Ghost of Christmas Present

Ghost of Christmas Present

The Ghost of Christmas Present with Ebenezer Scrooge
First appearance A Christmas Carol 1843
Created by Charles Dickens
Information
Species Spirit
Gender male
Relatives The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

The Ghost of Christmas Present or The Spirit of Christmas Present is a fictional character in the work A Christmas Carol by novelist Charles Dickens. The Spirit closely resembles Father Christmas from local folklore.

Description

The Ghost of Christmas Present is the second of the three spirits (after the visitations by Jacob Marley and the Ghost of Christmas Past) that haunt the miser Ebenezer Scrooge, in order to prompt him to repent. When he first appears before Scrooge, he invites him to "come in and know me better, man." According to Dickens' novel, the Ghost of Christmas Present appears to Scrooge as "a jolly giant" with dark brown curls. He wears a fur-lined green robe and on his head a holly wreath set with shining icicles. He carries a large torch, made to resemble a cornucopia, and appears accompanied by a great feast. He states that he has had "more than eighteen hundred" brothers and later reveals the ability to change his size to fit into any space. He also bears a scabbard with no sword in it, a representation of peace on Earth and good will toward men.

The spirit transports Scrooge around the city, showing him scenes of festivity and also deprivation that are happening as they watch, sprinkling a little warmth from his torch as he travels. Amongst the visits are Scrooge's nephew, and the family of his impoverished clerk, Bob Cratchit. Scrooge takes an interest in Cratchit's desperately-ill son, Tiny Tim, and asks the Ghost if Tim will live. The Ghost first states that "If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die," and then quick to use Scrooge's past heartless comments to two charitable solicitors against him states, "What then? If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

The spirit finally reveals to Scrooge two emaciated children, subhuman in appearance and loathsome to behold, clinging to his robes, and names the boy as Ignorance and the girl as Want. The spirit warns Scrooge, "Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom unless the writing be erased." The spirit once again quotes Scrooge, who asks if the grotesque children have "no refuge, no resource," and the spirit retorts with more of Scrooge's own words: "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?"

The Ghost of Christmas Present, having already aged, reveals that he will only exist on Earth for a single year's Christmas holiday as the Present only takes place on the one day of the year. He finally disappears at the stroke of midnight on Twelfth Night, and leaves Scrooge to face the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, as it approaches "like a mist along the ground."

Appearance in various film adaptations

See also

References

    Hearn, Michael P. (1989). The Annotated Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens; illustrated by John Leach; with an introduction, notes and bibliography by Michael Patrick Hearn. New York: Avenel Books. ISBN 0-517-68780-1.

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