Scrooge is just a man who was focused on making money instead of family, but I think what’s lost is that Scrooge seems to be a guy who deep down was a pretty decent person. Overall, it seems to me that the only thing that made him cold and distant was most likely some hard times. For instance, the fact that his fiancée left him because she thought that money meant more to him than a loving relationship and I think his fiancée misunderstood him as a person. I also think that seeing how Jacob Marley was Scrooge’s only friend, that loss must have made him feel lonelier than ever before.

I enjoyed the first two ghosts that visited Scrooge in his dream the most because it showed that Scrooge had not always been such a tough person to deal with. Like when he talks to the ghost of Christmas present, we see him recognize that his behavior might not be the best and that he should change it. It was just a succession of horrific events that turned him from a good-natured individual into the person we first meet. I also think that certain aspects of Jacob Marley’s personality might have rubbed off on Scrooge over the years. In general, I know the whole ghost visitation sequence in the story was a dream, but it still bothers me that the servants stole Scrooge's bedsheets and other belongings because no matter what a person does, I think it's wrong to steal from the dearly departed. However, Scrooge’s servants didn’t seem to have that sense of respect in the dream--I feel that they saw Scrooge as some rich, eccentric, stubborn man and not as a human being deserving of respect.

There were a couple things that weren't super clear to me, which is again, where I think there could've been more detail. For instance, I finally understand what Scrooge does for a living because for the longest time, I couldn't figure out what he did, but now I understand that he would be something close to a loan officer for bank. That is the closest equivalent I can come to the position that Scrooge held, so I am not certain of that. And also, we are never told what Bob Cratchit’s youngest son suffers from, but if I had to take a guess, I would say it was a clubbed foot.

I did enjoy the ending. I am happy that Scrooge was able to learn from his travels with the spirits. I am also happy that in the end, Scrooge can spend Christmas with his family and show them that he was not as coldhearted as they thought he was. I think the biggest thing I took away from the story is that it is better to give than to receive. At least that is the lesson that Charles Dickens meant to convey with this story. To anyone who has read the story, what do you think Charles Dicken's point with this story was?