In Which We Discuss A Christmas Carol

My favourite adaptation of A Christmas Carol was on channel Five this weekend - A Muppet Christmas Carol.

I imagine that most people are familiar with the story of the miser, Ebeneezer Scrooge, who is visited by the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come, and changes his ways in order to avoid the fate he sees. It's been adapted to stage and screen countless times since its original publication in 1843, and has had a large effect on Christmas. I know of at least one person, other than myself, who has a tradition of watching various films of the book in December.

Ebeneezer, as he is at the start of the book, is generally seen as the very spirit of the self-centred miser. The word 'Scrooge' has even come to mean that, since then (incidentally, the name of his clerk, Bob Cratchit, has been used to refer to Wall Street brokers).

However, I think I may have seen one plus point in Scrooge's personality, even originally. Look at Bob Cratchit - he's obviously quite good at his job. Why doesn't he seek another one, since this has nothing to recommend it? Now, this is only a theory-in-progress, and I may be wrong - but perhaps what Scrooge had going for him was the fact that he cared for money a lot more than social standing - and was therefore willing to accept a lower-class clerk for lower wages where other money lenders would not?

Turns out I was wrong - during the time period, the job market was extremely poor, and Bob Cratchit had a choice of Scrooge or starvation.