This is a recap of "A Christmas Carol" as originally told by Charles Dickens. The movie versions vary only slightly and use a lot of Dickens' language.
- The Office of Scrooge and Marley In which meanie Ebenezer Scrooge, his clerk (Bob Cratchit, though Dickens doesn't name him until later), and his nephew Fred are introduced. Most Quoted Line: "If they [the poor] would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."
- Marley's Ghost In which Scrooge's late night snack is interrupted by the arrival (foretold by omens) of his dead business partner, Jacob Marley. Most Quoted Line: "You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of the grave about you . . . !"
- The Ghost Christmas Past In which an effulgent phantom takes Scrooge back to his childhood school, his first place of employment (with the delightful Mr. Fezziwig), and his one wasted shot at love. Most Quoted Line: "May you be happy in the life you have chosen!"
- The Ghost of Christmas Present In which a "jolly Giant" shows Scrooge a myriad of Christmas festivities, including dinner at the Cratchits' (where we meet the immortal Tiny Tim) and a party at Fred's. Most Quoted Line: "It should be Christmas Day . . . on which one drinks the health of such an odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man as Mr. Scrooge."
- The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come In which a cloaked and silent specter reveals what will become of Scrooge (and Tiny Tim) if the miser does not change his ways. Most Quoted Line: "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future."
- Christmas Morning In which Scrooge begins his new life by buying a huge, honkin' turkey for the Cratchits and raising Bob Cratchit's salary. Most Quoted Line: "God bless Us, Every One!"
Copyright © 2002 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.