A Christmas Carol

by

Charles Dickens

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The quintessential miser, he is cruel-hearted, underpays his clerk Bob Cratchit, and says “Humbug!” to the Christmas festivities that bring joy to everyone around him. But when he is visited by the ghost of his old partner Jacob Marley, he begins to see the error of his ways. Scrooge is shown his own past, and the sight of his neglected childhood Christmasses begins to explain why he began his downward spiral into misery. Scrooge is scared and regretful when he sees the vivid images of the Christmas Yet to Come, which predictably leaves him dying alone. His reversal, from the anti-Christmas figure to the spirit of Christmas shows clearly the message of hope and forgiveness Dickens intended for his readers.

Ebenezer Scrooge Quotes in A Christmas Carol

The A Christmas Carol quotes below are all either spoken by Ebenezer Scrooge or refer to Ebenezer Scrooge. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
).
Stave 1 Quotes

Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.

Related Characters: Ebenezer Scrooge
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 34
Explanation and Analysis:

'A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!' cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach.
'Bah!' said Scrooge, 'Humbug!'

Related Characters: Ebenezer Scrooge (speaker), Fred Scrooge (speaker)
Page Number: 35
Explanation and Analysis:

'Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. 'Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!'

Related Characters: Jacob Marley (speaker), Ebenezer Scrooge
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 49
Explanation and Analysis:
Stave 2 Quotes

'The school is not quite deserted,' said the Ghost. 'A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still.'
Scrooge said he knew it. And he sobbed.

Related Characters: The Ghost of Christmas Past (speaker), Ebenezer Scrooge
Page Number: 57
Explanation and Analysis:

'Our contract is an old one. It was made when we were both poor and content to be so, until, in good season, we could improve our worldly fortune by our patient industry. You are changed. When it was made, you were another man.'

Related Characters: Belle (speaker), Ebenezer Scrooge
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis:
Stave 3 Quotes

In easy state upon this couch, there sat a jolly Giant, glorious to see, who bore a glowing torch, in shape not unlike Plenty's horn, and held it up, high up, to shed its light on Scrooge, as he came peeping round the door.

Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 72
Explanation and Analysis:

The sight of these poor revellers appeared to interest the Spirit very much, for he stood with Scrooge beside him in a baker's doorway, and taking off the covers as their bearers passed, sprinkled incense on their dinners from his torch.

Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 77
Explanation and Analysis:
Stave 4 Quotes

The Phantom slowly, gravely, silently approached. When it came, Scrooge bent down upon his knee; for in the very air through which this Spirit moved it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery.

Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 95
Explanation and Analysis:

'Ghost of the Future!' he exclaimed, 'I fear you more than any spectre I have seen. But as I know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to live to be another man from what I was, I am prepared to bear you company, and do it with a thankful heart. Will you not speak to me?'

Related Characters: Ebenezer Scrooge (speaker), The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
Page Number: 96
Explanation and Analysis:

'If he wanted to keep them after he was dead, a wicked old screw,' pursued the woman, 'why wasn't he natural in his lifetime? If he had been, he'd have had somebody to look after him when he was struck with Death, instead of lying gasping out his last there, alone by himself.'

Related Characters: Ebenezer Scrooge
Related Symbols: Images of Age and Youth
Page Number: 100
Explanation and Analysis:

He recoiled in terror, for the scene had changed, and now he almost touched a bed: a bare, uncurtained bed: on which, beneath a ragged sheet, there lay a something covered up, which, though it was dumb, announced itself in awful language.

Related Characters: Ebenezer Scrooge
Page Number: 102
Explanation and Analysis:

Scrooge crept towards it, trembling as he went; and following the finger, read upon the stone of the neglected grave his own name, Ebenezer Scrooge.

Related Characters: Ebenezer Scrooge
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 108
Explanation and Analysis:
Stave 5 Quotes

'I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!' Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. 'The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Oh, Jacob Marley! Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this! I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees!'

Related Characters: Ebenezer Scrooge (speaker), Jacob Marley
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 111
Explanation and Analysis:

He went to church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and fro, and patted children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of houses, and up to the windows, and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He had never dreamed that any walk – that anything – could give him so much happiness.

