illustration of Ebenezer Scrooge in silhouette walking toward a Christmas tree and followed by the three ghosts

A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens

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Discussion Topic

The most significant ghost and its impact on Scrooge in A Christmas Carol

Summary:

The most significant ghost in A Christmas Carol is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. This spirit profoundly impacts Scrooge by showing him the bleak future that awaits if he continues his miserly ways. Witnessing his own lonely death and the lack of mourning from others, Scrooge is terrified into transforming his life for the better.

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Which ghost has the biggest impact on Scrooge in A Christmas Carol and why?

Although this is generally an opinion question, I think I can safely say that the final ghost of A Christmas Carol (the Ghost of Christmas Future) definitely has the greatest impact on Scrooge.  The reason why I say this, not disagreeing with the first responder of course, is that there are significant grunts and complaints made by Scrooge after Marley, the Ghost of Christmas Past and the Ghost of Christmas Present that prove the first three were not able to completely convert Scrooge. 

For example, Marley isn't even able to convince Scrooge that ghosts even exist as Scrooge tells himself that Marley's Ghost may have been a simple "complaint" of the stomach.  Next, the timeless forceful action of Scrooge using the strange cap of the Ghost of Christmas Past to put out the light of truth.  That certainly doesn't speak to conversion.  Also, the Ghost of Christmas Present continually asks Scrooge,...

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after Scrooge gives a usual monetary and materialitstic comment, if that is all Scrooge has learned from these visions. 

It is only the Ghost of Christmas Future who gets that honor:  the honor of Scrooge's full conversion.  There is something about seeing a Grim Reaper type figure pointing towards a gravestone with your name that secures the straw that broke the camel's back.  It is only after this fourth ghost that we come to "The End of It," and discover the heartwarming change in Scrooge that we all love so well where Tiny Tim "who did not die" exclaims yet again:  "God bless us, every one!"

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Who are the ghosts in A Christmas Carol?

A Christmas Carol is an 1843 fictional novella written by famed English writer Charles Dickens. It tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an old, selfish, and cold miser whose life is turned upside down when he's visited by three spirits: the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

Scrooge's late business partner, Jacob Marley, is actually the first ghost to visit him. Marley died on Christmas Eve seven years prior to the events of the story; he is chained with heavy chains and iron blocks as a punishment for his greed and his selfish deeds. Moreover, he is forced to forever roam the spirit world with no chance of redemption. Marley warns Scrooge that he, too, will suffer the same fate in the afterlife if he doesn't immediately change his ways.

Marley informs Scrooge that he will be visited by three ghosts: the Ghost of Christmas Past (to remind Scrooge of the past, when he was a lonesome boy and an enthusiastic young man), the Ghost of Christmas Present (to show him how the people who are closest to him live and to see what they and the town think of him), and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (to show him one possible future, in which he dies a miserable and unloved old man).

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Who is the most significant ghost in A Christmas Carol?

This requires some personal opinion, so it's important that you support your answer here. I think that you could make a case for any of the ghosts who visit Scrooge being the most important, because each one teaches Scrooge much-needed lessons about changes he needs to make in his life.

Personally, I would lean toward the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come as being the most important. This ghost makes an impression on Scrooge from the moment he appears, leaving Scrooge visibly terrified. The ghost does not even speak to Scrooge, forcing him to discover his own truths as they visit various scenes from the future.

It is through this ghost that Scrooge realizes that his actions directly impact the Cratchit family and Tiny Tim specifically, whom Scrooge has already grown quite fond of through his visions. He realizes that he has failed to build any meaningful relationships, having been too consumed with profit to care about people. He also realizes, from the perspective of the future and looking back on his death, that his absence from the world has not created any sadness. Instead, people have scrambled to steal a few things from his house so that they can make a profit off Scrooge's death. People who owe Scrooge money are relieved to hear that he has died.

Of course, Scrooge only suspects that all of these people in the visions of future events are talking about him until the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come takes Scrooge to his own grave. When Scrooge sees his name on the tombstone, confirming that his death has created no sadness in the world, he begs the ghost to confirm that he can change the events of the future. Although the ghost never acknowledges this truth, Scrooge completes the internal change that the first ghost initiated, and he promises to live a life that honors the spirit of Christmas all year long.

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