Critique of Christmas Time in Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol Essay

Critique of Christmas Time in Charles Dickens A Christmas chirp An audience members gleeful first-hand account of Charles Dickenss public reading of A Christmas warble unwittingly exposes an often overlooked contradiction in the storys climax Fin all toldy, thither is Scrooge, no longer a miser, but a human being, utter at the conversational boy in Sunday clothes, to buy him the prize flop that never could have stood upon his legs, that bird (96). Perhaps he is no longer a miser but, by this description, Scrooge still plays the role of a capitalist oppressor, dictatorial under(a)lings to fetch him luxuries. While Dickens undoubtedly lauds Scrooges epiphany and ensuing change, A Christmas sing also hints at the authors resentment for an industrial societys corrupted notion of the Christmas spirit. by instances of goodwill which Christmas provokes, Dickens suggests that Christmas is only an interruptive exception from the otherwise capitalistic calendar. until now when Scr ooge becomes altruistic, as in the above scene, his philanthropy still operates under the guise of capitalism, measured in economic terms and aimed ultimately at providing himself with pleasure. Dickens subtly turns his critique of ephemeral and selfish holiday prison term to the reader. The straightforward, Aristotelian structure of the narrative and the constant foreshadowing and repetition cut down any potential anguish about the storys outcome. The main cause for anxiety over the conclusion of any sentimental tale is to identify with the friend in some way. Although Scrooge is a caricature with whom few would sympathize (or admit to so doing), Dickenss Three Spirits lure us into almsgiving with the miser while simultaneously engenderi... ... it, since they, already presumably aware of their own Scrooge-ness, pauperization the lesson less than the hypocritical Mrs. Cratchits do. Both sets of listeners will, however, seek out the story separately Christmas for the Mrs. Cra tchits, an innocuous retelling reduces anxiety about identification with Scrooge, and the Scrooges receive a reminder of the changes that need to be effected on a social, rather than local, scale. In either case, a rereading is what Dickens solicits, and not only for his own canonization. When A Christmas Carol marks the memory of various Christmases for readers, they will, if not perceive all time in such a form, at least detain in a literary Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Works Cited Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol. USA lilliputian Books, 1997. Genette, Grard. Narrative Discourse. Trans. Jane E. Lewin. Ithaca Cornell UP, 1980.