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How Does Scrooge Change In A Christmas Carol

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Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol against the background of the reforming of the Poor Laws of 1834. According to Kincaid, “the new Poor Law largely consisted of a system of orphanages, workhouses and debtor’s prisons. These institutions were often presided over by churchwardens elected by local parishes. These boards often preferred to punish the poor rather than show them kindness or mercy.” After working at one of the workhouses and seeing how the poor were being treated he wrote the story, A Christmas Carol, as a rebuke against the societies treatment of the poor. A Christmas Carol tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miser who is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve. Throughout Dickens book, forgiveness changes Scrooge both inwardly and outwardly. In Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, learning to forgive helped transform Scrooge.
First, in the process of learning to forgive, Scrooge begins to change inwardly. During his encounter with the Ghost of Christmas Past, Scrooge is given a glimpse of his past self. Scrooge was not always an angry, old miser. In Scrooge’s case, he is angry at the way at the decisions he made and how the events that happened in his past affected his life. According to Joseph Goldberg, MD, “anger can stem from a feeling of …show more content…

According to Welch, Scrooge is a changed man and he does promise to keep Christmas in his heart and throughout the year. In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge says, “I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all three shall strive within me.” He goes beyond just telling that he will change, he acts upon what he said to the spirits and makes plans. He plans to buy a big turkey and send it to the Cratchits for Christmas. He also plans to visit his nephew Fred. If Scrooge can have an inward change so can we, but we must be willing to

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