Why We Remember “A Christmas Carol”

 

This month the “Wise Crone Cottage Podcast” has published my reading of Dickens’ Christmas Carol in four episodes.  The chapters are so long that I’ve chosen to share the moral of the story here.
 

Dickens’ Christmas Carol is iconic.  The work has not been out of print since its original publication in 1843.  More importantly, the work itself has become legendary through the making of numerous adaptations and variations; in books, films, ballet, and opera.  This is the living folklore of the story.  It represents the cultural impact this story has had on the Anglo-American world. I’m sure Dickens would be pleased by its longevity and relevance.

Dickens wrote this novella during a dark and difficult time in his life. His work, which was often issued as serials, was being pirated by other publishers both in England and the U.S.  Copyright was not as clear then as today and so Dickens was mired in litigation.  Even when he would win a suit, the publishers often went bankrupt before he received any compensation. The cycle began again and again. Further, Dickens was criticized for even bringing these lawsuits and seeking payment at all.  His critics accused him of acting like Scrooge. (But really? Why shouldn’t authors be paid fairly for their work? Why shouldn’t artists?)

Dickens was certainly not Scrooge.  He was not a wealthy man.  He had five children and a father to support.  Further he was not nobility.  He had worked in a shoe blacking factory when he was twelve years old.  His father had been sent to debtor’s prison. He had lived suffering and understood the suffering of others.

The 1840’s in England were called “the Hungry Forties,” a difficult time of depression, unemployment and child labor.  These were dark days in which people began to reflect on wealth inequality and issues of social justice.  Dickens was also concerned with these issues.  He criticized the slavery he saw in America and spoke up against orphan schools in England.  These issues were in his mind when he wrote A Christmas Carol as much as his need for quick cash. 

It was clear that society was struggling in the 1800s, but there was a debate about how to resolve those ills. Some argued that the government should intervene, while others thought that private charities held the key.  Dickens believed instead in the power of the individual. It was only through a change of heart that actual social change could occur.  He thought that Scrooge and other employers could have a positive impact on the lives of their workers.  Scrooge’s nephew called these workers “fellow-passengers to the grave… and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”  This is a class-less argument.  We are all the same and should treat others as we wish to be treated.  We see Scrooge doing so when he gives food and more importantly a salary increase to Bob Cratchit.   

Sadly, we see these same arguments playing out today, over 181 years later.  What can and should the government do in the face of poverty, illness, and suffering?  What should employers do?  Do we need the government to regulate wages and better working conditions or will CEOs do it on their own? How about charities? Can’t they just resolve these issues through private donations? George W. Bush thought those thousand points of life could take care of all human suffering without the need for much government intervention.  How has that played out?  

In A Christmas Carol we hear the cries of the one-percenters today. “Are there no prisons or union workhouses?  How about the poor laws?  Are they in effect?”  Scrooge says he pays his taxes and will give nothing to charity. The poor are seen as lazy and immoral.  Helping them would just encourage this behavior. But Scrooge perhaps is a bit better than the robber barons of today.  At least he pays his taxes.  Most middle-class Americans pay more taxes than CEOs of corporations.

So, while we may argue about what solution will work best, we know that Dickens does have a point.  Nothing will change in society without a change of heart. In a world where cruelty prevails and kindness is thought to be a sucker’s game, we can’t be surprised when the government separates children from their migrant parents, releases convicted insurrectionists, and with callous or malice aforethought treats the most vulnerable as the other (often through name calling, belittling and intimidation).  

William Wrigg writes in “Dickens’ Message of Christmas,” “Dickens doubted the success of even the most high-minded reforms unless a genuine feeling of good will came to prevail amongst men.  Although he attacked with vehemence almost every aspect of English society, in none of his works did he ever call for the over-throw of a single institution.  His prime target was not the shortcomings of government or the gross injustices of a decrepit educational system, but rather the human heart.” That view might be seen as rather old-fashioned, in a world where a healthcare CEO’s assassination is praised.  Violence is approved (by some) as the way to resolve social justice problems quickly and expediently.

Dickens writes a powerful scene of the consequences facing us when we ignore human suffering.

"'Forgive me if I am not justified in what I ask,' said
Scrooge, looking intently at the Spirit's robe,' but I see
something strange, and not belonging to yourself, protruding
from your skirts. Is it a foot or a claw.'
 
'It might be a claw, for the flesh there is upon it,' was
the Spirit's sorrowful reply. 'Look here.'
 
From the foldings of its robe, it brought two children;
wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. They knelt
down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment.
 
'Oh, Man. look here. Look, look, down here.' exclaimed the Ghost.
 
They were a boy and a girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling,
wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where
graceful youth should have filled their features out, and
touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shriveled
hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and
pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat
enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No
change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any
grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has
monsters half so horrible and dread.
 
Scrooge started back, appalled. Having them shown to him
in this way, he tried to say they were fine children, but
the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie
of such enormous magnitude.
 
