Ebenezer Scrooge

Arc

Initially resistant to any sentiment or supernatural intrusion, he moves from total skepticism to trembling dread and eventual curiosity after the visitation of Marley's Ghost.

Role

Protagonist and a miserly businessman who serves as the central figure of a supernatural intervention.

Dialogue

Caustic, cold, and shrewd. He frequently uses the exclamation 'Bah! Humbug!' and speaks with a grating voice. His speech is often business-like, even when discussing the supernatural.

Symbolism

• •low temperature
• •flint
• •oyster
• •darkness
• •chains
• •banker's-book

Appearance

He has a pointed nose, shrivelled cheeks, and a stiffened gait. His eyes are red and his thin lips are blue. He has a frosty rime on his head, eyebrows, and wiry chin.

Background

He was the sole executor, friend, and mourner for his partner Jacob Marley, who died seven years prior to the story's start. He has operated a counting-house for many years.

Motivations

To accumulate wealth, minimize expenses (such as coal or taxes for the poor), and maintain his isolation from human society.

Personality

A tight-fisted, covetous old sinner who is secret, self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. He is cold-hearted, unaffected by external weather, and hostile toward social sympathy or holiday cheer.

Moral Condition

His soul is described as being in a state of 'sin' and spiritual weight; he is currently forging a massive chain of worldly attachments that will fetter him in the afterlife.

Social Standing

A wealthy businessman and creditor; a member of the Victorian merchant class who operates a counting-house.

Supernatural Manifestation

While currently a living man, he is warned that he bears an invisible, ponderous chain of his own forging, similar to Marley's chain of cash-boxes and ledgers.