By Fr. Hedwig Lewis SJ –
“Merry Christmas” is the greeting you spontaneously exchange with others during Christmastide. The origin of this expression can be traced to Charles Dickens’ novel A Christmas Carol, when the enthusiastic nephew of Scrooge barges into the miser’s counting-house with a jubilant “A merry Christmas, uncle!” Never before had those two common words been so felicitously paired together as to become a conventional greeting.
Dickens wholeheartedly believed in merry-making, feasting and gift-giving, for rich and poor alike, at Christmas – in keeping with the tradition of this festival season. It is quite ironical, though, that Dickens was in no merry mood before he embarked on his runaway bestseller. His popularity had taken a sudden plunge when his serial Martin Chuzzlewit did not appeal to readers, and the publishers were forced to reduce his salary. Dickens began to sense disillusionment as a writer. He ran into debts and was sliding into a depression.
In October 1843, while out on his regular walks, Dickens passed by one of “the black streets” of London, as he called the area near the Thames. He paused to oversee the familiar scene of crowded tenements, open sewers, garbage dumps. He thought of the people who frequented the place: pickpockets, thieves, beggars. Suddenly an idea flashed across his mind. Why not write a Christmas story featuring the struggles of the underprivileged? The very thought of it brought him a great spurt of enthusiasm. Like a Christmas angel, a new story took wings – one that would bring Dickens fame, fortune and immortality.
A Christmas Carol was his first un-serialised novel, completed at one go – in just six weeks. From the moment Dickens set pen to paper a certain transformation came over him. He got into the ‘Christmas mood’ as he wrote out exotic scenes of his favourite season: ceilings adorned with mistletoe, carollers on the streets, parties and dances, grand dinners with delicious roast turkey and plum pudding. Little did he know that his novel would create new traditions and popularise the Christmas celebrations of the future.
The story included the rich and poor, the delighted and the dejected, and gathered together the varied tones of life so as to create a symphony of love, orchestrating Christmases past, present and future. To ensure that its presentation would be attractive, Dickens financed the publishing of the book himself – lavishly! The slender volume was bound in red cloth, with a gilt design on the front cover and spine, and edges trimmed and gilded. Moreover, in order that the book could be affordable to a larger number of people, he decided to keep the price low – a mere five shillings.
A Christmas Carol was released to the public on 19 December 1843. The response to it was overwhelming, beyond even Dickens’ expectations. The first edition of 6000 copies was sold out by Christmas Eve. Dickens received an enormous fan mail. Though he could not collect a fortune through the sales, he made enough to tide over his financial crisis. Furthermore, the story’s popularity revived his audience’s interest for his subsequent novels, thus paving the way to success in his career and fulfilment in life.
In 1993, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the publication of A Christmas Carol, the Free Library of Philadelphia in the U.S. held an exhibition of Dickens’ Christmas books and stories. On display was an unpublished 46-page manuscript, The Life of Our Lord. Dickens had penned this version of Jesus Christ’s life, based on Saint Luke’s Gospel, for his children in 1846, but he never let it leave the house. It bears glowing testimony to his deeply-rooted religious faith, despite his frequent criticism of organised religion and religious dogma.
A Christmas Carol has several inspirational messages based on the true spirit of Christmas and its focus on the Child Jesus. Dickens strongly associates Christmas with childhood, and with the value of retaining childlike attitudes. The original inspiration for the novel came from reading about and observing the exploitation of children. It reveals Dickens’ impassioned convictions about the rights of childhood and how their denial leads to social disaster. Further, the ghosts teach Scrooge that it is better to care for others openly and generously, than to be selfishly wrapped up in one’s own cares and complaints.
Maybe the ghosts of the past have a message for you. But listening prayerfully to the “good tidings” the angels bring at every Christmas will give you wings, and like Dickens will enable you to tell stories of new glories in your life.
Fr Hedwig Lewis SJ is the author of “Christmas by Candlelight”. Published by <[email protected]>
This article has been retrieved from the author’s Christmas archive – The New Leader 2010