Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come facts for kids
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is a spooky character from Charles Dickens's famous story, A Christmas Carol. This ghost is also called the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come or the Ghost of Christmas Future. It is the fourth and last ghost to visit the grumpy old man, Ebenezer Scrooge, on Christmas Eve. Each ghost shows Scrooge a different part of his life. This silent, mysterious ghost shows Scrooge what might happen on a future Christmas Day, especially after Scrooge's death.
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Why Charles Dickens Wrote A Christmas Carol
In 1843, Charles Dickens was very worried about how poor people were treated. He was especially upset about children working in terrible conditions, like in tin mines. He also visited schools for poor children, called ragged schools. Dickens himself had been poor as a boy. He had to work in a factory when his father was sent to prison for debt.
At first, Dickens wanted to write a serious article about helping poor children. But he changed his mind. Instead, he wrote A Christmas Carol. This story shared his concerns about poverty and unfairness in a different way.
Dickens's friend, John Forster, said that Dickens liked ghost stories. Even though Dickens didn't truly believe in ghosts, his magazines often featured them. He even wrote a ghost story every year for a while. In A Christmas Carol, Dickens made the ghosts feel like a natural part of the real world. This showed how interested people were in the paranormal during the early Victorian era.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is different from the first two ghosts. It is more like the scary stories found in Gothic fiction. Dickens read these types of stories when he was a teenager. He used this gloomy style in other novels too, like Oliver Twist and Bleak House. These books often showed the big difference between rich and poor people in the same city.
The Ghost's Role in Scrooge's Story
Unlike the other two ghosts, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come arrives at midnight. It is a very scary and quiet figure. Dickens describes it as "a solemn Phantom, draped and hooded, coming, like a mist along the ground." Scrooge was so afraid that his legs shook.
The ghost was "shrouded in a deep black garment." This covered its head, face, and body. Only one outstretched hand could be seen. It was hard to tell the ghost apart from the darkness around it.
This Spirit, in its "dusky shroud," represents Death. For people in the early Victorian era, Christmas was a time to remember loved ones who had passed away. It was also a time to think about the year ending. Dickens wrote about remembering the dead at Christmas in one of his articles. He also described a similar quiet, persistent ghost in another story.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is silent and mysterious, just like the future itself. Scrooge fears its message the most. When the Spirit wants Scrooge to look at something, it just points. People in Victorian times believed ghosts could see the future, including when people would die. This ghost shows Scrooge his own death. But it also shows him that his future is not fixed. He can change it by changing his actions now.
In the 1840s, diseases like typhus and cholera were a real threat in London. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is a memento mori. This means it's a reminder that everyone will die. It also reminds people of the fear of death. After death, people believed they would face judgment. Jacob Marley's ghost had already warned Scrooge about what would happen if he didn't change.
The Spirit shows Scrooge that his death will bring no sadness to others. Some people will even be happy about it. The only sadness the Spirit shows is for the death of Tiny Tim. These two deaths are connected in a way Scrooge doesn't yet understand. If Scrooge doesn't become kind and generous, he will end up like Marley. He will be weighed down by chains and money boxes. He must learn to "honour Christmas in [his] heart."
Visions of Scrooge's Future
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In this part of the story, the Spirit takes Scrooge to different places in London. These include the London Stock Exchange, Bob Cratchit's home, Scrooge's own bedroom, and Old Joe's rag-and-bone shop. In these scenes, Dickens uses a clever trick. Scrooge doesn't realize that he is seeing his own future. He doesn't know that the un-mourned dead man is him. He doesn't recognize that the bedcurtains in the rag-and-bone shop are his. He also doesn't realize that the cheap funeral discussed by businessmen is his own. And he is the person whose death brings relief to a young couple who owed him money.
Scrooge struggles to understand what these visions mean. He thinks the dead man in the bedroom could be him. He begs the Spirit to tell him who the dead man is. In the last scene, Scrooge finds himself in a churchyard. The Spirit points to a gravestone.
Scrooge asks the ghost, "Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only?" The Ghost just keeps pointing to the grave. Scrooge then says that if people change their actions, their future can change. He asks if this is true for what the ghost is showing him. The Spirit remains still.
Scrooge slowly moves closer to the grave. He reads the name on the stone: EBENEZER SCROOGE. He cries out, "Am I that man who lay upon the bed?" The ghost points from the grave to Scrooge, and back again. Scrooge begs the Spirit, "I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this, if I am past all hope?" For the first time, the ghost's hand seems to shake. Scrooge falls to the ground and pleads, "Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life." The kind hand trembles again.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge what will happen because of his past and present actions. His unkindness to the poor and his bad treatment of Bob Cratchit mean he will die alone. His death will also lead to the death of Tiny Tim. Scrooge's past actions have left him "solitary as an oyster." No one will mourn his lonely death. Instead, it will be a chance for others to profit. This last ghost gives Scrooge a final chance to change his life. He can start fresh in his last years. He can make things right with his nephew Fred, the Cratchits, and the poor people of London. Scrooge will eventually die, like everyone. But from now on, he will "live in the Past, the Present, and the Future."
The Ghost in Movies and TV Shows
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come has appeared in many films and TV shows:
- In the 1951 film Scrooge, the Spirit is a cloaked figure with one hand out.
- In the 1983 cartoon Mickey's Christmas Carol, the Ghost is Pete.
- In the 1984 TV movie, the Spirit makes a strange metallic sound.
- In the 1988 film Scrooged, the Spirit has a skull-like TV screen for a head.
- In the 1992 film The Muppet Christmas Carol, the Spirit is a large, faceless figure in a torn black hood.
- In the 1999 TV movie, the Spirit's eyes shine through its hood.
- In the 2000 UK TV movie, Ben Inigo Jones plays the Ghost.
- In the 2004 film A Christmas Carol: The Musical, the spirit is shown as an old woman in a white robe.
- In the 2009 film Disney's A Christmas Carol, the Ghost is a huge, cloaked shadow.
- In the 2010 Doctor Who Christmas special, "A Christmas Carol", Kazran Sardick is the Ghost.
- In the 2016 My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "A Hearth's Warming Tail", Princess Luna plays the Ghost.
- In the 2019 miniseries, Jason Flemyng plays the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
See also
In Spanish: Fantasma de las Navidades Futuras para niños
