The Man Who Invented Christmas

We can probably all remember watching our favorite version of A Christmas Carol when we were kids, or maybe you have one now that you watch with your family.  I remember A Christmas Carol always being a wonderful part of our Christmas celebration when I was growing up.  The George C. Scott version was a little scary for me when I was young, but I love it now, actually I think I love all of the versions I have seen.  It just wasn't Christmas without the Muppets musical version or the creepy George C. Scott version.  A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, THE ghost story of Christmas is my favorite book of all time!  Why is this such a beloved story?  For some, me, Christmas season cannot begin without the reading or watching of it.  There is undoubtedly something for everyone, love, ghosts, good vs. evil, redemption, miracles, charity, hope, it completely embodies everything that Christmas is and should be about.  In my opinion, Dickens was brilliant!  I love his writings, although I have not read them all, A Christmas Carol has earned him a "favorite author" status in my heart.  The interesting thing is that he was not just a story teller, he was an activist and a journalist through his story telling. His stories echoed the major issues of the time.  He was a journalist before he was a novelist.  Behind every story was the reality of English society and a pleading voice to the public and government to fix something or change something.  This proves there is much more depth to his writings, for they are much more than just stories.  It is my hope that by the end of this blog you will have even more love and appreciation for this ghostly tale!

Why was this story written?  Dickens was raised poor, his father was thrown in debtors prison when Charles was just 12 years old.  Dickens was forced out of school and into the work houses where children were utilized as workers because they were cheap labor.  Dickens observed long hours and harsh treatment of child workers, for little pay.  He experienced these horrors first hand, he was one of these laborers.  As he grew older he became a journalist and reporter. He critiqued the ills of society during that time period. After reading the Child labor report in 1842 he set out to write a pamphlet titled "An appeal to the people of England on behalf of the Poor Man's Child".  After a week of thinking about it he decided to present his arguments in a story with a character of contemptible depth.  His goal was for this story to be a "sledge hammer" to anyone who would read it.  The purpose was to open the eyes of everyone, to wake them up to their awful situation!  At the time, a common accepted ideology was that poor people were bad people and helping them was discouraged, for it would only "encourage their malingering".  It was thought that the poor were con artists or that laziness and immorality earned them their circumstances.  A widely accepted view was that it would be beneficial to just let them starve to death to decrease the population, a view spread by Rev. Thomas Malthus.  To the sum of society, the work houses were the perfect solution.  "Those who are badly off, must go there."  The attitude was "the poor are not my problem, the government has provided for them and I pay my taxes, that is enough!" One of the most famous Malthusian quotes " If he like to die, then he better do it and decrease the surplus population!"

Charles Dickens and Karl Marx were contemporaries at the time, both writing and reporting in England at the same time.  Marx was a fan of Dickens and the two agreed on some points with regard to the issues in England.  Marx and Friedrich Engels were revolutionaries and thought that a revolution had to take place for change to happen.  The ideologies of Dickens and Marx were quite different when all was said and done.  Marx focused more on a Utopian society provided by and through the government.  Government was to be God according to the workings of his mind.  Political practice was his religion and thought it should be the end goal of all thought.  Marx's theories were more widely accepted and were evolved by his followers into what we know as the basis for the theory and practice of communism. Dickens on the other hand did not believe in revolution, but thought the problems could be solved by regular people making better choices and through charity.  He focused heavily on how the treatment of people could change any outcome.  Dickens, although not a fan of many organized religions claimed to be a Christian in a very general sense. His God was a Christian one.  He even makes references to Jesus in A Christmas Carol.  "He hoped the people saw him in church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas day who made lame beggars walk and blind men see." If he could change the way people thought and if it could be supported by the general population and the government, things would change.  This story is all about change.  When Marley comes to warn Scrooge of his impending doom, he calls him to repentance and he relays his own regrets to his only friend in life.  "Why did I walk through crowds of my fellow-beings with my eyes turned down and never raise them to that blessed star which led the wise men to a poor abode! Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me?"  Here he reminds us that Christ the Savior was born in poor circumstances.  How appropriate that he reminds us of that when society felt no desire to help the poor and yet the one who saved us all was poor.  This is one among many "sledge hammer" moments in this book.

