Stave Four of "A Christmas Carol"

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Galatea

Guest
#1
#1
Stave Four is the part where the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come appears to Scrooge. The part I liked best was the scene of the Cratchitt family's tender grief over the loss of Tiny Tim. It is touching, maybe sentimental by some standards, but it seems just right to me.

Upon this reading, this part stood out particularly to me "He looked about in that very place for his own image; but another man stood in his accustomed corner, and though the clock pointed to his usual time of day for being there, he saw no likeness of himself among the multitudes that poured in through the Porch. It gave him little surprise, however; for he had been revolving in his mind a change of life, and thought and hoped he saw his new-born resolutions carried out in this."

We tend to think of Ebeneezer as a hard-hearted old miser, but that is only in the first stave. He softens during all the others. The majority of the novella pictures a repentant Scrooge. I can't help but like him, he wants to be good.
 
Laish

Laish

Senior Member
#2
Jul 31, 2016
1,666
448
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#2
Galatea said:
Stave Four is the part where the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come appears to Scrooge. The part I liked best was the scene of the Cratchitt family's tender grief over the loss of Tiny Tim. It is touching, maybe sentimental by some standards, but it seems just right to me.

Upon this reading, this part stood out particularly to me "He looked about in that very place for his own image; but another man stood in his accustomed corner, and though the clock pointed to his usual time of day for being there, he saw no likeness of himself among the multitudes that poured in through the Porch. It gave him little surprise, however; for he had been revolving in his mind a change of life, and thought and hoped he saw his new-born resolutions carried out in this."

We tend to think of Ebeneezer as a hard-hearted old miser, but that is only in the first stave. He softens during all the others. The majority of the novella pictures a repentant Scrooge. I can't help but like him, he wants to be good.
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Yea I found that Scrooge to be a sympathetic character too . I got the impression that he forgot how to be good ,and that the spirits reminded him of his humanity and that he was a good person at one time . Still the same outcome.
Great read .
Blessings
Bill
 
G

Galatea

Guest
#3
#3
Laish said:
Yea I found that Scrooge to be a sympathetic character too . I got the impression that he forgot how to be good ,and that the spirits reminded him of his humanity and that he was a good person at one time . Still the same outcome.
Great read .
Blessings
Bill
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Something that Dickens does not tell us, is how Scrooge gets to be so covetous. We are left to imagine why ourselves. Maybe he was driven to be successful in an attempt to please a hard-hearted father. Ebeneezer had to attend a poor school, and could not go home for holidays- until one year when Fan fetches him home and says "Father is much kinder than he used to be." Perhaps the elder Scrooge taught his son that success in business was all important.

The boy Ebeneezer was a reader, and all readers are good people. :)
 
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Tinuviel

Guest
#4
#4
I find this Stave the most heart-wrenching and tear-jerking. (I'm not too proud to admit that I can bawl like a baby over a Dickens book). No matter how many times I read it, I always feel this rising sensation of panic at not seeing Scrooge, much like I imagine Scrooge himself would have felt. He's in open denial. Even when all the signs point to his death, he assumes he's only changed, that he is no longer in his usual places because he's turned his life around. This was really the final straw (so to speak), that REALLY made Scrooge a changed man. Some have gone so far as to say that with out this glimpse of what his life MIGHT have been he would not have changed his course so completely. What does everyone think about that observation? I kind of tend to agree.
 
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Galatea

Guest
#5
#5
Tinuviel said:
I find this Stave the most heart-wrenching and tear-jerking. (I'm not too proud to admit that I can bawl like a baby over a Dickens book). No matter how many times I read it, I always feel this rising sensation of panic at not seeing Scrooge, much like I imagine Scrooge himself would have felt. He's in open denial. Even when all the signs point to his death, he assumes he's only changed, that he is no longer in his usual places because he's turned his life around. This was really the final straw (so to speak), that REALLY made Scrooge a changed man. Some have gone so far as to say that with out this glimpse of what his life MIGHT have been he would not have changed his course so completely. What does everyone think about that observation? I kind of tend to agree.
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I'm sorry it took so long to see the notification and reply. I think I agree with your interpretation. If he had not seen this ignominious death, he may not have changed his ways. Also, I think seeing Tiny Tim's death changed him. He wants Tim to live, and there is something within his power to help him live. I don't know which is the bigger catalyst for change, BUT I know most decent people if they could see into the future and know they can do something to keep a child from dying, they would do what was within their power to accomplish.

One thing that bothers me about this part is Fred. I don't think Fred would let Scrooge die alone. He would have been at his bedside. Dickens didn't keep Fred in character on this point.
 
blue_ladybug

blue_ladybug

Senior Member
#6
Feb 21, 2014
70,869
9,601
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#6
Sweetie, Christmas is over with.. lol :)
 
T

Tinuviel

Guest
#7
#7
Galatea said:
I'm sorry it took so long to see the notification and reply. I think I agree with your interpretation. If he had not seen this ignominious death, he may not have changed his ways. Also, I think seeing Tiny Tim's death changed him. He wants Tim to live, and there is something within his power to help him live. I don't know which is the bigger catalyst for change, BUT I know most decent people if they could see into the future and know they can do something to keep a child from dying, they would do what was within their power to accomplish.

One thing that bothers me about this part is Fred. I don't think Fred would let Scrooge die alone. He would have been at his bedside. Dickens didn't keep Fred in character on this point.
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True! I wonder if Dickens forgot about Fred? But...imagine. Say there was some kind of awful break? I don't know, but Scrooge as he is in the beginning of the book would have no problem turning someone out because he disliked them.
 
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Galatea

Guest
#9
#9
Tinuviel said:
True! I wonder if Dickens forgot about Fred? But...imagine. Say there was some kind of awful break? I don't know, but Scrooge as he is in the beginning of the book would have no problem turning someone out because he disliked them.
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Yes, that's right. He might have refused to have Fred come to his bedside when he began to be ill. He might have instructed Mrs. Dilber to allow no one inside in case they stole his things while he was out of commission. I can see Scrooge doing something like this. That's a good point. Thanks, it always kind of bothered me that Fred would let Scrooge die alone.
 
Magenta

Magenta

Senior Member
#10
Jul 3, 2015
55,885
26,046
113
#10
Galatea said:
But as Scrooge says "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." Lol :)
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And he did, too :) Some devotional Christmas songs I could listen to all year long :D
 
88

88

Senior Member
#12
Nov 14, 2016
3,517
77
48
#12
Try the British beef...
 
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