A Christmas Carol Reading: Stave II

I apologize for having not written earlier this week. I've been overcome and am all-round pooped. I have, however, finished Stave II and I'm very happy I did.

Stave II introduces the first of the Three Ghosts. The first, the Ghost of Christmas Past, pulls Scrooge into the faded Christmases of his childhood, youth, and recent age.

Something I found interesting was the initial description of the Ghost. When Scrooge first sees the Ghost, he thinks it is a child. Then he surmizes that it is also a little old man. I think this portrays an interesting thought, that is, that the "Past" is something that is young in relation to itself and something quite old in relation to us.

Another detail in the description of the Ghost was the cap he holds in his hand. We learn that the Ghost's head is particularly radiant, as though it produces its own light, a light so bright that Scrooge is almost blinded. The Ghost holds a knit cap in its hand that it does not presently wear, and we learn that the cap is woven from the selfishness and greedy acts of men such as Scrooge. I marked this particular device as it seems to be one that Dickens is fond of. It made me remember Madam Defarge and her nefarious knitting beside the guillotine. It is a fine analogy to think of our good deeds and misdeeds as a object that we weave, touching other lives and other lives touching ours.

The first memory that the Ghost reveals to Scrooge is of his childhood. He sees the little boys he once knew romping down a little road and remembers that he had stayed alone in the schoolhouse, abandoned by his friends and dreaming of faraway places and fictional characters. He feels very sorry for the lonely little boy who studies alone. It makes him recall the little caroler from Stave I who had offered to sing for him and whom he had frightened away. Scrooge remarks that he wishes he had given the boy some money, and for the first time in the entire story we see a hint of empathy in the rough and crotchety exterior. By seeing himself as a child, and a pitiable one, Scrooge drudges up in his old un-used heart some ground on which to relate to the shivering caroler-child.

Those are my current thoughts for today...and while I have a lot more to say I'm going to have to finish tomorrow.