Which ghost does Scrooge fear the most in "A Christmas Carol" and why?
Scrooge most fears the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, both because of its appearance and what it shows him.
We are told this ghost "seemed to scatter gloom and mystery." It is "shrouded" in "deep black" clothing that hides its face and form except for its pointing hand. Its perpetual silence unnerves Scrooge and he says to it:
"I fear you more than any spectre I have seen."
The Ghost of Christmas Past showed Scrooge some happy memories, such as the Christmas dance at his old employer Fezziwig's. The Ghost of Christmas Present also showed happy, if bittersweet, scenes, such as the Cratchits enjoying their meagre Christmas. However, all that the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge are grim visions of the future. Scrooge, after his death, is unmourned and hated. Some people are glad he is dead. He is also taken into parts of the city...
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he was unaware of, where:
The ways were foul and narrow; the shops and houses wretched; the people half-naked, drunken, slipshod, ugly. Alleys and archways, like so many cesspools, disgorged their offences of smell, and dirt, and life, upon the straggling streets; and the whole quarter reeked with crime, with filth, and misery.
There, in a secondhand shop, he witnesses his charwoman selling the linens from his bed and even the shirt he was to be buried in, along with other items she has stolen. She states it is her due, as he was so miserly in life.
In addition to finding out how he is despised, Scrooge also learns that Tiny Tim has died. From all this, he learns more fully than from the other ghosts the lesson that he needs to live generously and with compassion towards others.
While Scrooge is probably most frightened by the images of what will happen in the future by the third spirit, the spirit who actually terrifies his the most is arguably the spirit of his dead partner, Marley.
When Scrooge returns home to his "gloomy suite of rooms," he sees not the knocker of his door, but the face of Marley. Its livid color creates a sense of horror in Scrooge, but he is not so easily terrified. However, as he sits before his meager fire, Scrooge hears a clanking sound from below the floor where he sits; it is as though someone were dragging heavy chains over the casks in the wine cellar.
"It's humbug still!" said Scrooge. "I won't believe it."
But, when an apparition comes through his heavy door and moves into the room in which Scrooge stands. Scrooge blanches--"His colour changed though"--when the ghost of Marley passes through the door.
Upon its coming in, the dying flame leaped up, as though it cried, "I know him; Marley's Ghost!" and fell again.
Scrooge interrogates it in an effort to "keep down his terror," and tells the specter that he does believe in it. However, Scrooge trembles when Marley's ghost tells him that his chain was forged by himself; further, Marley's ghost informs Scrooge of the "ponderous chain" Scrooge has forged himself.
Scrooge tries to be sarcastic, but
[T]he truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of distracting his own attention, and keeping down his terror; for the spectre's voice disturbed the very marrow in his bones.
Clearly, Scrooge finds Marley's ghost, the spirit of his old partner, the most frightening because no other spirit disturbs to the extent that this one does.
Why is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come the most frightening in A Christmas Carol?
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to come is more frightening because his features are less distinct and he represents death.
Dickens is very careful to not show too much detail with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The main reasons for this is that the future is unknown. However, the future is also frightening. We do not know what will happen. We do know for sure that at some point in the future we will die.
Scrooge is frightened when he sees this ghost, even though he has already spent a lot of time with the other three ghosts. His fear of this ghost is based on what it represents. Scrooge knows that he was not a very good person. He is hoping to change, but what future will he see?
He felt that it was tall and stately when it came beside him, and that its mysterious presence filled him with a solemn dread. He knew no more, for the Spirit neither spoke nor moved. (Stave 4)
The ghost does not talk. It is very dark and phantom-like. The other ghosts had personalities and were bright, and the Ghost of Christmas Present was pretty cheerful. This ghost is spooky, like the Grim Reaper.
Scrooge is afraid to see a future based on the person he was. In his mind, he is already repentant.
“Ghost of the Future!” he exclaimed, “I fear you more than any spectre I have seen. But as I know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to live to be another man from what I was, I am prepared to bear you company, and do it with a thankful heart. Will you not speak to me?” (Stave 4)
When the ghost shows Scrooge his terrible future, where he is lonely and despised, Scrooge begs the phantom to acknowledge that he can change. Scrooge points out that the ghosts have wasted their time if their intervention could not change the future.