Ebenezer Scrooge

Marley's Ghost, illustration by John Leech, from the first edition, 1843.

Ebenezer Scrooge (/ˌɛbɪˈniːzər ˈskruːdʒ/) is the main fictional character of Charles Dickens' 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol.

At the beginning of the novel, Scrooge is a cold-hearted mean businessman who hates Christmas. He is soon visited by four spirits (Jacob Marley’s ghost, the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) who want to save him from going to hell.

Scrooge's last name has become byword for selfish or not being generous, while his catchphrase, "Bah! Humbug!" is often used to show hatred towards Christmas traditions.

The psychological phenomenon of when someone becomes more generous after realizing their mortality or life's purpose is called the Scrooge effect.[1]

Inspiration

Scrooge was said to have been inspired by a Dutch gravedigger.[2]

Ebenezer Lennox Scroggie was supposedly a merchant from Edinburgh who won a catering contract for King George IV's visit to Scotland. He was buried in Canongate Kirkyard, with a gravestone that is now lost. The theory is that Dickens noticed the gravestone that described Scroggie as being a "meal man", but misread it as "mean man."[3][4] This theory has been described as "a probable Dickens hoax".[5] There is no record of anyone named Scroggie in the Edinburgh census returns of the period.[6] Jemmy Wood, owner of the Gloucester Old Bank and possibly Britain's first millionaire, was nationally known for being cheap and may have been another model for Scrooge.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Jonas, Eva; Schimel, Jeff; Greenberg, Jeff; Pyszczynski, Tom (October 2002). "The Scrooge Effect: Evidence that Mortality Salience Increases Prosocial Attitudes and Behavior". Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 28 (10): 1342–1353. doi:10.1177/014616702236834. ISSN 0146-1672.
  2. ↑ Alleyne, Richard (24 December 2007). "Real Scrooge 'was Dutch gravedigger'". The Daily Telegraph.
  3. ↑ "Revealed: the Scot who inspired Dickens' Scrooge". The Scotsman. 24 December 2004. Retrieved 2020-01-14. Details of Scroggie's life are sparse, but he was a vintner as well as a corn merchant.
  4. ↑ "BBC Arts – That Ebenezer geezer... who was the real Scrooge?". BBC. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
  5. ↑ Pelling, Rowan (February 7, 2014). "Mr Punch is still knocking them dead after 350 years". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  6. ↑ Melvin, Eric (2014). A Walk Through Edinburgh's New Town. Scotland: [Not credited]. p. 63. ISBN 9781500122010.
  7. ↑ Silence, Rebecca (2015). Gloucester History Tour. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 40.