One of the most well-known Christmas stories is “A Christmas Carol,”a novella by Charles Dickens that has received numerous adaptations. We all know the story of good old Scrooge going from a grumpy, greedy old man to a kinder gentleman thanks to the help of the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. But why is this story so popular? And what makes this and other popular Christmas stories so enduring?
Part of what makes “A Christmas Carol” such a long-standing part of Christmas traditions is its economic commentary. Charles Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol” to criticize the enormous gap between the rich and the poor in Victorian England. Obviously demonstrated by our good friend Scrooge and his exploitation of poor Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s clerk. Even now, this critique is still quite relevant, especially in our modern age, where there is still a gap between the middle and upper classes of America. The way Dickens critiques this gap is something that stretches across time and space.
Even though at the beginning of the story Scrooge is greedy and grumpy, the audience is still able to see his potential. His redemption comes in the form of something akin to justice, being told straight to his face that he was quite an awful fellow. But, when we get to the end of the story, we get to see his change physically and empirically, when he gives a child a gold coin and tells the child to buy a turkey for the Cratchits. As it comes to us as humans, I would say we typically like to see change happen externally because we tend to focus on the physical first. If someone is starving, we try to get them food first because it’s a basic, physical necessity. This same thing applies to change.
Many other traditional Christmas stories can be traced even further back into history. The story of Santa Claus came from Nicholas of Myra, later known as St. Nicholas, who gave away all of his wealth in the third century and traveled across modern-day Turkey to help the poor and sick. He got the name Santa Claus in the 18th century when Dutch people honored the anniversary of his death, with the Dutch abbreviation of “Sinter Klaus.” Hence, Santa Claus, which became the famous name used in “Twas the Night before Christmas,” the poem that helped to give us the image of our jolly white-bearded fellow traveling the world by reindeer-driven sled. What truly immortalized his image was when a political cartoonist named Thomas Nast drew on this inspiration, metaphorically and literally, creating the image of Saint Nick we all know today.
It’s amazing to see how many of our Christmas traditions can be traced back to the simple message of caring for one another. From Scrooge to St. Nicholas, these characters and their stories transcend history to be immortalized in figures and practices alike. Even if Jesus wasn’t born on Dec. 25, His lesson of generosity and love is spread further on this joyous holiday.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.