When reading written works, most people apply the lessons learned to other people. Few have mastered the art of applying a lesson to oneself.
When we read the Bible, we easily see the sin of others while excusing ourselves of our own sin. Or, redefining our own sin so it’s not sin. Or, reframing it so it does not seem so bad. I digress.
When we read the classics like “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens, we identify a villain (Ebenezer Scrooge), and we apply a lesson to the villains in our lives (the greedy rich.)
I mean, isn’t that the moral of “A Christmas Carol?” Greed hurts others and will lead you to an untimely death?
And since I am not rich, and I am not withholding anything from anyone else, it makes sense that this is a lesson intended for others. And, I should be the one to tell the greedy rich capitalist that he is responsible for Tiny Tim’s death.
The problem with that interpretation is that it lets me off the hook too easily.
Classic literature, like “A Christmas Carol,” always carried a message. Authors saw an injustice, or a fallacy in society, and crafted intricate stories to illustrate their points.
Harper Lee did it in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” George Bernard Shaw was a master at this art, especially in his work, “Major Barbara.” John Steinbeck was a major progressive voice in his novels “The Grapes of Wrath” and “The Pearl.”
Their messages were sharp. Their indictments were merciless. They pulled no punches as their laid out the evidence that would convict society.
This is why these works are read in high school and college classrooms. Not so much to promote the messages contained therein, but rather to teach students to analyze written works in light of their context, and to think.
With “A Christmas Carol,” Dickens was no different. While most people see Bob Crachit as the protagonist, and Scrooge as the villain, the story actually has more to do with Scrooge than Crachit.
The reader was not intended to see himself in Crachit, rather, the reader was to see himself in Scrooge.
In Victorian England, life centered around religion, which all too often missed the Gospel and became self-righteous in nature. As a result, compassion for the poor was lost, and many treated the poor with contempt because they saw poverty as the rightful curse of a sinful lifestyle.
Dickens saw this cruelty first-hand as a child, when his father was thrown into debtors’ prison and he was forced to sell his book collection and go to work. He saw the effects on the many children who were denied education and placed in the mines and the mills.
So, Dickens creates a character who is wealthy, who has disdain for the poor, and who is leading a life that is as harmful to society as it is to himself as the protagonist. And, to make sure the Victorian reader’s sympathy lay with this despicable protagonist, Dickens sets the surrounding characters as people whom the Victorian reader wouldn’t dare admit to sharing commonalities with… the poor.
In the story, Scrooge is unloved as a child, faces poverty in his youth, but works his way up into a partnership with Jacob Marley, and lifts himself out of poverty. Then, he becomes the insufferable miser who is too cheap to allow Marley more coal to stay warm and refuses to allow a full day off for Christmas.
The thing about Scrooge is that he never demands from anyone else what he has not demanded from himself.
Scrooge is not sitting in a warm office while Crachit freezes in the foyer. Scrooge is just as cold. Scrooge is not taking a week off for vacation on Christmas while demanding Crachit work through the holiday. Scrooge is working as well.
Scrooge is not basking in luxury while Crachit’s family starves. Scrooge is thrifty, and barely spends anything on himself.
When Scrooge is asked for donations, his responses (Are there no prisons, are there no workhouses), are rooted in his demand that everyone do what he has done. Work hard, save money, provide for yourself.
And when Scrooge said to let the poor die and decrease the surplus population, he was expressing no value in human life, if that human life was not willing (in his mind) to sustain itself by all means necessary.
What Dickens captures in Scrooge is self-righteousness, and a disdain for anyone who has not attained to his level of self-sufficiency (which is Scrooge’s standard of righteousness.) Scrooge is a man who believes he pulled himself up by his own bootstraps, and everyone else should do the same.
Essentially, what Dickens was presenting in the character of Scrooge was the Victorian manifestation of Pharisaism. I earned it. I’m better. God is pleased with me.
It’s not until Scrooge is faced with eternal judgment (death) by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come that he reconsiders his ways. Having realized that his life and value system leads to death, Scrooge repents. Scrooge then emerges on Christmas Day a new man, one who is benevolent, generous, and cares about the plight of Crachit and his family, as well as the poor at-large.
This change in Scrooge is one reason why many see the Christian theme of redemption and salvation in the novel. And perhaps Dickens was trying to demonstrate to his predominantly Christian audience what redemption looks like.
Mainly, however, Dickens was calling his audience to repentance from their sins of pride, self-righteousness, and hatred of the poor.
Again, it is human nature to take these themes and apply them to others. We all know people that are self-righteous, bigoted, and who harm others by their selfishness. However, Dickens’ plan is for us to see ourselves in the Scrooge character.
Right now, our culture hurts. We are being ravaged by political fighting, economic uncertainty, divisive messaging in the news media, and a constant assault on our way of life.
It would be easy for us to fall into the “us vs. them” way of thinking, and to drift into the destructive lifestyles of self-righteousness. Instead, let’s remember that we are blessed because God shed His grace upon us. And instead of trying to defeat “them,” let’s try to win them over.
Like Scrooge began to share his wealth with others, let’s share the grace with which God has blessed us with others.
When the people of God view life through the Gospel lense, and live accordingly, there is no limit to what God can do.
Leland Acker 