Scrooge’s Flight Over the Bleak
In Charles Dickens’, “A Christmas Carol,” the scene in which Scrooge flies with the Ghost of Christmas Present from the mining community to the ship at sea exemplifies the isolation from humanity Scrooge imposes upon himself through his misanthropic nature. This scene acts as a physical representation of Scrooge’s bleak outlook on life, and represents the moment in which he experiences his change of heart. Dickens shows this change by physically taking Scrooge to the extremities of society which reflect the inner darkness of Scrooge’s heart, and this experience finally allows him to figuratively return to society, and experience the true Spirit of Christmas.
The senses appealed to in this scene invoke a dark and dismal vision. As Scrooge and the Spirit reach the rocky coast, the Sun casts its final rays. The retreating Sun causes the reader to likewise retreat into the cold shadows of the English coast, adjectives which aptly describe Scrooge’s own personality. The miners described exist deep in the bowels of the earth, recess cut off from the rays of the Sun. The only sources of light for these miners are their meek candles, which represent their hardy Christmas cheer. So long as these candles do not go out, they have not lost touch with the Sun’s rays. Upon witnessing this, Scrooge is then carried out to sea where a lone lighthouse sits upon a small rocky island. From here Scrooge is whisked even farther from society to a ship at sea, sitting ominously atop the dark and unforgiving ocean. These senses physically represent the depth to which Scrooge has fallen from grace, but at each stop we see weak sources of light struggling to shine, as the Spirit of Christmas may struggle to shine in Scrooge’s heart if he is to have any hope.
As Scrooge, and likewise the reader, is shown these visions of the present, he does so in flight, above the scene. The description from this point of view seems to remove Scrooge from the subjective experience, but this objectivity serves to enhance the experience rather than dampen it. In soaring above the sights he is actually more fully experiencing the dark and dismal reality to which he is being taken. The fact that he sees the small pockets of joy on a stormy island lighthouse is no accident. This lighthouse is an island, and yet two men find solace in each other’s presence and are still able to find the Spirit of Christmas. The lighthouse is a beacon which guides ships from dangerous waters, and it is this lighthouse which is to guide Scrooge to redemption. If these two men on this island lighthouse can find the joy of Christmas in their hearts, what excuse does Scrooge have? The Spirit, rather than convincing Scrooge of his errs through articulation, physically carries him to the manifestation of his cold and lonely heart in order to show him what he has currently become, but also to show him the way to saving his soul.
Finally the precipice is breached, and Scrooge is faced with the physical representation of his self-imposed isolation. Scrooge sees the ship at sea and thinks “what a solemn thing it was to move on through the lonely darkness over an unknown abyss, whose depths were secrets as profound as Death…” (p. 1496). At this he faces the moment of truth, whether to accept the Spirit’s wishes and rekindle the dying flame of joy in his heart or to live out the rest of his days in that dark loneliness. It is out here at sea, far from society, that he hears the hearty laugh of his nephew. Upon hearing this he is immediately returned to the vision of his family in the midst of celebration. From the utter removal of all things family, alone on the dark sea, Scrooge is that ship. This ship, though a solitary ship, is not alone on the ocean, for its crew members make due with what they have in this time of sharing and consider themselves family as they “had a kinder word for another on that day…and had remembered those [they] cared for at a distance…” (p. 1496). This very realization catapults Scrooge from the ominous lonely sea and returns him to his nephew’s laughter. He finally recognizes the Spirit of Christmas for what it is, a celebration of family and a genuine appreciation for the people around us. Even in the darkest landscapes of our hearts the Spirit of Christmas penetrates and illuminates, there is cheer yet to be found if we only choose to see it. Our salvation does not depend on our material accumulation, but on our ability to spread the Spirit to those around us. Just as the Sun sets each day and exposes the world to darkness and cold, so might the Spirit of Christmas present pass if we allow it when the day is done. Through conscious effort and genuine appreciation for fellow man Dickens urges us to keep the flame alive throughout all hours, lest we lose our way in the dark lonely ocean at the edge of the human experience.
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