The Four Ghosts is how my son refers to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, and it is still his favorite Christmas story for the second year running. We have watched three different animated retellings of the classic so far, and I am fairly certain he will want to squeeze one or two more in before the season is over. Perhaps next year I will read it to him so that he can enjoy the prose of the original.
On a side note, as I have been watching these various animated versions of the story, I have been struck once again by the inherent conflict between Christian and utilitarian doctines that permeate so many Victorian-era novels. Perhaps a fusion of Christian and utilitarian doctine would be more accurate. Regardless, the utilitarian yearnings and scorn for harsh industrial capitalism Dickens expresses in his slim classic are understandable when one considers his own life and the general milieu in which he lived, but I would be curious to know how Dickens would feel concerning the full embrace of utilitarianism and almost complete abandonment of Christianity in contemporary Britain, or the entire West for that matter.
Perhaps he would rewrite his story and feature only one ghost - the Ghost of Christmas Forgotten and No Longer Needed.
I will probably ask my son about this one day when he is old enough to converse about such matters. In the meantime, I'll simply let him enjoy the story and the joys it offers.
On a side note, as I have been watching these various animated versions of the story, I have been struck once again by the inherent conflict between Christian and utilitarian doctines that permeate so many Victorian-era novels. Perhaps a fusion of Christian and utilitarian doctine would be more accurate. Regardless, the utilitarian yearnings and scorn for harsh industrial capitalism Dickens expresses in his slim classic are understandable when one considers his own life and the general milieu in which he lived, but I would be curious to know how Dickens would feel concerning the full embrace of utilitarianism and almost complete abandonment of Christianity in contemporary Britain, or the entire West for that matter.
Perhaps he would rewrite his story and feature only one ghost - the Ghost of Christmas Forgotten and No Longer Needed.
I will probably ask my son about this one day when he is old enough to converse about such matters. In the meantime, I'll simply let him enjoy the story and the joys it offers.
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