The ghost of Jacob Marley, Scrooge's former business partner who died seven years before, appears before Scrooge in chains on the anniversary of his death. He tells Scrooge this same fate awaits him if he does not dedicate himself to his fellow men and women but instead only cares about making money. Scrooge makes many feeble defenses of Marley that he, Scrooge, would also apply to himself, including that Marley was a good man of business and that he was a good friend to Scrooge. To Scrooge's protestation that Marley was good at business, Marley replies, "Mankind was my business," intimating Scrooge should have dedicated himself to other people, not just to making money (23). Scrooge is clearly afraid of Marley's ghost, but he doesn't yet heed his message. After Marley leaves, Scrooge immediately goes back to sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment