In What Ways Is a Christmas Carol an Allegory

In what ways is a Christmas Carol an allegory ? What is the symbolic meaning of main characters?

The Novella ‘A Christmas Carol ‘ by Charles Dickens is an allegory in that it features events and characters with clear solid symbolic meanings. The main character, Scrooge, a “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching old sinner” signifies the values that oppose the idea of Christmas; greed, selfishness, and a lack of goodwill toward one's fellow man. The Ghost of Christmas Past with his glowing head symbolizes the mind and represents memory; the Ghost of Christmas Present represents generosity, empathy and the Christmas spirit; while the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come represents the fear of death and moral reckoning. Tiny Tim the crippled young boy son of Bob Cratchitt represents the poor, whom Dickens describes with warmth and sympathy while seeking to draw attention to their plight.

The Ghost of Christmas Past was “like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man”. The ghost’s old appearance represents both wisdom and that time passing by, whereas its youthful features symbolise how the Spirit is ageless and also explains why the memories never grow old. The Spirit had a ‘bright clear jet of light’ on its head that ‘by which all was visible’ in the room and ‘a great extinguisher for a cap’. The light on Ghost’s head fades in and out at times which corresponds with how memories fade in and out. The light allows Scrooge to see people and events that he had blocked out from his memory. It shows that those memories can be good and bad; he is trying to hide certain memories or erase them from his past, but the light of truth reveals what is hidden. When the Spirit takes Scrooge back in time to show the power of the past and how it affected him, it reminds Scrooge that there were times in his life where he had hope and how it was later affected by events that turned him into a miserly old man. When Scrooge can no longer “bare it,” he tries to...