'Spirit, are they yours?' Scrooge could say no more.
 
'They are Man's,' said the Spirit, looking down upon
them. 'And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers.
This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both,
and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy,
for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the
writing be erased. Deny it.' cried the Spirit, stretching out
its hand towards the city. 'Slander those who tell it ye.
Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse.
And abide the end.'
 
“Have they no refuge or resource?” cried Scrooge.

“Are there no prisons?” said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. “Are there no workhouses?”

The bell struck twelve.

Later Dickens warns that doing nothing to help others comes at a cost for us all. He continues this exploration in his book A Tale of Two Cities (concerning the French revolution). (It’s a must read! You’ll never lose the image of Madame Defarge.)

But what about Scrooge himself?  Scholars and literary critics write about the “Scrooge problem.”  The Scrooge problem is the argument that Scrooge’s character was not realistic.  These scholars simply don’t believe that his transformation lasted.

But fortunately, some psychologists now argue that Scrooge’s transformation might have been real. Research shows that between one-half and one-third of all people who experience significant traumatic events feel a new sense of gratitude for life and other people. They develop more intimate and authentic relationships and have a clear understanding of what is important in life.  Psychologists call this “post traumatic growth.”

Post-traumatic growth (PTG) is a theory that explains psychological transformation occurring after trauma. The theory was developed by psychologists Richard Tedeschi, PhD, and Lawrence Calhoun, PhD, in the mid-1990s.  It holds that those people who endure psychological struggle following adversity can often see positive growth afterward.

"People develop new understandings of themselves, the world they live in, how to relate to other people, the kind of future they might have and a better understanding of how to live life," says Tedeschi.

Here’s what this storyteller believes about Scrooge.  Dickens says Scrooge was transformed and as a storyteller I must take him at his word.  Otherwise, I can’t believe in fairy tales and “happily ever after.”  The story of Scrooge (not the book) begins with “Once upon a time.”  This is a liminal time.  A time that begins in the 1800’s and goes on until today.  In fiction, we must suspend our judgment about plausibility and realism.

I also must believe that transformation, while not likely, is possible.  If we don’t believe change is possible, we need to throw out most of religion, mythology, philosophy and psychology.  We’ll need to start a bonfire with self-help books and 12 Step Programs.

I personally think Scrooge’s transformation stuck because he was no longer alone.  He had his nephew, and he had Bob’s family.  He developed new friendships which gave him the meaning and purpose to sustain his growth.   Isolation and loneliness impact both our health and our psychology. And although Dickens didn’t have the data, he understood this clearly.

To me this old story is incredibly relevant for our time.  The story is about money, power and greed.  It’s about wealth inequality.  It’s about good and evil, struggle and privilege.  It’s a story important today even if you remove all the Christmas trimmings from the tale. Dickens has something important to say and he’s not afraid to say it!  “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach,”  Scrooge promises.
In today’s language, Dickens speaks Truth to Power.  May we all be as forthright as Charles was in writing this work.

P.S.  If you are interested in a comparison between this story and “The Little Match Girl” check out Season 2, #5 of my podcast.  Spoilers alert!  Dickens wins the moral battle yet again! An earlier version of A Christmas Carol is found on my podcast.  It’s called “The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton” told in the episode, “Krampus, Goblins & Switches, Oh, My!” (S4, #7).

Illustration by Arthur Rackham.

A Brief History of Folklore in Children’s Literature

 

    As a traditional storyteller much of my work is gathering tales from the oral tradition.  These are the stories that were shared from person to person prior to the written word. But although I was told stories as a child, my great love for folklore started with books.  What is folklore?  Folklore is the cultural and oral expression of the people. It is the sharing of beliefs, customs and stories. Children’s books are filled with folklore that include “Old Mother Goose” rhymes, songs, poems, ways to make a “cat’s cradle”; and stories based on folktales, fairy tales and myths.  
    Author and professor, Betsy Hearne, wrote that “folklore is the birthplace of literature,” and that certainly must be true for children’s literature.  For this literature is heavily influenced by folklore, from its motifs and archetypes to its familiar tale types. But it wasn’t always this way.  The folktales of old were first told to an adult audience and many were filled with violence and death. These were topics thought unsuitable for children. Further using folklore as the subject of children’s literature has been hotly debated.  It has been criticism for promoting fantasy, patriarchy, elitism, colonialism, cultural misappropriation and racism.
    But nonetheless these stories have survived and proliferated both orally and in print. In fact, from the earliest published work for children until today, folklore has been prominent in children’s literature. Why? Because the tales are entertaining while also sharing culture, history and values. Let’s look at one example, the story of Cinderella. It began as a folktale, then inspired a literary fairy tale. Some say there may be over 3,000 oral variants of the story. But how many publications are there of Cinderella?  A quick search in the national database “WorldCat” shows that there are approximately 27,000 English language books concerning Cinderella.  Consider how the story has been told and retold in picture books, chapter books, and young adult novels.  Some of these are modern retellings and others are versions shared long ago. The life of this story goes on and on because it is continually expanding and growing. This story has captured our imagination, as have many other traditional tales. So, when we look at children’s literature today, we discover folklore is alive within it.  It too is constantly growing and changing.  While today’s story variants are more often found in print than shared orally, that doesn’t mean that oral expression is dead.  These stories stay alive through Tik Tok book groups and fan fiction.  They are told again and again in many ways.    
    In the history depicted here, we’ll see examples of folklore serving as the subject and inspiration for children’s literature.  We’ll start with the early modern chapbooks, then move on to collections of folktales, literary fairy tales, picture books, chapter books and young adult fiction.  We’ll also look at books from the “golden age” of children’s literature. In each category there will be a brief explanation with one or more examples.  
    Author Isaac Bashevis Singer writes, “Without folklore and deep roots in a specific soil, literature must decline and wither away.  This is true in all literature of all times.  Luckily children’s literature is even now more rooted in folklore than the literature for adults.  And this alone makes children’s literature so important in our generation.”
    It is my hope that the reader will remember similar titles from their own childhood or books they read to children. These are the stories filled with the wisdom and enchantment of the folk.  They are tales that have been told for hundreds of years and hopefully will be shared for hundreds more.
 

