Exploring the Spirit of Christmas in Dickens' A Christmas Carol

[Music] hello my name is dr aiden elliot and in the next few

minutes i will analyze how the theme of christmas is presented in a christmas carol and

highlight key quotes that you can use when answering exam and essay questions today christmas

is primarily a time for exchanging presents within the family but in a christmas carol dickens is more

interested in the spirit of christmas which is described as a good time a kind forgiving charitable

pleasant time note that having a good time is about the way we treat others that's why at the beginning of this

story scrooge's nephew fred goes to see scrooge to wish him a merry christmas

and to invite him over for dinner he's being kind and charitable also note that the two

portly gentlemen who then arrive ask scrooge for money to help the poor

which is an act of charity it's this attitude of kindness forgiveness and charity that

creates what is described here as a pleasant time a feeling

of delight and pleasure fred is in fact the character who best embodies the spirit of christmas

he's the first character to mention christmas when he says a merry christmas uncle god

save you merry christmas is now such a cliched phrase

that it's worth looking at it in more detail to see what it really means mary means wishing someone happiness

christmas means a mass for jesus christ which is a church service

where church goers eat bread and drink wine in remembrance of christ and the values he stood for

kindness forgiveness and charity amongst others and why god save you well fred also

wants scrooge to recognize god's existence so that he can be saved from damnation

after death and what is scrooge's response to this ba humbug now humbug

refers to something deceptive or dishonest so scrooge is saying that he thinks the

ideas of god and the idea of christmas are dishonest

they're essentially fictions that should not be believed this exchange sets out the opposite

positions of the two men at the beginning of the story now fred's idea of the christmas spirit being a

kindly attitude towards others he summed up in this description of him

in stay four now it wasn't for the sake of anything he might be able to do for us

so much as for his kind way that this was quite delightful freddie's being praised here for the

kind way he treated bob cratchit not for what bob thought fred

might be able to do for them or even give them it is this kind way of behaving that

creates a delightful feeling and it's precisely this attitude that scrooge himself realizes is what

made his old employer fizzy wig a special person say that his power

lies in words and looks in things so slight and insignificant that it's impossible to add and count em up

fizzywig brings pleasure and happiness to his employees just through the words he uses and the

way he looks at them scrooge describes them as slight and insignificant

because they can't be added up like the thing scrooge values money but the clear implication

is that it is money that is actually insignificant now this idea of joy and pleasure is

then amplified by the words and phrases used at this point in the story excitement rubbed his hands laughed

jovial fire snug warm beaming lovable affectionate and at the end of the evening described

fizzy wig and his wife stand by the door and shake hands with every person as they leave

so fizzy wig and his family here embody the generous spirit of christmas and this emphasis on

christmas being more than about money and gifts is reinforced throughout the story but

especially in stave 3 when the ghost of christmas present

shows scrooge places where there was nothing very cheerful in the climate of the town and yet there

was an air of cheerfulness abroad now the word cheerful is the most important here the

place being described doesn't seem designed to promote cheerfulness yet the people there

are cheerful and cheerful means causing happiness it's an attitude to life that affects

others positively and this is why in all of the christmas scenes in stage

3 whether they're set in desolate mining communities in smoky london

out at sea the people are cheerful and enjoying themselves they are choosing

to be cheerful now these examples reinforce what fred had said at the beginning of the story

that christmas is the only time i know of when men and women seem by one consent

to open up their shut up hearts freely so what's important here is that people open up their hearts become kinder of

their own volition they do it freely but note that they only tend to do it at christmas what

dickens is implicitly suggesting is that we should act kindly all year round not just at christmas

and by stay five scrooge has eventually learned from these examples of kindness and cheerfulness

and that's why we immediately hear a scrooge glowing with his good intentions this

phrase marks scrooge's changing attitude he's now

full of good intentions and he's also glowing he's now a warm generous character

and when something glows it warms others and in this way he's embodying the spirit of christmas

in fact that's exactly how dickens describes him at the end of the story he became as good a friend as good a master

and as good a man as the good old city new or any other good old city town or

borough in a good old world embracing the true spirit of christmas makes us

good in many ways which is why dickens repeats the word six times here to reinforce his point

in fact the word good appears regularly in this story it's actually used 68 times

coming just behind the word christmas which is used 84 times so these two words become in a way

synonymous with each other to embrace the spirit of christmas is to be kind and charitable

and that is what makes it a good time so in summary christmas in this story is a time to be generous and kind to others

and as we adopt this attitude we will also become happier ourselves dickens wider message is of course

that our goal should be to embody the christmas spirit all year round because it by this

means that we will create a world that is better for everyone so do look out for some of

these features as you read this story and i hope that this video has given you some useful

insights that will help you to get a greater understanding of charles dickens

a christmas carol give a thumbs up if you enjoyed this video and subscribe now so that you never miss any of my future

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