AReviewofAChristmasCarol《圣诞颂歌》读后感(英文)

The Report on A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol, an interesting and attractive novel, is written by Charles Dickens. The whole story is about the life changing of a hard, clever but selfish and mean old businessman. The author, Charles Dickens, is a famous English novelist, and was born on February 7th, 1812 and died on June 9th, 1870. When he was only a child, his father was imprisoned for debt. The family’s increasing poverty forced Dickens out of school at age 12 to work in a shoe-polish factory. Soon after his father's release from prison, Dickens got a better job as an errant boy in law offices. In 1833, his first published piece appeared in the Monthly Magazine signed with his brother's nickname. Later he published a few pieces. For the next thirty years Dickens wrote novels until he died. His other works include: Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1839), The Personal History of David Copperfield (1850), Little Dorrit (1857), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), and Great Expectations (1861). A Christmas Carol was first published in 1836.

The main character in this novel is an old businessman named Ebenezer Scrooge. He is rich in the town, but he is very selfish and miserly. His employee Bob only gets 15 shillings every week. Scroooge believes that Christmas is just an excuse for people to have a rest. He doesn't believe in all of the good cheer and charity. He refuses the donation collectors to assist any further, because he thinks the people in need of charity are all idle, if they work, they would not in need. Also he refuses his nephew's invitation to have dinner with them on Christmas Eve. He says Christmas is humbug. In the town, children are afraid of him; no one likes him and cares about him. He spends his days counting his profits and wishing the world would leave him alone.

Another character Bob Cratchit is Scrooge's accountant. He is a hard-working man, and he loves his family very much. His family is so poor that they can't afford the treatment for the youngest son who is very ill.

Then Jacob Marley was once Scrooge's business partner, but he died seven years ago. Like Scrooge, he was very greedy and cold. Now his ghost appears to Scrooge on Christmas Eve to tell him the horrors he may be confronted. And tells him three ghosts will visit him this night. After warming,

Marley flies out the window and joins the other ghosts who drag their chains.

Three ghosts are important characters in this book. Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come show Scrooge some shadows. These shadows make Scrooge realize something. He begins to know he is wrong and these shadows change his life.

The story is divided into five sections. Dickens calls them staves; after all, it's a song. The first stave, beginning of the story, tells about what kind of person Scrooge is and the Marley's ghost. From these sentences in this part like ' The only thing that mattered to him was business, and making money', ' The frost in his heart made the air around him cold, too. The hottest days of summer his office was as cold as ice', 'Bah! Humbug! ',and the accountant Bob's working place and wage, we can see Scrooge is a hard, mean, selfish, cold, miserable and lonely man. Then on Christmas Eve, Marley's ghost comes. It tells Scrooge that the spirits of every man who does not help other people in life has to travel endless through the world after his death. And these spirits have to carry the chains that they made for themselves in their lifetime. Scrooge looks out the window and sees the sky filled with other chained spirits. Also, he tells Scrooge three ghosts will come to visit him next three nights and hope he will change his life. But Scrooge doesn’t believe this.

The next three staves, the climax of the story, revolve around the visitation of the three famous spirits. The Ghost of Christmas Past, with his glowing head, represents memory. He shows Scrooge his childhood home, a dilapidated schoolhouse, a happy Christmas party and his wife. When he sees this, he begs the ghost to take him back to his own time. And he extinguishes the light from the ghost's head when he feels that he is unable to bear any of the other memories. By showing Scrooge his past, the ghost has makes him realize that he has changed his interest from people to money. Then the Ghost of Christmas Present represents charity, empathy, and the Christmas spirit. He shows Scrooge both Bob and his nephew's homes. They are celebrating Christmas Day. Both of the families say good wishes for Scrooge although he has never been kind to them. In this stave, another character appears. Tiny Tim, Bob's young son, is seriously ill. And Scrooge begins to care about the boy's life. That promotes the idea that it is never too late to learn to love. Finally, the third ghost, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, represents the fear of death. He shows Scrooge how he will die and what people are saying

after his death. The ghost doesn't say any word while they are travelling, just points something and somewhere by a hand. When Scrooge sees the body lying in the bed, and hears the gossip, he begs the ghost to tell him that his fate can be changed and these won't happen if he changes his ways. But the ghost doesn't answer him. He says 'I will remember the past, and think of the future. I will be good to other people. I will keep Christmas in my heart, and will try to be kind, and cheerful, and merry, every day.' From then on, Scrooge knows he must change his way.

The last stave, the end of the story, tells the big changes of Scrooge after three ghosts' visitation. He wakes up and finds out that the ghosts visited him all in one night. He buys a big turkey and sends it to Bob and gives a great deal of money to donation collector. And of course Tiny Tim is healthy later. Scrooge never sees the ghosts again, because he keeps the spirit of Christmas alive in his heart as well as everyone.

With A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens hopes to illustrate how these insensitive people can be converted into charitable, caring, cheerful, and socially conscious members of society. The answer is warmth, generosity, and overall goodwill.

20XX年02月15日