Scrooge Raises Bob Cratchit's Salary

Scrooge Raises Bob Cratchit's Salary is the climactic act of Ebenezer Scrooge's moral transformation on Christmas morning, in which he not only reverses his lifelong miserliness but also becomes a benefactor to his clerk, Bob Cratchit, and his family. This action, performed with theatrical playfulness and genuine earnestness, marks the definitive break from Scrooge's former identity as a cold, grasping man and establishes his new role as a generous master and a second father to Tiny Tim.

The Setup: A Deliberate Trap

Scrooge arrived at his office early on the morning after Christmas Day, determined to be the first one there so he could catch Bob Cratchit arriving late. The clock struck nine, then a quarter past, and still no Bob. Scrooge sat with his door wide open, watching the tank where his clerk worked. Bob finally appeared, a full eighteen and a half minutes behind his usual time, his hat and comforter already off before he even opened the door. He was on his stool in an instant, driving away with his pen as if trying to overtake nine o'clock. Scrooge, feigning his accustomed growl, demanded to know what Bob meant by coming at that hour. Bob apologized, pleading that it was only once a year and that he had been making rather merry the day before.

The Revelation: From Threat to Raise

Scrooge declared he would not stand for this sort of thing any longer. Then, leaping from his stool, he gave Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that the clerk staggered back into the tank. Bob trembled and, in a momentary panic, considered knocking Scrooge down with the ruler and calling for help and a strait-waistcoat. But Scrooge's next words reversed everything: he announced he was about to raise Bob's salary. With an earnestness that could not be mistaken, he clapped Bob on the back and wished him a merrier Christmas than he had given him for many a year. He promised to raise Bob's salary, assist his struggling family, and discuss their affairs that very afternoon over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop. He even ordered Bob to make up the fires and buy another coal-scuttle before dotting another i.

The Consequences: A New Life

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more. To Tiny Tim, who did not die, he became a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old City knew. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, knowing that nothing ever happened for good at which some people did not have their fill of laughter. His own heart laughed, and that was enough for him. He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total-Abstinence Principle ever afterwards, and it was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well.