Book #50
A Christmas Carol
By Charles Dickens
Pop Culture Has Infiltrated My Mind
I had never read A Christmas Carol before, so my knowledge of this story came entirely from secondhand references- mostly pop culture parodies.
This is unusual for me. I am the type who prefers to read the book before engaging in any of its adaptations. But for a story nearly 200 years old (and one absorbed so thoroughly into Western culture) that ship has clearly sailed. I can’t exactly blame pop culture for that.
Still, it creates a strange effect: the images in my mind aren’t based on my own imagination.
When I think of Scrooge, I picture Mr. Burns, for example. Or Scrooge McDuck. In fact, when I edited this post, I had to correct several instances of me calling him Scrooge McDuck.
Our world has a way of seeping into our minds without our permission. Sometimes this exposure is useful and enriching. Other times, it quietly shapes our perspective and our originality in negative ways, before we even notice it is happening.
In this particular case, it creates an interesting juxtaposition- a very old story with distinctly modern references.
Timeless Stories, Modern Retellings
I really enjoy when classic stories are repurposed for modern audiences- like whenever Romeo and Juliet is reimagined as a high school drama.
It shows the timelessness and universal relatability of the themes.
A recent example of this is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which was adapted into a new film this year. Beyond being cinematic and entertaining, the film speaks to something deeply relevant about our current culture.
Shelley wrote that book during the Industrial Revolution- a time of rapid technological change and fears of “science gone too far”. Sound familiar?
That same sentiment is at the forefront of today’s society as we grapple with insecurities over AI, social media misinformation, and new technologies that evolve faster than our ability to understand their consequences.
About 25 years after Frankenstein was written, Charles Dickens penned A Christmas Carol in response to how the poor, working class (including children) were being treated in this new, industrialized world.
He rejected the idea that poverty was a moral failing and instead saw it as a systemic one.
To Dickens, Christmas time represented positive qualities like generosity, humanity, and community in an age of increased isolation, profit prioritization, and disconnection.
Again, doesn’t that sound similar to our current society?
The classics feel like a soothing balm to our fast-changing world. They are a reminder in these anxious times that things change but the essence of human nature, society, and our reactions to new technology often stay the same.
Clarity is Necessary for Transformation
Not only did A Christmas Carol help reorient me within modern society, it also helped me better understand my own inner world.
While reading this book, I found myself unexpectedly jealous of Scrooge- I wish I had three benevolent spirits who would bestow guidance upon me.
The difference between him and I is that Scrooge lost himself in greed, whereas I am wallowing in confusion- which can be just as harmful to your life and others.
Confusion stalls action, distorts judgment, and quietly absolves us of responsibility by making everything feel undecidable.
In the book, Scrooge cannot hope to change until he is confronted with the truth. Once he receives this clarity, it is up to him to decide how to proceed.
Confused Identity
This book helped me work through my thoughts on my own identity.
I originally started writing this post from Scrooge’s perspective. It never crossed my mind to relate to the other characters, although I am objectively much more like them.
In the past, and even now, I’ve withheld a lot from people, not out of greed, but rather exhaustion and self-protection.
I had allowed my generosity to turn into weak boundaries and over-giving. And I had people around me who always wanted more. But I had nothing else to give. My health, wealth, and career were in shambles and I needed to focus on myself.
Still, I have felt enormous guilt and self-judgment over this.
I was convinced I was like Scrooge- greedily hoarding my capacity, when in fact, I was closer to Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim. I wasn’t hoarding anything, I had nothing.
I just didn’t want to accept my position in life. It felt safer to see myself as Scrooge, rather than someone vulnerable and depleted.
But Dickens shows that when capacity is gone, the moral task isn’t more hard work or personal generosity- it’s repair.
Are You Useful if You Aren’t Productive?
This challenges the pervasive idea that poverty is the result of laziness, and that those who are poor are undeserving of rest and comfort. These negative assumptions still persist in our modern world, and perhaps I even felt that way toward myself at times.
In fact, Dickens separated a person’s value from their productivity. Tiny Tim is valuable without being “useful” to the society of his time (he was not able to provide labour due to his disability). So his existence and value were in no way based on conventional productivity.
Does that mean he is worthless? Hardly. Dickens understood this and humanized him.
In doing this, he challenged systems which become cruel when they stop seeing people as individuals and instead as numbers.
Tiny Tim was also enormously generous in spirit, despite having little to give in other ways. Scrooge was the opposite. Perhaps value to society isn’t merely based on dollars.
Suffering Isn’t Noble
Tiny Tim’s ill fate in the story wasn’t inevitable. His suffering was preventable, and it was intervention that saved him.
Dickens saw no nobility in suffering, either for the individual or society. And he saw it as the responsibility of those with excess to give back.
This message is still very relevant today. And is a great reminder about how we should live at Christmas and throughout the rest of the year.
I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday full of love and laughter. As Tiny Tim would say, “God bless us, every one!”
Messy Bun Book Lover