Mega Tri Handayani

1810731022
Prose A
Seswita S.S., M.Hum
25th May 2019

The Important Lesson from “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens

Author Biography

Charles John Huffam Dickens born on 7th February 1812 in Landport, Hampshire,
England. He died on 9th June 1870 (aged 58) in Higham, Kent, England. He was an English
writer and social critic. He created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters and is
regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed
unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the 20th century critics and scholars had
recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are still widely read
today.(www.wikipedia.org)

A Christmas Carol is the one of novel by Charles Dickens, first published in London
by Chapman & Hall in 19th December 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. A Christmas
Carol recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of
his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet
to Come. After their visits, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler
man.(www.wikipedia.org)

In this paper, I am interested to discuss about the lesson that we can get from
Scrooge’s life. How did the 3 spirits come to him so that he would change his behaviour so
far, if he remained in his current behaviour he would not be happy until the end of his life.

Learning begins with listening

Scrooge initially did not know why and for what the spirits came to, but after the
spirits said and showed their purpose Scrooge understood and realized the mistakes he had
made. Therefore he can be motivated to change himself for the better.
 From this story, we learn that listening to criticism or other people’s opinions is very
important because sometimes other people know more about what we are doing wrong or
right. We often do not realize we have made mistake, but others realize it. Because of it, there
is no harm in listening to what other people say about us so that we can improve ourselves.
When we listen, we learn. When we learn, we have the potential to grow and change
in ways that will not only help us, but those around us. Says Proverbs 18:13: “To answer
before listening-that is folly and shame.”

Learn from the mistakes of the other people.

Scrooge was visited by the ghost of his co-worker Marley. During his life, Marley had
the same behaviour as Scrooge. Marley told Scrooge that Scrooge would change his
behaviour and way of life so he would not end up like Marley. Marley suffered even after his
death because of his behaviour when he was still alive. Marley instructs Scrooge to change
his ways before it is too late.
We can look at the example of others and learn from them. We can look what the
wrong things that other people make so we will not do the same mistake like them. We can
look what the great things that other people do for their succesful so we can learn from it to
get our own succesful. This is what we called we learn from the world.

Don’t dwell on the past, but don’t forget it either.

Scrooge learned from the past he had experienced. How he behaved first and how he
lived his life so that eventually he ended up unhappy with no one crying over his death. From
that, he learns about his mistakes and determined to change for the better in the future.
The past is not to be forgotten and not to be regretted. We can make the past as a
lesson so that we do not repeat the same mistakes in the future. To avoid any regret we can
make the past as a guideline for living in the future for the better life.

Is it never too late to change.

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year,” Scrooge
vows near end of the story. “I will live in the Pat, the Present, and the Future.
The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons
that they teach!”(A Christmas Carol : 62)
 In other words, Scrooge realizes it is not too late to radically change his life. Even
though he was old, he remained and tried to be better. Scrooge changed his bad behaviour
and his way of life to be better and more concerned with his surroundings.
From here we learn that the opportunity to change to be better comes for anyone and
at anytime as long as we have the determination and willingness to change, whenever we can
do it. Do not feel that something is too late to do, because the word “late” is only for people
who are lazy to try.

There’s joy in starting over.

Scrooge gets a bad rap. Too much attention is paid to his badness. We see the sullen,
bitter, biting Scrooge, but not the laughing, giving, joyful Scrooge. On Christmas morning,
however, he reminds us in newness. He restared his life in a different way from before. He
did the things he had never done before. He also had fun with the people around him.
Scrooge’ turn-around reminds us there is hope for all of us if we we’re willing to
begin again. Making previous mistakes as a lesson and starting a new way to get better in life.
Restart like a newborn baby with a fresh mind.

Plan for the future

When the Ghost of Christmas Yet come to visits Scrooge, he takes him to a forlorn,
unkempt grave site. When Scrooge sees his own name written there on the gravestone, he
begs the spirit to give him another chance.
Part of what Scrooge learns is that his deeds have directed his future. His greed
caused him to give up the love of his life and to live a life of loneliness. After the visits by the
three spirits, Scrooge sees what his greed has cost him. He sees people who have so much
less than he does and yet than they are far happier than him.
As a result of this insight, he is motivated to contribute to charity and to speak kindly
to everyone he meets. he planned his life by doing good things so that later he would get
good and happiness until the end of his life.

There are so many lesson that we can get from this story. We can make it to be a
guideline in life. Everyone in this world has made a mistake in life but that mistake is not a
determinant of our future lives. How we deal with the problems and restart to try is the key to
getting a better life.

References
“A Christmas Carol”.www.wikipedia.org. May 26, 2019
“Charles Dickens Biography”.www.wikipedia.org. May 26, 2019
Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol. England : Chapman & Hall, 1843.
Drevets, Tricia. “Five important lessons from ‘A Christmas Carol’.”
(www-valuewalk-com.cdn.ampproject.org). December 14, 2014. Web.
May 26, 2019.
Welch, Bob. “Five life lesson from ‘A Christmas Carol’.”
(www-foxnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org). December 22, 2015. Web.
May 26, 2019.