Scrooge and Ghost of Christmas Present

The relationship between Ebenezer Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present is the pivotal second stage of Scrooge's supernatural education, a visitation that replaces the solitary miser's coldness with the first stirrings of empathy and social awareness. Where the Ghost of Christmas Past had reopened old wounds of memory, the Ghost of Christmas Present immerses Scrooge in the living, breathing reality of Christmas as it is being celebrated around him—in humble homes, in bustling streets, and in the hearts of those he has scorned. This spirit, a jolly giant crowned with a holly wreath and bearing a glowing torch, does not merely show Scrooge scenes of festivity; it forces him to confront the human consequences of his own philosophy of isolation and greed, and to hear his own cruel words echoed back in judgment.

Identity and Appearance of the Spirit

The Ghost of Christmas Present appears to Scrooge as a "jolly Giant, glorious to see," seated upon a throne heaped with turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, great joints of meat, sucking-pigs, long wreaths of sausages, mince-pies, plum-puddings, barrels of oysters, red-hot chestnuts, cherry-cheeked apples, juicy oranges, luscious pears, immense twelfth-cakes, and seething bowls of punch that made the chamber dim with their delicious steam. The spirit is clothed in a simple deep green robe bordered with white fur, its capacious breast bare, its feet also bare, and on its head no other covering than a holly wreath set here and there with shining icicles. Its dark brown curls are long and free, and it carries an antique scabbard girded round its middle, but no sword is in it, and the ancient sheath is eaten up with rust. The most remarkable quality of this spirit is its ability to accommodate itself to any space with ease, standing beneath a low roof quite as gracefully as in any lofty hall. When Scrooge first enters the room, the spirit calls out, "Come in! and know me better, man!" and Scrooge enters timidly, hanging his head, no longer the dogged Scrooge he had been.

The Journey Through Christmas Present

The Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge on a sweeping tour of the city on Christmas morning, beginning with the streets where people scrape snow from pavements and housetops, and where the poulterers' and grocers' shops are radiant with abundance. The spirit carries a torch that sprinkles a peculiar incense on the dinners of the poor as they pass, and when angry words arise between dinner-carriers who have jostled each other, he sheds a few drops of water on them from it, and their good-humour is restored directly. Scrooge asks about the torch's flavour, and the spirit replies, "My own," adding that it applies "to any kindly given. To a poor one most," because "it needs it most." The spirit then leads Scrooge to the home of his clerk, Bob Cratchit, where the spirit smiles and stops to bless the four-roomed house with the sprinklings of his torch. Inside, Scrooge witnesses the Cratchit family's Christmas dinner—the goose, the pudding, the chestnuts, and the hot mixture of gin and lemons—and hears Tiny Tim's poignant toast, "God bless us every one!" When Scrooge asks the spirit if Tiny Tim will live, the Ghost replies, "I see a vacant seat in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. 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," causing Scrooge to hang his head in penitence and grief.

The Exposure of Ignorance and Want

As the night wears on, the Ghost of Christmas Present grows older, its hair turning grey. When Scrooge notices this, the spirit explains that its life upon this globe is very brief, ending at midnight. From the foldings of its robe, the spirit brings forth two children—wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable—a boy and a girl, yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish. Scrooge starts back, appalled. The spirit declares, "They are Man's. And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware of them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased." When Scrooge asks if they have no refuge or resource, the spirit turns on him for the last time with his own words: "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?"

The Visit to Fred's Party

The spirit also takes Scrooge to the home of his nephew Fred, where a lively Christmas party is in full swing. Scrooge hears Fred laugh heartily and declare that Christmas is not a humbug, and that he pities his uncle and will give him the same chance every year. Scrooge's niece plays the harp, and the party plays games including blindman's buff and "Yes and No," during which the guests guess that the animal Fred is thinking of is "your uncle Scrooge." Scrooge becomes so engaged that he forgets his voice makes no sound in their ears and joins in the guessing, and the spirit is greatly pleased to find him in this mood. Scrooge begs to stay until the guests depart, but the spirit says this cannot be done.

The Spirit's Departure and Scrooge's Transformation

As midnight approaches, the Ghost of Christmas Present fades away, and Scrooge is left to face the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The relationship with this second spirit has fundamentally altered Scrooge: he has felt genuine interest in the Cratchit family, sorrow at Tiny Tim's possible death, shame at his own words being used against him, and joy in the warmth of his nephew's home. The spirit's lessons—that happiness is not measured by money, that human connection is the true business of life, and that Ignorance and Want are the real enemies—have begun to take root. When Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning, he is "as light as a feather, as happy as an angel, as merry as a school-boy," and he immediately sets about making amends, sending the prize turkey to the Cratchits, raising Bob Cratchit's salary, and becoming "as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old City knew." The Ghost of Christmas Present, through its vivid demonstrations of both joy and suffering, has been the catalyst for this transformation, showing Scrooge that the present moment is alive with possibility for kindness and connection.