Tonight I watched A Christmas Carol for the second time this holiday season. I saw the 1951 version in black and white a few weeks back and tonight I saw the 1984 versus in color with George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge.
Charles Dickens created in a short time a word for the English language to describe someone who is negative and bitter. Pretty much everyone knows what it means when we call some one a Scrooge, and as far as I know, it may become an international word like Schizophrenia.
Watching the movie and listening to a radio version on Christmas Eve are now yearly events for me. They are perspective-correcting experiences.
In the curse that I call my professional mindset, I see the character of Ebenezer Scrooge as a typical survivor and a workaholic. Apparently, Charles Dickens knew a number of people like Scrooge in the mid-19th century that helped him create a timeless masterpiece.
This character has a history that many might relate to—including a number of people I know who have become professional psychotherapists and psychiatrists. Sarcasm aside, many of us relate to Scrooge by our own pain or in dealing with those other Scrooges in our life.
Analyzing Scrooge--Many of us can relate
Ebenezer Scrooge had a hard childhood and youth. His mother apparently died giving him birth. He had a father who apparently was angry that Ebenezer's mother died in childbirth and apparently did not give Ebenezer any warmth or tenderness and apparently held a grudge against him.
Ebenezer was sent to a boarding school and then sent to apprentice in a counting/trading house. In his being driven for wealth Ebenezer put work above everything and Belle the one girl who had interest in him broke up with him on a Christmas Eve because of his choosing work over her.
Ebenezer became a bitter person who was abusive to those around him. He had a closed heart and no sympathy for the suffering of others. He thought generosity was a waste of money, and berated his nephew Fred for hosting a dinner. He was quick to be angry. He was self-absorbed in his negativity and selfishness.
The side note of Tiny Tim.
The opposite of Scrooge in this story is Tim Cratchit, who was called Tiny Tim. Tim was the son of Bob Cratchit, Scrooge's only employee. Tim had some kind of physical disability that he required a crutch to get around. Tim had this very noble and gentle spirit about him as related in a conversation between Bob and his wife in “Stave 3” of the story:
He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the 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.' (http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Charles_Dickens/A_Christmas_Carol/index.html)
Tim had more than Scrooge to complain about if Tim were to complain. However, Tim did not complain. Tim was kind of taking the Bible passage, Philippians 4:8 to heart:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. (NIV)
The Lesson of Scrooge
While many can take whatever message they wish from the story . . . the story of Scrooge is an opportunity to look at yourself and to reflect on what matters to you. Scrooge illustrates that being a survivor is miserable, and survivors can develop nasty reputations and victimhood in earlier life stops being a valid excuse.
Charles Dickens seems to encourage the reader to thrive and make Christmas meaningful. Not everyone is going to be able to be as generous as Scrooge was on the Christmas day after the visit from the three spirits, but definitely people can begin to open their heart to others.
Thriving and Living with an Open Heart
After the visit from the three spirits Scrooge became humble and real and seemed to open his heart to others. He started sincerely caring about others. While it is not in the actual story ( http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Charles_Dickens/A_Christmas_Carol/index.html) , the different movies have Scrooge apologizing to his nephew for being such a jerk.
Tiny Tim Crachit indeed does live with an open heart. Okay, the character is a crippled child living in a lower-class situation, but he is not about what is bad. He is generous in the way he shares his spirit and hope.
I honestly have to say that living with an open heart like Tiny Tim is going to be difficult for people who are survivors. Survivors have closed their hearts and lives for some good reasons—the trauma and emotional abuse that they have suffered as children. Closing your heart and emotions to others serves a purpose to protect yourself from harm—especially if your family is still a bunch of toxic and abusive people. Survivors become so invested in surviving that learning to thrive is like trying to learn a new language that has a different sentence structure and alphabet--it almost requires a new way of thinking and it becomes hard work.
However, a reasonable question is: do the reasons for keeping your heart closed still exist? Of course you can rationalize keeping your heart closed for many reasons, but it has diminishing returns over the years, and you can wind up as a bitter old recluse like Ebenezer Scrooge (with or without the money).
Maybe you can find some ways to be like Tiny Tim? God bless Us, Every One!
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