How does Dickens present Scrooge’s fear in the novel

Dickens shows Scrooge’s fear through the arrival of Marley’s ghost, the description and
experience of the third ghost and his future.

Dickens reveals the fears of Scrooge though the arrival of Marley’s ghost as well as the
message that scrooge will share the same cursed fate that Marley endures. When Marley’s
ghost enters, Scrooge, ‘with a strange inexplicable dread … saw this bell begin to swing’.
Scrooge is unable to put his thoughts of the bells ringing into words, exaggerating how
petrified he is. These bells were used to call servants in to the master’s room. However,
Scrooge hadn’t used these bells since it says ‘for some purpose now forgotten.’ This makes
Scrooge even more afraid since it is evident that there is another being in the house, and
scrooge guessed that it was a ghost. Scrooge mentions how ‘the spectre’s voice disturbed
the very marrow in his bones’. The fact that it affected such a deep and fundamental part of
his body shows his immense fear of the ghost. Scrooge’s fear is also presented after the
spectre stated that he wore the ‘chain that I forged in life’ and these were the ‘heavy metal
cashboxes’. He has realised that he will soon become just like Marley, locked up in chains,
restricted of freedom. Marley is excluded from the warmth of human gathering. The fact
that the chains that restrict him are ‘cashboxes reveal that Marley was a miser, just like
Scrooge and was greedy for wealth and money. He becomes more and more fearful as he
thinks about how he will become like his friend, Marley, in the future. Scrooge’s fear is
presented by the harsh fate of Marley as well as by the moments when the ghost spears and
leaves.

Another way in which Dickens presents Scrooge’s fears is through the movement and
description of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to come. Dickens has used high vocabulary to
emphasise how frightening the ghost was. Dickens describes the ghost as shrouded in a
deep black garment, which concealed its head’. The ghost is covered up with a black robe
from head to toe. The shroud is also a funeral cloth and provides connotations of death and
despair. The fact that even the head of the ghost is covered up provides suspense and
makes Scrooge imagine the worst. Dickens also mentioned how the ghost ‘neither spoke nor
moved’. This would evoke greater fear in Scrooge, and it would intensify his fear of the
ghost. In order to combat his fear of the ghost, he askes the ghost questions such as ‘“I am
in the presence of the ghost of Christmas Yet to come?” said Scrooge.’ He is so scared that
he tries to start up dialogue and hopes to make the ghost seem less scary for him. Dickens
has used both the ghost’s description as well as its movements and actions to convey
scrooge’s fear.

The final way in which Dicken’s presents Scrooge’s fear is by making the Ghost of Christmas
Yet to Come reveal to Scrooge his future and destiny. After his death, many people are
delighted upon hearing this news, such as his fellow businessmen, the thieves and young
couple who owed him debt. At this moment of time, he is unaware that it is he who had
died. When the spirit led him to the man’s grave, ‘he advanced towards it trembling’ and he
‘dreaded’. Both the words ‘trembling’ and ‘dreaded’ connoting his terror of knowing what
kind of man he will become in the future. Once he found out that it was in fact him, ‘he
cried upon his knees’ and declared to the ghost that he would change himself so that he
would not become the man in the grave. After seeing his future, his fear of what he will
become is illustrated and Is see through the actions that he performs to the ghost. AN
example of this is when he says, ‘I will not shut out the lessons that they teach’. Another
moment where his fear is projected is when he hears the conversation between Mrs Dilber
and Joe. He ‘listened to this dialogue in horror’. From their chat, Scrooge has found out that
in the future, he is unloved, unwanted and nobody weeps for his death. He also finds out
that Mrs Dilber took his ‘wearing apparel’, illustrating her views of Scrooge. She doesn’t care
a bit about him, and neither does everyone else. She is able to steal clothes off a dead
corpse without thinking twice and having regrets. Scrooge’s fear is illustrated when he sees
how he ends up in the future.

To conclude, the description and actions of the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, the
appearance with Marley’s ghost as well as seeing his future has conveyed Scrooge’s fear to
the audience.