A Christmas Carol Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
A Christmas Carol tells of Ebenezer Scrooge, a cold, miserly businessman in London who despises Christmas. On Christmas Eve he is visited by the ghost of his old partner and then by three spirits, who show him his past, the present and a bleak future. He wakes on Christmas morning determined to change.
Dickens divided the short novel into five parts he called staves, like a song.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Ebenezer Scrooge | Miserly old businessman |
| Jacob Marley | His dead partner |
| Bob Cratchit | Scrooge's underpaid clerk |
| Tiny Tim | Bob's sickly youngest son |
| Fred | Scrooge's cheerful nephew |
| The Ghost of Christmas Past | First spirit |
| The Ghost of Christmas Present | Second spirit |
| The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come | Silent third spirit |
| Fezziwig | Scrooge's kind old employer |
| Belle | Woman Scrooge once loved |
How does it begin?
On Christmas Eve, Scrooge refuses his nephew Fred's dinner invitation, turns away men collecting for the poor and grudgingly gives his clerk Bob Cratchit the day off. That night the ghost of Jacob Marley appears, dragging chains he forged by his greed in life. He warns that Scrooge's chain is even longer and that three spirits will visit him.
↑ Back to the topWhat does the first spirit show him?
The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge himself as a lonely boy left at school over the holidays, then the joyful party of his first employer, Mr. Fezziwig. He sees Belle, the young woman who broke their engagement because he loved money more than her, and later her happy family. Scrooge begs to see no more.
↑ Back to the topWhat does the second spirit show him?
The Ghost of Christmas Present takes him to the Cratchits' small, joyful dinner, where Bob toasts Scrooge despite everything. Scrooge asks whether Tiny Tim will live and is told he will die unless things change. He sees Fred's party, where the guests laugh about him. Beneath the spirit's robe are two starving children, Ignorance and Want.
↑ Back to the topWhat does the last spirit show him?
The silent Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows people discussing a dead man no one mourns, and thieves selling his belongings. The Cratchits grieve for Tiny Tim. In a neglected graveyard, Scrooge sees the dead man's name on a gravestone: his own. He begs the spirit for a chance to change.
↑ Back to the topHow does A Christmas Carol end?
Scrooge wakes in his bed on Christmas morning, overjoyed that he still has time. He sends a giant turkey to the Cratchits anonymously, gives generously to the charity collectors and goes to Fred's dinner. The next day he raises Bob's salary. He becomes a second father to Tiny Tim, who does not die, and is known ever after as a man who kept Christmas well.
↑ Back to the topMore about A Christmas Carol
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.