A Christmas Carol Summary

A detailed Summary of A Christmas Carol Summary

1). This story takes place in London, England. The time is winter and it starts the day before Christmas, also known as Christmas Eve. The settings of the book include Scrooge's Counting House, Scrooge's Home, Bob Cratchit's home, assorted places throughout Scrooges childhood like the schoolhouse and the Fizziwig's place where Scrooge was an apprentice, this is where a Christmas party took place and he met the one love of his life. Then it skips to Scrooge's love of his life when she is married and they speaks about Scrooge and how he is now in a world of his money. Also it shows the exchange, homeless people under a bridge, and a cemetery.

2.) The four main characters in the book are Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, and Ebenezer Scrooge's nephew, Fred.

First, lets examine Ebenezer Scrooge, since he is the main character of the story, All 3 ghosts visit him. Through him, the lesson of the story is to be learned. In the book, he is made out to be Anti-Christmas and he is constantly commented about by characters in the book, some feeling pity, others feeling hostility.

"External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he...No

4). The first ghost, The Ghost of Christmas Past- This apparition comes to Scrooge to show him where his pain is coming from and when he turned his life toward the direction of money. The spirit was "...like a child; yet not so like a child as like an old man , viewed through some supernatural medium, which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view, and being diminished to a child's proportion. It's hair...was white, as if with age; and yet the face had not wrinkled...It wore a tunic of purest white; and round it's waist was bound a lustrous belt, the sheen of which was beautiful." (63). The second ghost, The Ghost of Christmas Present- This ghost shows how Scrooge's lifestyle has affected the people who he has contact with. Every man and woman that knows him or knows of him have a set idea of him. A mean, old, stickler. The spirit was "...clothed in one simple, deep-green robe, or mantle, bordered with white fur."(107). He had a holly wreath, a scabbard without a sword, and dark-brown curls. The third ghost, The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come- This third ghost was very mysterious, Scrooge made most of the conclusions during this time himself, although very self-explanatory. I personally think that this apparition carried the most weight in changing Scrooge. It made him greatly sorry for his sinful behavior of his past and vowed to change his life. Not much was said about the spirit except that it was dressed darkly and did not speak, only pointed.

The last but not least major character is Scrooge's nephew, Fred. He seems to be the only individual who comes to converse with Scrooge and offer him anything. In this case, Fred offered him an invitation to his house for Christmas dinner. Fred is convinced at the beginning of the story that Scrooge doesn't really mean "Bah!...Humbug!" (18) no matter how many times he says it. Fred is presented cheerful and in high spirits. "He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge's, that he was all in a glow; his face ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again." (18). As I said before, Fred is one of the few that feels pity for Scrooge.

3.) The book starts off talking about Jacob Marley, Scrooge's former business partner. It basically says that he "was dead as a door-nail" (11). Then it moves to Scrooges counting house where he converses with Fred. Then two men come in to ask for a donation and Scrooge shoos them away quickly enough. Then Bob Cratchit come in for a days work and Scrooge is stingy about putting coal on the fire. At this point in the book, Scrooge is not made

Some common words found in the essay are:
Tiny Tim, Tiny Tim's, Ebenezer Scrooge, Christmas Past-, Christmas Come-, Christmas Past, Ghost Christmas, Bob Cratchit, Christmas Present-, Fizziwig's Scrooge, ghost christmas, tiny tim, ghost ghost, ghost ghost christmas, bob cratchit, christmas party, love life, nephew fred, tiny tim's, met love life, change scrooge, scrooge apprentice, scrooge's nephew fred,

Approximate Word count = 1760
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English