Sue Berton,
December 22, 2004
as a child I don’t think I felt too good about watching old Scrooge, hunched over like some horrible monster brandishing his cane, terrorizing the poor or anyone who crossed his path. Even the Walt Disney version made me uncomfortable. To this day, I can still picture poor Old Mickey slicing a single pea for their supper. Old Scrooge scared me for some reason and I suppose a lot of little children today would be scared of him, too. Yet I was attracted to him. It wasn’t until later in life that I appreciated Good Old Scrooge as alastair Sim portrayed him.
It finally occurred to me that there’s a lot of Scrooge in all of us if you stop and think about this for a minute. Some are downright worse than others as far as the grumps and the cheapies go. Charles Dickens did create many characters in this story and I will go even as far as saying that there is a lot of us in all the characters.
I suppose it all depends whom you identify with most.
Dear Tiny Tim is someone many of us can identify with, or empathize with, even though he was born with an unidentified disabling illness. He has a heart of gold and is much more mature than a lot of adults for his age. Like a lot of children born with disabilities, he smiled a lot even though burdened for such a young age and limited in his ability to do the normal things children do.
Tiny Tim reminds me of the many children, or even adults who are the have-nots of our society, observing from outside through the window of life, the well to do, the able-bodied, the strong, wishing all along that they could be as fortunate. Tiny Tim looked through the window at the toys knowing he could never get. Smiling, he watched the children playing in the snow never believing he would get to do the same. Patiently, he waited outside in the cold for his father to finish work hoping he could just enter his world and enjoy warmth.
as you know, Bob Cratchit worked for Mr. Scrooge. It is amazing to me how this dear man could continue to work for his cold-hearted boss and still remain a good-hearted person. I suppose it had something to do with his providing for a large family. Most of us can identify with a man like Mr. Cratchit, doing what he needed to do to care for his loved ones. Many of us have to survive in a cruel world at times and a lot of us aren’t smiling like Mr. Cratchit. I think he was just happy to come home to his lovely wife away from the cruel world to the warmth of love and family. He needed a heart of gold to carry Tiny Tim on his shoulder. In this world today, there are many who are willing to lighten the load of the suffering on their own shoulders, or at least help them, particularly at this time of year. Christmas is more about giving than getting. Bob Cratchit knew this. What’s the first thing he did with his pay? He spent it all on his family for Christmas. a purely unselfish man, I think.
Mrs. Crachit was a good woman, too, who worked equally as hard in providing for her family. Family was central to her joy, and Christmas only made family time special for her and everyone who surrounded her. She made the delicious Christmas feast with what she could, distressing over its success for her family’s enjoyment. Mrs. Cratchit reminds me of my good mother, cooking cake and pies, and fudge for all of us during the holidays. My Mom smiled most when she was surrounded with love and family.
Then there is loving Fan, who had unconditional love for her brother Ebenezer Scrooge. I can identify with both characters on this one. Fan loved her brother when no one else seemed to love him. Scrooge was the rejected soul as far as his own father was concerned, blaming his son for his wife’s death while giving birth to him. If not for his sister Fan, Ebenezer never would have known love as a young boy. When she died, a little of him died, too, I think, and he hardened his heart against the pain of being hurt again. He felt no one else could love him the way Fan did. as a result, he became his father in a way, cold and unfeeling, blaming and unforgiving in his nature. along with this, he became greedy and his greed swallowed all good sense.
Cold-blooded Ebenezer lashed out with his hurt, pain and greed at anyone, including his nephew Fred who had a heart after his mother Fan; Scrooge rejected his friendliness just as his father rejected him, forgetting the heart of his sister Fan, a warm-hearted loving woman. Greed and long buried feelings blinded him. We see this today in our world preoccupied with having and building on wealth.
The most important thing for me that stands out in the character Ebenezer Scrooge is his need to be forgiven. Underneath it all, he was a man like the rest of us, with a heart, buried in the moat of his pain and rejection from the time he was born. When Ebenezer saw the light, he wanted forgiveness. He wanted to celebrate and partake of the joy of family, love and Christmas as anyone else. all these good things surfaced as though these qualities had been there all along.
In this way, I believe we are all a little like Scrooge wanting love, acceptance and forgiveness, needing hope and family to support and forgive us when no one else seems to care. Scrooge is a great character because he realized his wrong and when he changed, he changed for the good and for the better. What perfect time to think about these things. Christmas.
as Tiny Tim would say, "God Bless us everyone."
By Suzanne Berton ©2004
December Group Exhibit Upstairs Gallery
Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2024 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2024 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement