He was middle class but expected to spend money he didn't have
(media.kotakuinaction2.win)
Comments (37)
sorted by:
Might be a prejudiced bias after seeing him portrayed by Scrooge McDuck. Yeah, now that I think about, there is no reference to him being extraordinarily wealthy, just goddamn miserable.
I think most popular media portrays Scrooge as being at least better off than the people around him, but it can be difficult to figure his real wealth since the character is also supposed to live quite frugally.
He's portrayed as a typical libshit that expects the government or charities to help the poor and needy, so he doesn't need to do anything personally. I think in the Muppet Christmas Carol he says "Isn't that what my taxes pay for?!"
Also it's funny how these guys always say "the rich" (muh millionaires and billionaires), as if the rich don't already give money to charity, or as if this apparent poverty-stricken twitter user would share any more.
They simply have no concept of finite resources. If you tell them that confiscating all of the money from rich people won't be enough to pay for their imagined utopia their brains shut down and they don't understand. I've seen it happen.
The same way that only 50% of the population actually pays taxes, yet they cry about how unfair it is when tax cuts benefits only tax payers.
They hate "the rich," the "landlords," the "billionaires," the "capitalists" and the "1%" but you can never call them that one other thing...
I remember him being very well dressed in the Muppets version, too. At least rather well off but super miserable. I should rewatch that movie, it's been years.
The books is way better than the movies. I read it every year and watch as many Christmas Carols as I can.
The Disney Scrooge is actually the story of Scrooge, and the very rich Andrew Carnegie. There were tons of comics showing how he was kindhearted, and willing to give so long as it didn't break the bank for him. They were a big thing in parts of europe and south america, but the USA read Marvel and DC more. So, a lot of stuff is lost to the common American because they didn't read the books.
The book Scrooge lost his family in a fire, his father boozed himself into prison for several years, spent most of his growing up at a boarding school with his only real human connection being visits from his sister. His sister then died Christmas day while giving birth to Fred. Her husband ends up dying and losing his sanity afterwards. Fred is old english for Friend. So Scrooge had a Friend, but didn't believe it.
He did have a fiance, but he grew up fighting for money so hard he lost her in his attempts to make life better. After all this, Ebeneezer became a workaholic and just hated Christmas for all it had done to him.
He was middle class because he had no landed inheritance. The house he lived in was from his business partner. Any land he leased he bought. This meant he was not as 'noble' as the landed upper class, but had wealth. The Feudal system, which the majority of England still followed during this time and even today to an extent, meant that the owner of the landed leased it to be used for farming or factories to make more money. The people living on that land were subjects to the desire of the owner, and needed to be treated with a certain kindness or he could lose status or even power. Middle Class with no real desire for parties or showing off their authority, or even caring about maintaining the status between the landed class was just absurd. The USA has plenty of land, so the entire subject is difficult to understand in and of itself.
Dickens was writing to the lower class who could read, and the upper class who viewed these new middle class people as tyrants. He still gave Scrooge humanity, because he was a good storyteller.
A part most movies miss is the time when Scrooge sees people who are more miserable than him having good cheer for christmas. They could be kind even when they were thieves, or homeless. He had a home, if a bit of difficulty keeping it maintained. Perhaps the most poignant is when Bob Cratchet who now remembers Christmas as the time he lost his son, tries to keep everyone cheery and happy. I think the only time I've seen that done right was in the Muppets version. Kermit cracking gets me every time.
So he was newly middle class, had no nobility about him, and had some very good reasons to hate the holiday. He made sure his books were still balanced, but was more forgiving and kind when he could be. He made sure no one thought of Christmas as a bad time, not because he loved it, but because he knew exactly how it felt.
It really is a classic and the people who say its about getting one on the rich have no clue what they are talking about.
Whelp. Guess I'm off to order another book, then.
Reminds me, I need to build more book shelves...
There is never enough bookshelves.
Thanks for the book review. Guess I should read more classics and into the shelf it goes once I get it!
Dracula is also a good read for Halloween.
I was that weirdo who told people to read it when I was a kid, people thought I was crazy cuz it's "old".
I've met people who felt the same way about Lord of the Rings, or even Heinlein. Way too many people don't know the last Sherlock Holmes novel was written in the 1930's. When they say old, they mean the writing is above their level.
Oh, 100%.
And even LOTR?! Legitimately wouldn't even consider you a real fantasy fan if you never read LOTR, it's the one I would show to my kids if I ever have any....alongside Harry Potter since I'm slightly biased.
TBF, nothing is more traumatic to the left than self-reflection.
I'm continuously surprised at how liberal retards manage to ignore that the basic story of the book is a blatant anti jewish allegory.
They're normally quite allergic to things like that. Oh well, I guess add another notch to how dishonest they are.
So completely ignoring all the other well to dos in the story who were generous and kind? It’s literally the biblical story of the miser who is portrayed by Scrooge.
One of my favorite movies and I bought and read the book recently. Loved it
So the wisdom is, it is vain to work and be fine just working? If he's not satisfied with riches, then how is someone a miser, right? Usually people are greedy and hoard because they want the riches. Although, if they're in misery, then it does fit the arachaic definition of "miser".
Oh wait it's Old Testament, makes sense, nevermind
No, that's actually the opposite of the book. Read it with Thomas Nelson commentary.
I was interpreting it based on the words in the quote that Ahaus dropped in relation to the thread.
"hath neither child nor brother" -> the man is all alone
"no end of all his labour" -> he keeps working regardless
"neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he..." -> he's not happy with what he gains through labour, nor does he reflect on why he works
"This is also vanity" -> word with two very different meanings. If it really was supposed to be the other definition, "worthless, pointless", then I could understand. The idea that working / producing while still not pleased and not using the fruits could be a worthless endeavor, which makes sense in the context of Scrooge. I could also see the problems of laboring without a higher purpose or goal, but... I don't know what they should be doing if they're alone and stuck working. If it's by volition, yes it's pointless and a problem.
Vanity in the context of Ecclesiastes does indeed mean worthless or pointless. The general point of the book is that human endeavor, apart from God, is ultimately pointless and passes away like the wind.
Since the author was Solomon as he was aging and agonizing over the fact that he'd built his kingdom into something vast, powerful, and wealthy, and was about to die and give it to his recognizably worthless sons. This rings poignant.
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=Gobseck&title=Special:Search&ns0=1
Gobseck is definitely a better depiction of the consequences of hoarding.
Didn't scrooge earn his wealth and only turned stone hearted after his wife died?
/u/AlfredicEnglishRules gives a detailed summary above, but Scrooge had a hard life and what tipped him over the edge was his fiancée leaving him because he'd become a workaholic. I think most modern versions of the tale leave out a good chunk of the tales from the Ghost of Christmas Past for time or age-appropriateness, but the full tale is way better than the abridged version you see today.
Of course Scrooge was hated by the Left: He was a middle class single business owner who employed locally rather than outsource to China.
Scrooge's trauma is just that: trauma. He has PTSD over Christmas. Everything bad happens then. His breakup. The deaths. His father. The dude has legit mental illness, and because it IS legit mental illness, the left hates him for it. And it takes three spirits to basically shock therapy him back into normalcy: Past identifies his problems and makes him acknowledge those problems. Present identifies his current lifestyle and his pathos, and alternatives he can take to his current lifestyle choices. And Future explains how it leads to a negative space. That's... Just alcoholism counseling.
EDIT: A major plot point in the movie is Scrooge doubting the ghost of his business partner, because he worries of food poisoning. "There is more gravy than grave to you, good sir.". Scrooge doesn't have the money to buy properly preserved and safe food, he's immediately fully expecting potato blight hallucinations because of his buying habits. Look at ANY rich person... Even the ones who "totally live like normal people" ain't buying moldy potatoes to save a few cents.
And "It's a Wonderful Life" is actually the story of the bank bailouts
Ofc thats his only take away, not that older people sometimes need to open up a little to younger people even if they are grumpy/depressed. And if an entitled twat like him comes along that surely wont happen.
..is that Patrick Stewart?
He used to do a performance reading in New York every year. In 2001 he did it for free to help people get over 9/11.
Yes from the 1999 TV adaptation of A Christmas Carol.
How edgy. Crapping on a beautiful classic story
$5 Timmy? What do you need $2.50 for?