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A Christmas Carol
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A Christmas Carol is often heralded as the reviver of Christmas in the 18th century. The story was published in December 1843 and was instant success. Over six thousand copies of the book was sold in a week. The original name of the book was “A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas”. But the book is commonly referred as A Christmas Carol. Although Charles Dickens wrote the story to pay off a debt, the story becomes one of the most popular abiding stories of all time. Contemporaies noted that story holds a special position in redefining the imporatnce of Christmas in the life of people and the major sentiments associated with this holiday.
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A Christmas Carol was written at the time of the decline of the old Christmas traditions. It is a victorian morality tale of an old and bitter miser, Ebenezer Scrooge. Ebenezer Scrooge undergoes a profound experience attains salvation one evening. Scrooge was a money lender and has devoted his entire life in the accumulation of wealth. He scorns everything other than money, including frindship, love and Christmas season. Keeping with the musical tone, Dickens divideds the entire book in five staves instead of five chapters. In the opening chapter Scoorge dismisses his nephew's invitation for dinner the next day for christmas. Two portly gentleman collecting charitable money for the poor are also dismissed by Scrooge in the consequent pages. When Scrooge returns to his home at the en of the day he saw the ghostly face of his dead partner Jacob Marley instead of the familiar appearance of the door knockers.
This is just the beginning of Scrooge's harrowing night. Marley has come to warn him that his miserliness and contempt for others will subject him to the same fate Marley himself suffers in death. Scrooge wakes up and the bell of the neighboring church stike twelve. With the consequent apperance of the spirits Scoorge finally attains his redmption. A Christmas Carol ends with the redemption of Scrooge and celebrating the importance of Christmas celebration.
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