“A Second Chance” By Nehir T. First Place Award

A writer uses many different literary devices within a piece of literature. One such device is characterization; it is not only the physical description of a character, but also his/her actions, thoughts, and voiced conversations. It is also how the character interacts with others, and what others think of the said character. For example, Charles Dickens, the writer of A Christmas

Carol, depicts the persona of Ebenezer Scrooge, his protagonist/antagonist, as a dynamic character. Ebenezer begins by having more vices than virtues, but transitions into a new personage. Therefore, Dickens’ use of characterization brings to life the underlying message that people can change for the better when given a second chance.

In the exposition of the novella, Dickens’ physical description of Scrooge creates a lonely, elderly man. Scrooge has a “cold within him [that] froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and

[have the quality of a] grating voice’’(2). Due to his frigidity, “nobody ever stopped him in the street [to say hello]’’(2). When two charitable gentlemen enter his office for a Christmas donation for the poor, Scrooge mentions that he already supports establishments and that he does not want to donate any money to make “idle people merry”(6). He also says “if the poor would rather die than be sent to workhouses, then . . . they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population” (6). Initially Scrooge is insensitive toward mankind.

His vice of callousness and egotism starts to thaw after he encounters three Christmas

Spirits: the Ghost Of Christmas Past, the Ghost Of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of

Christmas Yet To Come within his dream. Under the guidance of the Ghost of Christmas Past,

Scrooge obtains a second chance to revisit his childhood in order to learn how to evolve. For the first time in years, Scrooge grows emotional and cannot stop himself from crying. When the Ghost of Christmas Past asks, “[A]nd what is that upon your cheek?” (20), he lies and mumbles,

“[I]t was a pimple” (20). Scrooge, however, cannot handle seeing his past, so he yells, “ Leave

me! Take me back. Haunt me no longer!” (30). Although Scrooge expresses a little improvement

by acting emotional, he still has more vices than virtues. When Scrooge encounters two more

ghosts, he is awarded two last chances to alter his behavior and release the good that has been

hidden within.

With the Ghost Of Christmas Present, Scrooge witnesses the current negative effects he

has had on his employee Bob Cratchit and his family. Arriving at Bob Cratchit’s house,

Scrooge’s underpaid clerk, he witnesses firsthand the life of “the Poor” (6) for whom the two

charitable men were collecting money. The Cratchits represent the economic class that Scrooge

refused to donate his money to and also suggested that if they “would rather die ... [a]nd decrease

the surplus population” so be it (6).

First, Ebenezer notices that the Cratchit’s “were not a handsome family; they were not

well dressed ... But they were happy, grateful, [and] pleased with one another” (41-2). Secondly, he sees that the youngest child Tiny Tim is handicapped, and Ebenezer feels empathy towards this child. So, he questions the Present Ghost about Tim’s life span; and the Ghost articulates,

“‘I see a vacant seat . . . and a crutch without an owner. . . .If the shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die’” (40). Feeling remorseful, Scrooge “hung his head [because he] was overcome with penitence and grief” (40); and for the first time, he emotionally thaws into a

more sensitive, dynamic character.

The complete defrosting of Scrooge transpires with the Ghost Of Christmas Yet To

Come. Scrooge and the Spirit first stop beside a group of businessmen who are talking about a

mysterious dead man. These men are mere acquaintances of the deceased and only want to attend the funeral “if a lunch is provided” (52). Next, Ebenezer also witnesses three servants, who

stripped this dead man, whom they thought was not “natural in his lifetime [and] if he had been,

he’d have somebody to look after him when he was struck with Death” (54-5). Finally when

Scrooge reads his own name on the gravestone, he whimpers on his knees. His cognizance of all that took place is that he is the deceased man; and as his hands start to tremble, he cries, “‘I am

not the man I was . . . . I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will

live in the Past, the Present, and the Future’”(62). Now, Ebenezer understands that there is still

hope and that he can change if he wants. Therefore, Ebenezer begins his transformation to prove

that he can have more virtues than vices in reality.

Without a doubt, Scrooge is a dynamic character thanks to the Ghost Of Christmas Yet

To Come. However, the Ghosts Of Christmas Present and Of Christmas Past also help him

transform. And so “[h]e did it all, and infinitely [more:] . . .became as good a friend, as good a

master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew”(62). So, the lesson Dickens gives, as a gift

to his readers, is that there is always hope and a second chance if people willingly decide to

change.

Work Cited

Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol. New York: Dover Publications, 1991.