Related Characters: Ebenezer Scrooge
Page Number: 115
Explanation and Analysis:

'Now, I'll tell you what, my friend,' said Scrooge, 'I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And therefore,' he continued, leaping from his stool, and giving Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the Tank again; 'and therefore I am about to raise your salary!'

Related Characters: Ebenezer Scrooge (speaker), Bob Cratchit
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 116
Explanation and Analysis:
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Ebenezer Scrooge Character Timeline in A Christmas Carol

The timeline below shows where the character Ebenezer Scrooge appears in A Christmas Carol. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Stave 1
Family Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
The narrator states that there was no doubt about Marley’s death. Scrooge, Marley’s business partner, signed the register of his burial. The narrator considers that the phrase... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Scrooge did not seem to grieve much (apart from the loss of business), and got a... (full context)
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is in his counting house. It is a freezing, foggy day and is quite dark... (full context)
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, enters the office, wishing a merry Christmas. Unlike Scrooge, he is a picture... (full context)
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Scrooge tells Fred to leave him alone, that Christmas has never done any good. Fred responds... (full context)
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Finally, Fred asks Scrooge if he will dine with him and his wife for Christmas dinner. Scrooge objects to... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Social Dissatisfaction and the Poor Laws Theme Icon
Two gentlemen call next, asking Scrooge which one of the two partners listed above the door he is. Scrooge informs them... (full context)
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Social Dissatisfaction and the Poor Laws Theme Icon
Scrooge inquires about the prisons and workhouses, and, hearing that they still exist, doesn’t see any... (full context)
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
...passes, the fog and cold become more severe. The clock tower that looks down on Scrooge’s office chimes. The shops, decorated with seasonal regalia, are strangely bright in the gloom. Meanwhile... (full context)
Family Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
At closing time, Scrooge turns to Bob Cratchit and taunts him for wanting the day off for Christmas day.... (full context)
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
...the incident with the door knocker, the narrator makes a point of telling us that Scrooge’s door knocker had always been a very ordinary door knocker, and Scrooge himself a very... (full context)
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
But as Scrooge looks, the ghost turns into a knocker again, and Scrooge hurries indoors, annoyed by the... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
The ghost appears just as Scrooge remembers Jacob Marley, except that he is totally transparent and carries a huge chain about... (full context)
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Scrooge asks Marley to sit. He wonders, because of his transparency, if he is able to... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Social Dissatisfaction and the Poor Laws Theme Icon
At this, Marley shakes his chain and makes a terrifying sound. Scrooge admits that he believes now but questions why a ghost should come to pursue him.... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Social Dissatisfaction and the Poor Laws Theme Icon
Marley cannot stay long, with many journeys ahead of him. Scrooge jokes that he must have been wandering slowly, having taken seven years to get here,... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Scrooge is now terrified and vows to listen. Marley tells Scrooge that he will soon be... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Then, Marley’s ghost beckons Scrooge over. Scrooge begins to hear a chorus of wailing sounds, which Marley’s ghost joins. Then... (full context)
Stave 2
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Scrooge awakes and finds his room as dark as when he fell asleep at two o’clock.... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Scrooge goes back to bed and thinks, but the more he thinks that the episode with... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
The ghost introduces itself, in a low, faraway voice, as the Ghost of Christmas Past. Scrooge’s past, in particular. Scrooge gets an urge to shy away from the ghost’s light and... (full context)
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
The ghost of Christmas Past leads Scrooge to the window. Scrooge tries to resist, thinking he will fall out of the window,... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Scrooge recognizes everything he sees, and names the members of a crowd of passing youths excitedly,... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
As the boy is reading, a man in a funny costume appears outside the window with a donkey... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
The ghost of Christmas Past brings forth other visions. Scrooge is now older, alone for another Christmas holiday, but this time a young girl comes... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
They go to another Christmas, where Young Scrooge is apprenticed at a warehouse. He sees his old boss Fezziwig, a fat, jovial man,... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
...lightness defying their ages. After the dancing they see their guests to the door, and Scrooge and Dick go to their beds. Scrooge has been watching this display in a frenzy... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
...announces that he is running out of time and the vision changes again – now Scrooge is “in the prime of life” next to a weeping girl, who believes she has... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
...daughter and a herd of other children, boisterously running around. The mother and daughter laugh. Scrooge looks with envy at how the young boys play with their sister, without getting punished.... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
