"A Christmas Carol" is a novella by Charles Dickens. The first and most popular of his Christmas stories, it was gathered together with its successors in
Christmas Books in 1852.
The story begins on Christmas Eve when the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by his dead partner, Jacob Marley. He warns Scrooge that he is to be haunted by three spirits, whose visits he cannot avoid. The three
spirits are The
Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present, and The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
Scrooge goes back to a period in time, escorted by each of the ghosts – during the
time of his youth, and later, to the family
life of Bob Cratchit, his loyal clerk, whose household includes the sadly Tiny Tim, a cripple. Old miser Ebenezer surveys the ominous shaper of things to come with the third ghost.
Scrooge has much a lesson learned as he is chastened by his experiences, and taught how others suffer in adversity. As a result, Scrooge resolves to lead a better life – visiting his honest nephew, sending a turkey to the Cratchits, raising Bob's salary and even donating to charity.
The story is pretty much a feel-good ending, in the spirit of Christmas.
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