IT is customary to offer special versions of stories (and even songs) during Christmas time. I intend to do this. I also intend to connect Christmas (a beginning) with a fulfillment (the Cross). I intend to do this by exposing a massive “defect” in a very well known work. They are all parts of my Christmas gift to you. I need to warn you that you may not consider this to be a very good present.
The famous work is “A Christmas Carol,” the one by Charles Dickens. I long ago noticed an odd aspect to it. You recall that Scrooge only reforms after being confronted by the last ghost, who shows him his tombstone. He also is shown that his death is met with indifference. Scrooge becomes terrified and resolves to be better. But what did he fear? Death? Everyone is going to die. Was Scrooge not aware of this fact? Did he hope that, if he became a better man, he would not die? This may be lunacy, but this is one message in the story.
It might be considered as a sign of the immense talent of Dickens that he could “hide” this unrealistic silliness in plain sight, and have (almost?) no one (else) notice it. As Dickens does not make the story religious he actually has nothing to advocate but hedonism. Scrooge reformers selfishly, even though, as he admits, he does not deserve to be so happy. Had Dickens been a Catholic he could have introduced Purgatory and balanced the scales of cosmic justice. In that case Scrooge would have reformed in order to reduce his time of punishment in Purgatory that he had justly earned by his sins. But Dickens wrote for sentimental and secular audiences and not for theological ones. In fact the story never mentions Christ by name, or that Christmas (also) has a religious aspect to it.
However, there is something a bit more “odd” about the story. Scrooge really fails in his goal to increase overall happiness. His reformed version wants to do good to make others happy so that he will be popular. Follow the logic, please. His old bad version, when shown the result of his death, sees that it induces no sorrow in others, but only indifference. His new improved version will, we can safely assume, induce great sorrow, among many people, when he dies---and he will die! And, because he will be dead for a long time, and be mourned by many (more) people, Scrooge, by reforming and then dying, actually will have increased by a considerable amount the amount of misery in the world. His failure is truly ironic!
As aside I add this. Dickens did verge into a Natural Law theology. Scrooge benefits from each ghost only after they torment him. His redemption is based upon suffering.
Is massive sorrow what he really wanted? Is this what Dickens wanted? Of course not. However, the story is really a tragedy because Scrooge actually is a massive failure. Despite the best of intentions the story contradicts its obvious goal. It is as if the entire world, and mankind, has some unresolvable defect, does it not? That is, because of some impossible to remove inability, we are never able to achieve by our own efforts what we know we should have. In other words, it is the effect of Original Sin.
I did mention that this was related to the Cross, did I not? Merry Christmas.