Dickens believed that the employer was partially responsible for the health of his workers.  The working conditions in England for children were inhumane and many made the comparison with slavery, which to some degree, it was.  Dickens  believed in the idea that a happy, healthy worker was a more productive one and that decent working conditions were humane and deserved by all.  He thought that people and children deserved better treatment no matter their rank, status or class.  Employers should value their employee as Fred, Scrooges nephew points out, "they are of value, they are fellow passengers to the grave and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."  Dickens encompasses this idea with two extremes in his book, Scrooge and Fezziwig.  Fezziwig was Dickens ideal employer, joyful, kind, happy, and generous to all.  Scrooge being one of the worst kinds, barely paying Bob and not even making the working condition decent.  Dickens presents this design that if you have it within your power to help someone or make them happy, then you should.  That design is precisely what life is all about and Marley was too late in figuring that out.  Scrooge observes the other apparitions, some he knew in life thinking, "The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters and had lost the power forever."  What of happiness and merriment? In an exchange between Scrooge and Fred, Scrooge suggests that Fred has no reason to be happy "you're poor enough" and Fred does the same thing turning the question to him, why are you so unhappy? "you're rich enough".  For the rich are perceived to be happy and if you are not rich then you cannot be happy.  Fred later points out that Scrooge does nothing with his money, he helps no one and he does not even make himself comfortable with his riches.

Scrooge is the representation of the revolutionaries and philosophers who believed the poor should starve and "decrease the surplus population!"  He represents the employer who did not value the employee. He is the hard working, tax paying, law abiding citizen who thought if you were poor you deserved it for some reason and the government institutions of welfare were enough.  Upon Scrooge asking the Ghost of Christmas Present if the wretched children were his and he answers "they are man's", Dickens is suggesting that mankind breeds the children of Ignorance and Want.  Dickens boldly suggests that welfare is not the government's responsibility, but requires the charity of every human being.  We are our brother's keeper, "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!" says the regretful Marley.  He clearly points out that the government does not give proper welfare, but that people are dying and miserable and they want for everything still, their basic needs are not even met.  He illustrates that if there is a problem in society man is usually responsible and man can fix it. He believed that revolution was the tragic, unnecessary outcome of a societal problem not being fixed by those who have the power to fix it, according to him, that was every individual.  Everyone has the power to do something!

The Ghost of Christmas Present earlier rebukes Scrooge saying "If man you be in heart, not adamant, forebear that wicked cant until you have discovered what the surplus population is, and where it is. Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die?  It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, that you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child.  Oh God, to hear the insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust!"  Is it possible that Dickens is, at this point, unleashing his bottled up, true and hostile feelings on the philosophers of his day?  Yes, I think so, I think this rebuke is my favorite part of the book, a massive, profound slap in the face of society, a "shame on you" moment!  Who is anyone to determine the worth of a soul?  For they are all of worth in the sight of Heaven.  It is no Man's business deciding who should live and who should die!  If you think about the common theories and philosophies of the time, then you know Dickens is rebuking them all and rightly so.

Dickens pulls on the heartstrings of Scrooge through the visitations of 3 ghosts in order to soften his cold, hard heart until Scrooge becomes repentant.  The Ghost of Christmas Past when asked by Scrooge to cover his light, replies, "Would you so soon put out, with worldly hands, the light I give?  It is not enough that you are one of those whose passions made this cap, and force me through whole trains of years to wear it low upon my brow!" This ghost points out that light in the world is shut out by worldly hands, mortals, who reject the good it could bring.  He shows him his boyhood.  He takes him back so he can relate to the child version of himself and shows him some of the reasons he became who he is now.   As he watches himself as a boy he remembers the boy that came singing at his counting house and perhaps feels a tinge of remorse for sending him away. The ghost shows him the chances he had to change and the mortal saviors in his life, like Fan, Belle and Fezziwig.  He is shown love and kindness, but rejects the light for the God of gain.  That is exactly what people in England in Dickens' day were like, they rejected love, kindness and charity, for gain.  Dickens saw people and children used in terrible ways just so the boss could make a pretty penny.  The Ghost of Christmas Present shows him what life is really like while Scrooge walks through the streets carrying his cold temperature with him, and looking down at the ground, refusing to acknowledge that any issues were of his concern.  The ghost rebukes him and plants the seed of a different way of thinking.  The Ghost of Christmas Future shows him his doomed fate.  He is shown the way others view him and while Scrooge's heart has softened at this point he realizes he does not want to be that man.  Metaphorically speaking he is "given a taste of his own medicine" when he sees and feels the cruelty associated with the poor haggling over is things and his acquaintances commenting on his death. He wakes up to a new reality that makes him accountable and a proprietor for Tiny Tim's health, life, and the Cratchit family's financial well-being.  He now grasps the concept that he has the power to change people's lives, help them, and make a difference in the world, he can relieve suffering!

