A Christmas Carol has had a profound effect upon Christmas ever since it was published in 1843. Its story tells of a crotchety and affluent old man, Ebenezer Scrooge, who undergoes a transformation at the behest of his deceased business partner Jacob Marley. Scrooge is visited by 3 apparitions: The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present and The Ghost of Christmas Future. Each admonish him of his wrong-doings (greed, selfishness and general grumpiness to name a few) and the products of them. Throughout the experience he sees the consequences of his lack of empathy for the poor. But A Christmas Carol isn’t just an old parable, you can see the struggles of Charles Dickens’ life within it.


Charles was born in Portsmouth, England in 1912 to John and Elizabeth Dickens (Wenborn et al. 144). Chesterson describes Charles as a “comfortable middle-class child, the son of a comfortable middle-class man” during his younger years. He went to school at William Giles’ school after his family moved to Chatham in 1817 (Wenborn et al. 144). John Dickens worked in the Naval Pay Office and later incurred debts because of reckless spending (Wenborn et al. 144). His debts overwhelmed him, so he and most of his family went to live in a debtors prison, Marshalsea Prison, in 1824. While his father was in prison Charles was sent to work at Warren’s Blacking Factory “where he labeled jars of boot polish” to support his family and help pay for his lodgings with a family friend (Wenborn et al. 144). John’s mother died soon after he was sent to prison, leaving him enough money for him to pay off his debt and leave prison (Wenborn et al. 144). After John left prison he allowed Charles to quit working and go back to school (Wenborn et al. 144).


Chesterson described Dickens’ sensitivity over the factory as such, “He never spoke of the whole experience except once or twice, and he never spoke of it otherwise than as a man might speak of hell”. His time spent in the factory deeply scarred him and ingrained in him a long lasting empathy for the poor, manifesting itself in Dickens as a call for socio-economic reform (Wenborn et al. 144).




A Christmas Carol was greatly influenced by Charles’ life. One of the more connections is his stint as a young laborer to the general tone towards the poor in the book. Throughout the book the poor are seen as affable and happy, even if they’re beleaguered. The rich, however, are seen as beguiling, arrogant and apathetic to the poor.



When Scrooge is visited by The Ghost of Christmas Past, there are many parallels with Dickens’ life. One of which is when Scrooge is an orphan, living away from his family. When John Dickens was in debtors prison, Charles lived away from his family with a family friend, an impoverished woman (“Charles Dickens Biography”). Also, when Scrooge was an orphan, he was rescued by his sister, Fanny, to go live with his father again. Dickens had a sister named Fanny who, on Sundays, would take him to visit his parents for the day (“Charles Dickens Biography“). Scrooge was very close to his sister, as evident in the story, and so was Dickens and Fanny (“Charles Dickens Biography”). It is later said that Fanny dies, leaving behind Scrooge’s nephew. Dickens’ sister also died (of consumption), leaving behind her son. Dickens’ sister’s son was a cripple and was an obvious influence for Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit’s son (Perdue). Scrooge had a girlfriend named belle who left him because of his workaholism. Dickens also had a love who he didn’t marry because of her parents thought he wasn’t good enough (Wenborn et al. 145).



As one reads Charles Dickens’ biography you can see the influences his life had on A Christmas Carol. Whether it be exact mirrors, like Fanny, or more subtle things, like the entire book preaching charity and goodwill. Dickens’ bailiwick seems to be his ability to take anecdotes from his life and personify them and set them to fictional settings.






Cited Works
Karen Wenborn, et al., A Christmas Carol, The Graphic Novel.




Litchborough: Classical Comics

Gilbert Keith Chesterton. “Gilbert Keith Chesterton's Biography of

Dickens.” The Complete Works of Charles Dickens. retrieved
17Dec.2009.<http://www.dickensliterature.com/Gilbert_Keith_Chesterton%27s_Biography_of_Dickens/1.html>

“Charles Dickens Biography.” The Complete Works of Charles Dickens.




retrieved 17 Dec, 2009.




<http://www.dickensliterature.com/l_biography.html>