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Examples Of Greed In A Christmas Carol

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Mr. Herbert establishes an idea that is transcendent throughout humanity. To possess large amounts of wealth is imperative to the pursuit of happiness, but in order to acquire it one must put himself at the mercy of those who control money, and at the mercy of their own desire left unchecked. This ideal can be seen in the actions that Ebenezer Scrooge partakes in in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Ebenezer is an old mizer, egregious in his disdain for humanity, and wealthy unlike anyone in his immediate relationships, few as they might be. Ebenezer at the outset of the novel reviles altruism and only considers how he may make another dollar off of some poor unsuspecting fool. He subjugates his only employee, a Mr. Bob Cratchit and is …show more content…

Ebenezer Scrooge was a slave to his desire for wealth would be an understatement. His very innate being was controlled by this one all consuming want, and it infected and ruined every relationship he was ever part of. However, Mr. Scrooge isn’t remembered necessarily for his greed, rather he’s remembered for his drastic change at the end of the novel. In the beginning of the novel when Mr. Scrooge is approached by two gentleman in order to make a Christmas donation Scrooge says that, “If they would rather die they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population”(11). Mr. Scrooge does not care about his fellow people, all he cares about is their cash. He is a foul and nasty character. However after being visited by three ghosts he starts to become a better person. His transition begins when the Ghost of Christmas Past shows him how he alienated his love and how he lost his sister as well. This starts to put a crack in his psyche and is the beginning of his transformation. Next he is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present who shows him the awful conditions that his employee Bob Cratchit is suffering, no thanks to Scrooge. The fact that Mr. Cratchit’s son Tim may soon die because of him wears away at Scrooge’s facade of heartlessness even more, but the transition isn’t yet complete. Although he asks the Ghost of Christmas Present whether Tim Cratchit will live and is “overwhelmed with penitence and grief”(63), his despair at the young child’s …show more content…

Macbeth is at one point in the play is revered as a valorous soldier, his exploits so revered that even the King is privy to them, remarking, “‘The king hath happily received, Macbeth, The news of thy success’”(I.iii.98-99). Unlike Scrooge, Macbeth is at the pinnacle of his life, honored in all the land, but like Scrooge Macbeth is about to experience a drastic upheaval in his peaceful existence. After listening to three witches prophecy that foretold that he was to become King he was filled with ideas of grandiosity and unchecked ambition. This desire to fulfill the prophecy forces him to murder the King in cold blood. His murder is not without regret though as he says, “I go, and it is done; the bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell That summons thee to heaven or to hell”(II.i.76-78). Now that Macbeth is King his paranoia reaches new heights and he is unable to distinguish friend from foe, and in a very cold and calculating move he murders his friend Banquo, saying after he orders his murder, “Banquo, thy soul's flight, If it find heaven, must find it out to-night”(III.i.164-165). He descends deeply into madness and is unrecognizable from his former self. In the end he winds up dead at the hand of an old friend after his wife kills herself, and his men betray him. Macbeth was the exact opposite of Scrooge, but like Scrooge he has a dramatic change.

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