...and remembers meeting an old friend of hers earlier. Belle guesses that it was Mr. Scrooge. Her husband tells her how he seemed “quite alone in the world”. At hearing this,... (full context)
Stave 3
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Scrooge wakes up the following night, ready to be greeted by the second spirit. He does... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
...greenery. Amid all this sits the second spirit, who lifts up a glowing torch as Scrooge enters and introduces himself as the Ghost of Christmas Present. His eyes are kind, but... (full context)
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
The Ghost of Christmas Present is surprised that Scrooge has not met a spirit like him before, because he has more than eighteen hundred... (full context)
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Social Dissatisfaction and the Poor Laws Theme Icon
...on their food, which has a magical effect of making any disagreements vanish. He tells Scrooge that the incense is a particular flavor, and is best given to a poor dinner. (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Social Dissatisfaction and the Poor Laws Theme Icon
...Tiny Tim sits next to his father and says heartily, “God bless us every one”. Scrooge eagerly asks the the Ghost of Christmas Present if Tim will survive. The spirit responds... (full context)
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Just then, Scrooge jumps—Bob Cratchit has said Scrooge's name, in a toast. Mrs. Cratchit says she doesn’t understand... (full context)
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Social Dissatisfaction and the Poor Laws Theme Icon
They talk about employment, and Mr. Cratchit says that Scrooge might have work for Peter, the eldest. Martha Cratchit tells them about her hard work... (full context)
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Social Dissatisfaction and the Poor Laws Theme Icon
As Scrooge and the spirit wander on through the city, they see wonderful sights like this all... (full context)
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Scrooge is interrupted in his vision by a hearty laugh. All of a sudden they are... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Scrooge’s niece plays a tune on the harp that Scrooge remembers fondly. It makes him feel... (full context)
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
As Scrooge watches, he joins in the games, making unheard guesses and contributions. He begs the Ghost... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Scrooge has been so enlivened by the evening that he is very sorry to go, but... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Social Dissatisfaction and the Poor Laws Theme Icon
As the bells chime and time passes, Scrooge notices something strange under the Ghost of Christmas Present’s robe. Two children creep out. They... (full context)
Stave 4
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
The last ghost approaches, but is shrouded in a black garment so that all Scrooge can see of it is an outstretched hand and a mass of black. This figure... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Scrooge follows the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and suddenly they are in the midst... (full context)
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Scrooge looks questioningly to the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, but it just moves on... (full context)
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Social Dissatisfaction and the Poor Laws Theme Icon
Scrooge realizes the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is looking at him again, and feels... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
...a sheet. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come points ominously towards the head but Scrooge finds he can't make himself remove the cloth. The narrator recites a lesson about death—that... (full context)
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Scrooge assures the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come that he is aware of the lesson... (full context)
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
But Scrooge wishes to see some scrap of tenderness to dim even slightly the terrible image of... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Bob then tells his family of the beautiful kindness of Scrooge’s nephew, whom he met in the street. Fred noticed that Bob looked sad and gave... (full context)
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Social Dissatisfaction and the Poor Laws Theme Icon
Scrooge can tell that the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is about to leave him.... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
...of Christmas Yet to Come keeps pointing, now it is clear that he is directing Scrooge to one grave in particular. Scrooge desperately asks whether the things the spirit has shown... (full context)
Stave 5
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Scrooge wakes to find himself back in bed, in his rooms, his face wet with tears.... (full context)
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Social Dissatisfaction and the Poor Laws Theme Icon
The church bells start chiming. Scrooge runs to the window and sees a beautifully clear, cold day. He shouts out to... (full context)
Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Social Dissatisfaction and the Poor Laws Theme Icon
The turkey arrives and Scrooge delights in sending it to the Cratchit house, paying everyone handsomely for the job. He... (full context)
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
All morning, Scrooge walks through the town, greeting and talking to people. Then he goes to his nephew’s... (full context)
Family Theme Icon
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
The next day, Scrooge goes to the office, in the hope of catching Bob Cratchit coming in late. Sure... (full context)
Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Christmas and Tradition Theme Icon
Social Dissatisfaction and the Poor Laws Theme Icon
The narrator ends by saying that Scrooge does all that he promises, and more. Tiny Tim survives and thrives. Scrooge is popular... (full context)