Scrooge Asks About Tiny Tim's Fate

Moved by the scene, Scrooge asks the Spirit if Tiny Tim will live. The Ghost replies that it sees a vacant seat in the poor chimney-corner and a crutch without an owner, and that if these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die. The Spirit then quotes Scrooge's own words back to him: 'If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.' Scrooge hangs his head, overcome with penitence and grief. The Spirit rebukes him, asking if he will decide what men shall live and what men shall die.