So why do we, the public, who show no interest in Charles Dickens and Victorian literature,
seem to like and connect with A Christmas Carol year after year?
There are so many adaptations and renditions of this classic story that it would appear
to be our favorite novel of all time.
But it isn’t.
In fact, I’m pretty sure most people have never actually read it.
But that’s okay.
I’m not here to call anyone out.
I want to talk about what draws us to A Christmas Carol each year during the holiday season.
First of all, let me just put it out there that my favorite adaptation of A Christmas
Carol is the Muppet Christmas Carol.
The music, characters, and story are, in my opinion, the most entertaining of all the
different versions out there.
In fact, I have two copies of the movie.
I think the most basic reason why we like A Christmas Carol is because it’s a fairly
simple story to follow that is written by a pretty famous literary writer.
It’s like being a deep and serious reader by association.
You may not actually have read or know of any other famous writers in the literary canon,
but chances are pretty good that you know A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, so therefore,
you think and project that you are well read.
And what makes this story easier to understand than some of Dickens others works is that
the story is short, there aren’t a lot of characters, and the plot is easy to understand.
If you look at a lot of Dickens other works, or other Victorian literature at the time,
the novels tended to be longer because of the serialization of the works.
Basically, these writers were paid by the chapter and the longer you could stretch out
the story, the more you could potentially get paid.
A Christmas Carol is broken into large chapters, but overall, the page count is pretty low.
In fact, my copy of A Christmas Carol actually came with a few other of Dickens’ stories
so the book was fuller.
There also aren’t a lot of characters in this story either, which makes it easy to
remember who is who, but also to create adaptations in TV shows, plays, and movies.
For the adaptation, a producer would only need about seven or eight characters.
Again, Victorian novels are flooded with characters.
Just look at the character list in Middlemarch and you’ll understand what I’m talking
about.
Less characters means that the writer can spend more time developing the main characters,
which allows readers to get to know them better and make them memorable.
Also, Dickens forever immortalizes Scrooge as a character with his notable catchphrase,
“Humbug.”
And lastly, the plot is easy to understand.
It’s about redemption.
People can understand this.
A bad man who is greedy learns to be generous.
There are no twists or crazy subplots.
It’s about one man who turns his life around.
The second reason we like A Christmas Carol is the time travel device that Dickens uses.
And it’s not time travel with a time machine, but readers are transported through time through
three ghosts, each representing a different time.
This allows readers to better understand Scrooge and why he is the way he is.
But also, in general, people gravitate towards the idea of time travel because it allows
us to experience life as a spectator without any of the risks or consequences that we encounter
in real life.
For example, if I was to go back in time and watch myself taking a test that I remember
passing, I can enjoy the moment more because I know the outcome will be okay.
And I think that’s why we’re nostalgic.
We like to look back at moments in our lives because we know how things turn out.
However, it’s not always fun to go through things in the present with no knowledge of
the outcome.
The last reason we like A Christmas Carol and keep returning to it year after year is
that Scrooge makes us feel better about ourselves.
The story is basically his transformation from a greedy and self-centered man to someone
who loves Christmas and is generous.
And while we may not be as bad as Scrooge, I think there is a part of all of us that
compares ourselves to him and thinks, “You know, at least I’m not as bad as Scrooge.”
And maybe that’s the point of his character.
I don’t know.
I can’t say that I’ve changed dramatically for the better during the Christmas season
because I saw how bad Scrooge was and wanted to change my life.
I’m pretty much the same person.
I buy things for myself and for others.
I want to be first in line at the checkout.
I want to race to the aisle to be the first person to buy a certain product from the shelf.
So it can’t be that this story is popular and meaningful because this story changes
people.
It can be moving and emotional when Tiny Tim passes away and Scrooge realizes that he’ll
die with no friends.
But this story has more power than that.
It’s almost like it’s habitual or expected to be watched.
And when we watch it, or read it, we’re supposed to enjoy it for what it is and move
on knowing that at least we aren’t as bad as Scrooge.
So, let me know what you think about A Christmas Carol and why you think we like this story?
Hope you subscribe to Minute Book Reports and thanks for watching.