Thursday, November 28, 2013

In A Christmas Carol, what does the Ghost of Christmas Future look like?

The interesting thing about the ghost of Christmas future, or the "Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come", is that Dickens refers to it as a phantom rather than a ghost like he did with the other apparitions.


This phantom was perhaps named as such because of how different it was from the others. While the first ghosts interacted and showed some leftover traits of humanity, this one was eerie, silent and quite scary, not only in movement but also in description



It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand



The way it moved was just as sinister as it looked



SLOWLY, gravely, silently



The phantom never answers with words, and allows Ebenezer to make his own conjectures every time he asks a question. That psychological dynamic causes more fear and anxiety in Ebenezer than having the actual answers told to him. Moreover, once the finger of the ghost points at something, it does not back down until Scrooge actually looks at what he is pointing.


While he is the phantom Scrooge is more scared of, his ending is quite abrupt and coarse for a ghost so apparently sophisticated.



he saw an alteration in the Phantom's hood and dress. It shrunk, collapsed, and dwindled down into a bedpost.



Therefore the ghost starts out extremely sinister and ends quite coarsely to a point. However, this is undoubtedly the ghost that influenced Scrooge the most, emotionally.

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