Free Sample Essays > European Literature
A Christmas Carol
significance on the term of realism.
Scrooge turning from a selfish, nasty man who despised Christmas and called it a ‘humbug’ to a generous man who loved Christmas and had more Christmas spirit than anyone else, I believe is not possible. Us as humans I do believe can change but not as drastically in the short space of time he did. I also believe that in a way Scrooge did not change at all. He did not alter his personality for the better of other people but so that he himself would not die alone and live a life of terrible loneliness and abandonment. His change was selfish, not for anybody else’s happiness but his own and therefore I believe there is no moral to this story. I think that Scrooges transformation was believable but definitely not true to life.
During the story, four ghosts visited Scrooge during the night of Christmas Eve. Jacob Marley who was scrooges old work partner was the first and he informed him that the ghost of Christmas past, present and future would visit scrooge during that night. “You will be haunted by Three spirits, without their visits you cannot hope to shun the path I tread. Expect the first tomorrow when the bell tolls one. Expect the second on the next night at the same hour. The third upon the next night when the last stroke of twelve has ceased to vibrate.” I believe Dickens wrote in these ghosts not to be true to life and not so that the story would become fake and unbelievable but for the moral that each of them brought to be true to life. He meant the ghosts to be a projection of the conscience of Scrooge. Therefore I believe that these ghosts were neither true to life or believable but more a symbolic projection of Scrooges guilt and regret.
The overall story to me seems not at all true to life and more like a fairytale. And consequently feel the story has parts that are believable but parts that are unrealistic and not believable or true to life.