A Christmas Carol: Charles Dickens penned this novella as a sign of protest 

A Christmas Carol by famous English Victorian author Charles Dickens is one of the most beloved Christmas stories of all times. In fact, the novella’s immense popularity turned Christmas into a significant holiday in Victorian England. This family-friendly tale with a moral has been adapted into countless movies and stage productions since the time it was published in 1843.  

This is the popular redemption tale of the protagonist, a wicked and greedy businessman Ebenezer Scrooge who is transformed by Christmas spirit on its Eve. Scrooge is visited by his former business partner Jacob Marley who he betrayed and three ghosts: Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. Each of the ghosts offers him with valuable life lessons as he realises that his penny-pinching and indifferent work life affects himself and those around him severely. By the end of the story, Scrooge is not only enlightened but also vindicated as he vows to alter his mean and miserly ways, before it’s too late. He decides to increase his employees’ wages, pay them on time and celebrate Christmas with them. 

That brings us to a question: What inspired Dickens to write a novella like A Christmas Carol? As we wait for Christmas, let’s dig out the triggers behind this piece of literary gem.  

Career crisis 
Yes, you read that right! Charles Dickens did have great fame during 1843, thanks to his novel The Old Curiosity Shop that was selling like hot cakes both in England and abroad. In fact, readers worldwide were obsessing over the protagonist Little Nell. The obsession was so much that New Yorkers would stand and ask Britishers arriving in the USA whether or not Little Nell was alive, and if so, a sequel is on the cards or not.   

Now, when Dickens arrived in the USA to see through his popularity, he didn’t enjoy the American life at all. In fact, he restricted his travel to the North and was extremely offended with slavery practised in the South. When he went back to England, he extensively wrote about the “ill-mannered Americans” in a journal called American Notes. Long story short, this understandably alienated Americans and when Dickens’ next novel Martin Chuzzlewit came out, it was an outright failure. Not only was it not selling well, the sale of his previous successful novels had also come to a sudden halt. He also owed money to his publisher. It didn’t take him long to realise that his career was on the verge of a decline. So, desperate to win his readers back, he chose the most favourite topic at hand: Christmas! And well, months later, A Christmas Carol was born and became a sensation worldwide.  

Sorry state of the labour class 
Personal reasons of course influenced Dickens to write A Christmas Carol. However, there were other reasons too! In October 1843, Dickens was invited to deliver an inspirational speech for the working masses at Manchester Athenaeum, an organisation responsible for the education and security of the labour class. Contrary to his expectations, the visit was extremely disappointing and disheartening. Dickens was deeply affected by the conditions of the exploited child workers. Back in London, he wanted to keep the grim and industrial city of Manchester at the centre and weave a story around it that would narrate the stories of England’s contemporary working class and their miserable plight. He felt the urge to comment on the socio-economic gap between the rich and the poor and be a voice for the latter. But he also wanted to write something that would be ready in the next two months to be published ahead of Christmas. So, he had woven his protest in the backdrop of Christmas. So, A Christmas Carol ready in less than six weeks. And the rest, as they say, is history. 

The book was an overnight success with both reading public and the critics praising it alike. In fact, Dickens’ contemporary William Makepeace Thackeray felt, “A Christmas Carol was a national benefit, and to every man or woman who reads it, a personal kindness.” The message that Dickens wanted to drive home was well-received and struck a chord. Since then, the British started to view Christmas as a time to not only receive but also give, especially to the less fortunate. Interestingly, the world-altering novella has never gone out of print, till date.