Christmas Carol
2015-12-24
It is the time of rain and snow, it is the time of white and innocence, it is the time of thanks and forgiving, as the holly jolly ambience of Christmas culminates in the last month of this year. The dust of snow falls upon us, the jubilant song of Jingle Bell, the scene of family reunion, have given our hearts a change of mood and saved the unpleasantness of the year we have undergone.As the Christmas is just around the corner, I have just finished a MOOC course "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens offered by BerkeleyX on the edX platform. During the course, I read the orignal piece of Dickens's work, disussed problems with classmates from all around the world, and finished the assignments and took the exam, achieving a certificate. Nonetheless, the most significant thing this course provides me is the origin and culture of Christmas as well as the spirits of Christmas.
Back to our book A Christmas Carol, it tells a fantastic story how Mr. Scrooge, the greedy, stingy miser, who often refers Christmas as "Bah, humbug", is transformed into a friendly and generous person by the three ghosts. Besides, the features of phantoms are deliberately depicted which all have a symbolic meaning. The ghost of Christmas of the past who has a glowing head represents the exuberant young Scrooge who's yet not depraved by gold. While time and money erode the honesty and integrity of Scrooge, that's where the image of the spirit of Christmas of the present comes from, wealthy, powerful, with a throne of food and jewels. And at last, the ghost of Christmas yet to come, is the grim reaper, with no mercy, taking the sinners down to the Hell.
In Dickens' times, the then society of Queen Victoria, there was no such a formal tradition as Christmas festival. Not until the book, A Christmas Carol, was published did the custom of Christmas prevailed. As a consequence, the impact of A Christmas Carol was so huge that it did not only affect the British literature but also the culture of the western world. After the book became household, some plots in the book were brought into the local customs such as family reunion, gifts exchange, Christmas dinner. Dickens is indeed the father of Modern Christmas. More importantly, the spirits of Christmas of sharing and helping are passed down from generation to generation.
"And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!", as Dickens has already told us.
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