A Dickens of a Problem: Interesting facts on the Christmas classic.

[Mugsy]

Via Mugsy's Rap Sheet:

Ebeneezer Scrooge never knew the son of his sole employee, Bob Cratchit, was seriously ill. It wasn't until Scrooge learned that Tiny Tim might actually die unless he did something to help, that he was actually willing to forego some of his personal wealth to help save the life of a sick child.

When Charles Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" in 1843, he was already a famous author. Queen Victoria was a fan of his, for whom he performed live in 1851. Knowing this, Dickens described the crushing poverty of Camden Town (lower London) in vivid detail, knowing that it would be read by Queen Victoria and the literate upper-class, in hopes that it might make them aware of what life was like for the majority of Londoners, people whom they never met or had any interaction with. And now, every rich man & woman, including the Queen herself, would willingly read a tale about poor people and perhaps even sympathize with them. And the fact he did so in a Christmas themed story ensured it would be read again & again every Christmas "when abundance rejoices" (pg. 13).

Perhaps my only Christmas tradition: every year, I watch the musical version of "Scrooge" (starring British actor Albert Finney). Not nearly as faithful to Dickens' manuscript as other versions, it is perhaps the best acted version of them all, and Finney convinces you of Scrooge's redemption better than any other version I've seen yet.

Last week, I saw the new Disney 3D retelling of "A Christmas Carol". While the movie was heavy on the 3D, inserting special scenes simply to show-off the three-dimensional effect, it is otherwise surprisingly faithful to the original book. It's a shame that it is so badly (voice) acted. Hollywood actors do Olde English about as well as Ghandi did stand-up comedy. You don't buy Scrooge's miraculous conversion by the end of the movie, and Cratchit is almost superfluous.

While otherwise faithful to the original book, one scene caught my attention: the scene where Ebeneezer's sister "Fan" (yes, "Fan", not "Fran") came to the boarding school to bring her brother home for Christmas. In the Disney version, Fan is considerably younger than her brother. I noticed this, because I've always believed Fan MUST be older than her brother Ebeneezer. Let me explain:

The backstory of "Fan" creates an enormous plot-hole in the Dickens classic.

In the schoolhouse scene when Scrooge is with the Ghost of Christmas Past viewing himself as a young boy, Fan tells her brother that she has come to bring her brother home for Christmas rather than him spending yet another holiday alone at school. The reason she gives: "Father is so much kinder than he used to be" (pg. 46). "Mother" however, is never mentioned. If Ebeneezer's mother was alive, how could she ever allow her only son to spend every Christmas alone at school year after year?

One can infer from all this that Scrooge's own mother, like Fan, died in childbirth...

(...)

Read the full article at Mugsy's Rap Sheet .com

[Bolo Boffin]

1. Interesting problem!

I've never seen it like that, and yet it's a gaping plot hole in one of the best English stories ever told!

Not to give Dickens more credit for psychology that he could have, but perhaps Ebenezer's mother died giving birth to Fan, and Father sent Ebenezer away because Ebenezer was inconsolable about the death and had conflicted feeling about the baby. Fan growing up warmed his heart some, but then Fan dying in childbirth herself sent him back into his unresolved grief.

Yeah, I know. WAY too convoluted. It's just a plot hole.

ETA: No, wait, Father could have married again very quickly and had Fan with a second wife. And Fan being Fan, she would have...

Plot hole.

[stopbush]

6. The classic Alastair Sim version of A Christmas Carol cuts to the chase on that one,

having the Ghost of Xmas Past remind Scrooge that "Fan died giving birth, just as your own mother died giving you birth." The added dialogue and scene make it clear that Scrooge's father never forgave him for causing his mother's death, just as Scrooge never forgave Fan's husband for the birth of his nephew causing her death. In this scenario, Fan is obviously a sister from another marriage, or older than Ebenezer (or both), though the film doesn't specifically say that Fan was older than Ebenezer.

The dialogue in the novella itself at this point seems to indicate that this added scene may be an accurate representation of the back story:

"She died a woman," said the Ghost, "and had, as I think, children."

"One child," Scrooge returned.

"True," said the Ghost. "Your nephew!"

Scrooge seemed uneasy in his mind; and answered briefly, "Yes."

What was Scrooge uneasy about? Doesn't say, but the Sim film makes a good guess.

BTW - Dickens' novella makes clear that Fan was much younger than Ebenezer ("and a little girl, much younger than the boy, came darting in, and putting her arms about his neck, and often kissing him, addressed him as her "Dear, dear brother."). The writer of the original article addresses that and finds it to be a mistake on Dickens' part, saying that the obvious closeness of the two mitigates against Fan being a step sister.

I find that unconvincing. Kids bond with each other, especially at early ages and especially when they are under the same roof. If Ebenezer's mother died at birth, he never knew her. If his father remarried soon after, Ebenezer would know his step-mother as his mother. Having Fan born of this step mother - especially if Ebenezer were in his teens at the time - would in Ebenezer's eyes mean his mother was having his baby sister. Of course they would be close.

[intheflow]

12. I don't understand the author's assumption, either,

that step-siblings wouldn't be close. That's just a strange leap to automatically make--and perhaps reflects more upon the author's familial situation than Scrooge's.

[Hissyspit]

14. It is not a plot hole. It is just left somewhat open.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Simple explanation really.

Assuming the mother was alive, it would have been typical, in that time, for a woman's opinion to be
over-ridden by the husband, if there were indeed a disagreement as to the holidays.
In the specific incident, "Father was much kinder" so obviously had changed his mind.
And obviously had been LESS kind in the past about Christmas. From whence Scrooge's own attitude was born.

[Ian David]

2. And unlike Jim Carrey, Scrooge would have wanted Tiny Tim to get vaccinated at the end of the movie.

[WI_DEM]

3. My favorite version is the 1951 Alistair Sim film.

[rocktivity]

5. Absolutely!!!

I don't watch any other.

:bounce:
rocktivity

[TlalocW]

10. Best version was the Rich Little HBO special

With his impersonating W.C. Fields as Ebeneezer Scrooge.

TlalocW

[Hissyspit]

13. I prefer the 1938 MGM version, "A Muppet Christmas Carol," and "Scrooge" with Albert Finney.

The Alastair Sim one is just o.k. in my book.

One thing I like about the new Robert Zemeckis version is that the Marley visitation scene is extra dark and spooky, the way it should be, and the "candle" Ghost of Christmas Past is really effective. Also the floating house.

[rocktivity]

4. This line makes up for every other one in the book

"MANKIND IS YOUR BUSINESS!!!"

:headbang:
rocktivity

[katandmoon]

7. Maybe their mother died giving birth to a subsequent child after Fan

Or from anything else, really.

[Mugsy]

9. Why punish Ebeneezer?

If the mother died giving birth to a different child, why punish Ebeneezer?

[Tansy_Gold]

11. E-B-E-N-E-Z-E-R

Things like this bug the crap out of me. I know it's picky and you can call me a spelling nazi if you like, but really, not to know how to spell the name of one of the most well-known characters in English literature? For shame!


And please "would HAVE been," not "would OF been."




Tansy Gold, who had to edit her own typo