Why does Dickens use the Supernatural in ‘A Christmas Carol’?
How effective is it?
‘A Christmas Carol’ is a novella by the author Charles Dickens. It is a story about a mean and greedy miser, Ebenezer Scrooge. He soon learns about the true meaning of Christmas by a series of four ghostly visitors.
According to the Oxford dictionary, a Supernatural is something that does belong to the real world, e.g. Ghosts and Spirits in ‘A Christmas Carol’.
On the night of Christmas Eve, the Ghost of Marley visits Scrooge and warns him that his soul will be bearing heavy chains for eternity if he does not change his greedy ways. He also predicts that a series of other ghosts will follow. “You will be haunted, expect the first to-morrow, when the bell tolls, expect the second on the next night at the same hour. The third upon the next night when the last stroke of twelve has ceased to vibrate.” (Quotation found on page 50)
The first Spirit to visit Scrooge is the Ghost of Christmas Past. He gives out brilliant light and with it; Scrooge revisits the scenes of his earlier life. He takes Scrooge to situations in which he has not thought of others and has been very greedy, especially to the poor. He shows Scrooge how people can be affected by the way you treat them.
The second Spirit to visit Scrooge is the Ghost of Christmas Present. It is a great giant, dressed in a green robe. This spirit shows Scrooge how his clerk, Bob Crachit and his family, his nephew, Fred, celebrate Christmas. He shows Scrooge his clerk, Bob Crachit, and his family celebrating Christmas with their crippled son, Tiny Tim. Scrooge was never aware of this boy and realises what his selfishness and greediness has done. He asks the Spirit if he will live, but the Spirit replies “I see a vacant seat in the poor chimney corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows are unaltered by the Future, the child will die”. Scrooge was sad to hear this and wanted the poor...