The story of A Christmas Carol, written by Charles Dickens, is the one that almost everyone knows. It airs during the holidays in a huge amount of variations. The basis of each variation is the same. Ebenezer Scrooge, our main character, is a cold-hearted man. It's Christmas Eve and as Scrooge closes his office his nephew comes in to wish him a Merry Christmas. Scrooge, being as “cold” as he is, simply thinks that Christmas is a time when people spend money. Scrooge lives alone. His business partner, Jacob Marley, has been dead for seven years. Scrooge gets ready for bed and all the unused doorbells in the house begin to ring. The ghost of his deceased colleague, dressed in chains, chests, keys, etc., appears in Scrooge's room. He sits down and tells Scrooge how throughout his life he has never done anything good for anyone else. So now that he is dead, he must travel constantly without sleep and without relief from the horror of guilt he feels. Marley says that Scrooge has a chance to turn his life around and that he will be visited by three spirits who will show him how to do it. They will all appear within a short distance of each other and Marley will leave. Each ghost represents a different point in Scrooge's life; the ghost of Christmas past, the ghost of Christmas present and the ghost of Christmas future. After the events that happened that night, Scrooge realizes that he can change. Ebenezer Scrooge changes his mind for the Christmas holidays and never returns to his old habits. (Goldstein 1). In the story of A Christmas Carol, there are several themes and symbols that are shown throughout. There are moral lessons involved, some of which are the real me… middle of paper… yuck. 2nd ed. Chicago: St. James Press, 1991. Literature Resource Center. Network. December 8, 2013.Goldstein, Marc. "A Christmas Carol." Masterplots, Fourth Edition (2010): 13. Literary Reference Center. Network. December 8, 2013.Holderness, Graham. "Imagination in a Christmas Carol." Études Anglaises: Grande-Bretagne, Éts-Unis 32.1 (January-March 1979): 28-45. Rpt. in Criticism of nineteenth-century literature. Ed. Kathy D. Darrow. vol. 211. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center. Network. December 8, 2013."Realism." Criticism of short stories. Ed. Janet Witalec. vol. 63. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center. Network. December 8, 2013.Saltmarsh, Sue. “Spirits, Miracles, and Clauses: Economy, Patriarchy, and Childhood in Popular Christmas Texts.” Articles: Explorations in Children's Literature 17.1 (2007): 5+. Literary Resource Center. Network. 8 December. 2013.