Chapbooks

    Chapbooks are small, printed booklets which were sold as inexpensive, street literature in the early modern period (15th – 18th c.) of England and Europe.  Stories in these texts were often derived from folklore. Here are some examples: Chap-Books of the 18th Century: with Facsimiles, Notes and Introduction by John Ashton. (London: Chatto & Windus, 1882). Included within this text is “The Pleasant History of Jack Horner.”

 

    The Original Mother Goose's Melody as issued by John Newberry, of London, circa 1760; later
editions by Isaiah Thomas, of Worcester, Mass., circa 1785, and Munroe & Francis, of Boston, circa 1825.  This book provides the nursery rhyme “Little Jack Horner.”

 

    For more examples see, “McGill Libraries Chapbook Collection”: https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/chapbooks/index.php

Stories from the Oral Tradition: Folktales, Fairy Tales, and Myths

    In the 1800s, the first folklorists began to collect and record folklore to preserve their culture.  These were the stories and beliefs passed down for generations through the oral tradition – such as folktales, fairy tales and myths.  The most famous collectors include the Brothers Grimm, Andrew Lang and Joseph Jacobs. Initially, many of these collections were for adults.  Their popularity led to editing the texts for a child audience.
    Die Bruder Grimm [ Grimm, Jacob & Wilhelm Karl]. Kinder-und Haus-Marchen. Gesammelt durch die Bruder Grimm. Berlin: In der Realschulbuchhandlung, 1812.  This is a compilation of German folktales. Volume 1 contained 86 stories.  Volume 2 (which was published in 1815) included 70 more tales.   By the 7th edition in 1857, there were over 200 stories now edited for a child audience.

     For Grimm stories see, “The Grimm Brothers’ Children’s and Household Tales (Grimms’ Fairy Tales) compiled, translated, and classified by D.L. Ashlimann: https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimmtales.html
    The Langs' Fairy Books are a series of 25 collections of children’s stories published between 1889 and 1913 by Andrew Lang and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne. Andrew Lang was the editor while Leonora translated and adapted stories from French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, and other languages.

    For collections of Lang’s stories see, “The Fairy Books of Andrew Lang”: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30580.
    Joseph Jacobs was a collector and publisher of English and European folklore. His book, English Fairy Tales (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1895) included the story “Jack the Giant Killer.”

    For other stories see, “English Fairy Tales collected by Joseph Jacobs”: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008682965

Literary Fairy Tales

    While there are many definitions for fairy tales, the simplest is that these are folktales with “magic.” There are fairy tales within collections of folk tales (see the Grimm Brothers versions of “Snow White” and “Cinderella”).  But the most famous version of these stories is often found in literary fairy tales. While folktales have no authors, literary fairy tales are authored works that rely heavily on the motifs, tale types and characterizations found within folklore.
    Charles Perrault was a French author who lived from 1628-1703.  In 1697, his book, Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passé, was published. It included the stories “Sleeping Beauty,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” and “Cinderella.” This work is thought to have influenced some of the later Grimm tales and is the version of Cinderella that is known best.

    For more examples see, “The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault”: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29021 
    Hans Christian Anderson (1805-1875) was a Danish writer who wrote over 156 popular fairy tales compiled in 9 volumes.  These included “The Little Mermaid,” “Thumbelina,” and “The Ugly Duckling.”  Anderson was influenced by reading The Arabian Nights in childhood. His tales often included Christian morals.  His first book of fairy tales was Eventyr, Fortalte for Børn. Første Samling. Første Hefte, 1835.  This book included the stories “The Tinderbox” and “The Princess and the Pea.”