December 22, 2013
I'd downloaded A Christmas Carol from Amazon months ago, along with many other public domain classics. I figured this would be the perfect time to squeeze it in. It's a short work, much shorter than Great Expectations. And it is Dickens' best known work, having been remade and parodied countless times. In fact, this book is what brought celebrating Christmas to the mainstream in England; while the traditions and decorations described in the story are familiar to today's readers, back then these were pretty new traditions. Certainly, this is Dickens' most important and influential work.
Because I was so familiar with the story, and it really didn't have any surprises in it (there are some very faithful adaptations out there), I considered a couple of different things as I read it. First, I thought of what I'd learned about Dickens' life last year, that one day that I watched a video with a class that I was subbing (I'm just going to make a quick note here about how very, very grateful I am to not be substitute teaching anymore). Dickens' family was very poor; his father had a lot of debt, and spent time in debtor's prison. So clearly, Dickens' ideas about charity, and his distain toward the wealthy (clearly expressed in this work, and also in Great Expectations), all stem from his experiences as a poor street kid. I could easily imagine him being the child left alone on Christmas, comforted by his fictional friends in his beloved books; the love that Scrooge had for his younger sister echoes the love that Dickens had for his own siblings, I well imagine.
Look, I'm not anti-Christmas. I think it's nice that it is the one time of year that people are more willing to give to charities, that people in general are a little bit friendlier. I'm happy that I can provide my family members with quality gifts, and that I'll be spending a relaxing day with them on Christmas. But as critical as I was of Atlas Shrugged, I found myself thinking, what would Ayn Rand have to say about A Christmas Carol? The answer would be pretty obvious: she would call it communist propaganda. I think it's fair to say that Dickens used this Christmas story as a platform for his political views. They're views that, in general, I agree with; I mean, what good is having money if you don't use it to help others, or to have a good time? Yet the insistence that it is Scrooge's social responsibility to use his money for the greater good...I don't necessarily agree with that. If the old man wants to be a miser, what of it? But his nephew Fred does point out that Scrooge isn't hurting anyone with his ways but himself; well, exactly.
Scrooge softens very easily, which did kind of surprise me. By the second ghost, he's eager about what lessons these spirits have to impart on him. I think he kind of gets the idea by the time the Ghost of Christmases to Come points to his grave. I feel like other adaptations have had a more reluctant Scrooge character, one who isn't so willing to give up his (or her) selfish or miserly ways. But Scrooge realizes very quickly that his life is shit; he believes readily in these ghosts, and is very willing to change. Well, good for him, I guess.
I hope to read at least one more book before the year is out. 50-some-odd books in a year isn't too bad; I plan to keep up that pace. As busy as I am, I never feel bad about spending some time with a good book. Merry Christmas.
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An imagine of Bob Cratchit and his ailing son, Tiny Tim. My version of the book (on my Kindle) had the captions for the images, but not the pictures themselves.
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