Scrooge locks his door in a panic, but the ghost of his partner draped in chains drifts through the locked door. He tries to discount the occurrence but then sees the apparition of a hearse and once again sees images of his deceased partner carved into his mantelpiece. Scrooge does a double-take, and the image of Jacob Marley vanishes. Scrooge gets to his residence and is shocked to discover that his door knocker appears to be the face of his previously deceased partner, Jacob Marley. Scrooge then complains to Bob Cratchit about having to pay him for Christmas day when he isn’t even working. Scrooge’s shocking response is to ask, “are there no workhouses?” and “are there no prisons?” statements that show exactly how Scrooge feels about the lives of the poor. Scrooge’s office is then visited by a pair of portly gentlemen who attempt to get Scrooge to donate to a charity to help the poor. Fred’s mood is not affected by this rebuke, however. Scrooge is rude to Fred and rejects his kind offer. It isn’t revealed yet, but Scrooge’s sister, Fred’s mother, passed away. Later Fred, Scrooge’s nephew, enters the office to try and convince Scrooge to join him for Christmas dinner. Scrooge refuses to let Bob add coal to the fire despite it being incredibly cold and the fire is quite small. The novel opens by speaking about Scrooge’s relationship with Jacob Marley before introducing the reader to Bob Cratchit, one of Scrooge’s employees. Warning: this will contain explicit spoilers When the novel opens, it is approaching Christmas, and Scrooge receives an unexpected visitor who foretells three more very important visitors who could potentially change the course of Scrooge’s future. ‘ A Christmas Carol‘ centres around a businessman named Ebenezer Scrooge, who is renowned for miserly behaviour.

A christmas carol charles dickens book