This book sold out after it was published and many read it.  I don't think the entire genius and message of the book was fully realized until quite a bit later, but for many the book had the intended "sledge hammer" effect.

Dickens is known as the man who invented Christmas? Why?  Well, the Victorian era was one in which many of our traditions had their origin.  In the mid 1700s the Cromwellian Revolt had overthrown the Monarchy in England as well as abolished Christmas.  Christmas celebrations were a thing of the past in Dickens' day. Some attempted to write about the lavish celebrations of the past to revive them.  Those long past manorial traditions (Yule), which were out of reach, were where entire communities gathered for a 12 day feast.  With the industrial revolution and consumerism taking hold, the hearts of many were hardened during this time and there was little value placed on life, love, and the true meaning of Christmas, his book softened their hearts. Dickens brought a new way to celebrate the old traditions of their ancestors.  He introduced it as a one day celebration of feast in your home, with your own family, and no matter your class status, joy could be had.  Instead of gathering whole communities where often times the poor were left out, everyone could celebrate at home.  He showed this with the Cratchit family and with Fred.  The celebrations did not need to be large and lavish and spectacular.  Dickens showed that you could have a great time with close family and friends.  For that is what the celebration was about. "The consequence of his taking a disliking to us, and not making merry with us, is, as I think, that he loses some pleasant moments that could do him no harm.  I am sure he loses pleasanter companions than he can find in his own thoughts, either in his mouldy old office, or his dusty chambers."  

It was also Victorian tradition, especially at Christmas time, to tell Ghost stories.  Dickens had a fascination with mesmerism and spiritualism, which led him to include ghostly apparitions in many of his works.  His famous Christmas Carol has remained popular and a necessity at Christmas time.  The Victorian tradition of telling ghost stories and the Christmas tree have survived nearly 2 centuries in England and the United States.  The Christmas tree was introduced in England by Queen Victoria's German husband Prince Albert. The Queen was married just 3 years before A Christmas Carol was published.  Prince Albert had started new Christmas traditions and the Christmas Carol popularized the new "Victorian Christmas" style of celebration!

Charles Dickens adapted the book to the stage where he read it himself.  He did readings from 1853 to 1870 just before he died.  He prefaced the reading with "I have endeavoured in this ghostly little book, to raise the ghost of an idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me.  May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it."  Of course, every reading ended with:
"It was always said of Scrooge, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us.  And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless us every one!" It never failed to bring a tear to the eye of the reader or listener.

My wish to you is that we may all be like the reformed Ebeneezer Scrooge at Christmas time, and all the time.  My hope being, that all will have changed hearts and more compassion as we remember the true meaning behind all of our traditions whatever they be.  I too, like Dickens, hope that A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas will pleasantly haunt your homes and hearts.  May the "ghost of the idea" and profound lessons that lie within its pages forever be remembered!

https://time.com/4597964/history-charles-dickens-christmas-carol/\

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-charles-dickens-wrote-christmas-carol-180961507/

https://medium.com/@billpetro/history-of-a-christmas-carol-a-ghost-story-of-christmas-b1768842429d

https://stephenhand2012.wordpress.com/2017/06/01/dickens-vs-marx/