Charles Dickens/A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens was a controversial figure during the Victorian Era. He was born in London and that is where he grew up. He travelled to the United States and he was not impressed with the "American" lifestyle. He quickly found out that his book was being sold and he was not getting any credit for it. This outraged Dickens and he wrote a book about it. The book did not settle well with America, and for a number of years he was not a well to do author there. That was until he wrote the story A Christmas Carol. Everyone has either seen the movie or read the book and if you have, then you will know why it was so well loved. It was a story that opened the eyes and heart of many Americans. The book was set up in staves. The tale began with death. A character named Scrooge, was rich and he only thought about one thing, himself. He was rich and he felt that help was expendable for him. There are ghost who come to take him through his life and the lives of people who are directly affected by him. He is amazed to know how some people suffer. By the end of the story his life has changed and he helps out everyone he can help. Dickens used the appearances of what he calls spirits to draw in the audience. He writes:

Looking at the Spirit as they stood together in an open place, he noticed tht its hair was gray.
"Are Spirits lives so short?" asked Scrooge.
"My life upon this globe is very brief, " replied the Ghost "It ends tonight."(341)

Dickens is very clever with his detail pattern. You begin to wonder if he wrote this book for sheer enjoyment or did it have a double meaning. The book states that Dickens wrote this books supposedly to make amends with the "America."