Bob Cratchit’s big heart reflects the joy of Christmas

English author Charles Dickens did the world a great service when he wrote his short novel “A Christmas Carol” in 1843. The classic story is packed full of “life lessons” that are even more poignant during the holiday season.

 

Pity poor Bob Cratchit, a family man with six children, who had the misfortune of working as the clerk of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserable human being. Cratchit was loyal and dependable but underpaid, underappreciated and overworked.

 

Cratchit seemed to have faith, espousing the thought expressed by country singer Hoyt Axton (“Bony Fingers”) in 1974 that “maybe things’ll get a little better in the mornin.’”

 I always hoped Cratchit would find the cure for his bony fingers by “getting a spine” – catching on to what country artist Johnny Paycheck was singing about in 1977. I pictured Cratchit barging into Scrooge’s office’s and bellowing: “Take this job and shove it, I ain’t working here no more.”

Lordy, lordy. Don’t we know, the world is full of bad bosses who are (select all that apply): arrogant, condescending, incompetent, inconsiderate, inept, insecure, insensitive, paranoid, punitive, vindictive and whacko.

Back to the story: Dickens clearly illustrates that the working life for a clerk in Victorian times was generally repetitive and dull. Clerks typically are presented as downtrodden fellows who spent whole days in “counting houses working out calculations for the benefits of other men.”

Scrooge is described by the narrator as a “tight-fisted…covetous old sinner” who loathed the Christmas season.

 

“If I could work my will,” Scrooge muttered, “every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.”

Dickens introduces three “Ghosts of Christmas” to rectify the situation. The ghosts navigate Scrooge through his past, present and future…opening his eyes to reality and transforming him into an honorable man.

 

The author cleverly shows his readers that Bob Cratchit is full of “moral goodness.” He’s a man who shows no bitterness and has an incredible willingness to forgive. “Cratchit’s capacity for compassion…also highlights what Scrooge lacks: an awareness that family is more important than wealth, that Christmas is a time for family, and that while Bob Cratchit is poor, he is rich in other ways.”

 

Scrooge’s heart was “opened” after the ghosts forced him to confront his past choices, see the impact of his present actions and witness a future in which he is forgotten. He witnesses the utter lack of sorrow at his death and a scene of people stealing from his belongings.

Overwhelmed by “the realization of a life wasted on greed” and the misguided belief that money was the only way to find security and happiness, Scrooge now begs to change. He is finally able to repent and live a life of kindness, joy and generosity, which the spirits had shown him was a more fulfilling path. 

The man who once grumbled “Bah, humbug!” makes a new pledge: “I will honour Christmas in my heart…and try to keep it all the year.”

The “reborn Scrooge” says: “I don’t know what to do! I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world!”

 

The story ends with the narrator quoting the famous line spoken by Bob and Emily Cratchit’s young and crippled son, Tiny Tim – words that continues to resonate during the holiday season:

“God bless Us, Every One!”