Did Scrooge or Marley deserve eternal damnation?
-
Navaros — 9 years ago(December 09, 2016 11:15 PM)
it is now Scrooges's responsibility to take care of Tiny Tim's illness?
Yes it is,
because Scrooge caused Tiny Tim to die
in the original reality, by way of not paying Bob enough money to purchase proper medical care for Tim. -
jsk32870 — 9 years ago(January 06, 2017 03:29 PM)
I understand where you are going with this, however, it really does not make a lot of sense.
Put yourself in a similar situation. Pretend you have a sick child and you can't afford to pay for his or her medical care on your current salary. Do you sit by for the next year, wait for the child to die, then shrug your shoulders and say, 'oh well, my boss wouldn't give me a raise, so, sorry about that kid. It's all his fault.'
I'm not even going to ask if you would actually agree with that, because morally, you just can't.
You can certainly make the argument that Scrooge
should
have paid Bob more and, had he done so, Bob could have afforded better treatment for Tim. But it is seriously weak to suggest there was nothing else that could be done to address the situation other than Scrooge opening his purse-strings, and therefore, Scrooge and Scrooge alone is to blame. Bob can look for another job. Bob can look for a second job. Peter can look for a job, or the Mrs. perhaps, the kids appear to be getting older. Or perhaps Bob can check with the solicitors who were collecting donations at the beginning of the film. Let me repeat: YOUR KID IS DYING. What wouldn't you do, or try to do, to remedy this situation? Blaming it on your boss and his miserly ways is morally unacceptable, I'm sorry. Especially since Scrooge is well known for being a miser, Bob was fooling himself if he thought that Scrooge was going to be paying a lot when he took the job. I'm sure Scrooge's reputation preceded him long before Bob was even hired.
Scrooge has the
opportunity
to help and chooses not to, that is his sin. Marley even says at one point "Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused! Yet such was I!"
But it is not Scrooge's
responsibility
to get help for Tim, that lies with Bob as the parent. Opportunity and Responsibility are two different concepts. -
Big_AL-96 — 9 years ago(December 03, 2016 12:48 AM)
There is a very you good book that follows the story of Jacob Marley from child to death and hos time as a spectre.
In the book when he meets Scrooge he offers him a job but states that being engaged to a poor girl is not conducive to his business etc, so begins the process of bitterness. In essence Marley moulds Scrooge. He becomes more anti social and bitter than Marley, through Markey's guidance. On his deathbed at the end he realises the great ill he has done Scrooge and tries to tell him to change but all he manages is "we were wrong".
On passing he is saved, but he pleads with the spirit to allow someone to help Scrooge see the error of his ways. Marley is told he will have the fate of walking the Earth for this favour and if Scrooge does not repent he too will meet that fate that he was destined for.
I will not mention how it ends for Marley but it is a good read written in the style of Dickens and gives a good slant on the story, interweaving essential parts.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jacob-T-Marley-William-Bennett/dp/1609079159/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480754420&sr=8-1&keywords=Jacob+t+Marley
Let's pray the human race never escapes Earth to spread its iniquity elsewhere. C.S Lewis -
-
elena-28 — 9 years ago(December 15, 2016 10:36 AM)
Two cents concerning the OP's observation:
As his nephew points out Scrooge's own worst enemy is himself. He does himself far worse damage than he does to anyone else. The things he does to set himself right at the end do not seem to be that desperate or drastic.
My take is that, to be one's own worst enemy is, indeed, a terrible thing, and one that reverberates through every action and thought. It affects your health, your energy, your outlook, and yes, what happens to the people who come within your orbit.
If Scrooge had not changed, this would have been the last year of his life, as well as the last year of Tiny Tim's. He would have left no legacy, emotional or otherwise, by which he would have a positive impact. He would have been alone in his last moments. His business, which he devotes his energy and life to, would have gone to other hands or disappeared (or maybe it would have gone to Fred, but the implication is that Fred and he have severed ties for good).
Changed Scrooge, because of his brighter, more energy-admitting outlook, lives years longer than he would have otherwise. He is healthier, happier, more invigorated. This reflects in what happens to everyone around him (most drastically, Tiny Tim, of course). Cratchit's work probably improves greatly, if only because his fingers won't be turning blue at the office. His business will likely be run differently: more negotiations with clients; recommendations from these clients to go to Scrooge for a fair shake at a loan (being generous and optimistic doesn't mean being an idiot). He may decide to be able to employ more clerks, instead of only Bob, which will create more employment. When he dies, he will probably leave the business to Fred, secure in the fact that he will have left behind something that people will remember and thank him for.
So, I do believe that yes, being his own worst enemy is a terrible thing. To himself. And by extension, to the people around him. By being his own enemy, he is damned because he has damned himself. -
Big_AL-96 — 9 years ago(December 22, 2016 01:31 AM)
It does somewhat, but it was Marley's influence (according to this book) that made Scrooge the person he became and Marley realises that he has damned Scrooge to eternity because of him.
If you don't want to know the end of the book don't read the spoiler below.
Because of the repenting of Scrooge and the change in his ways and the unselfish act of Marley, he is also redeemed (again)
Let's pray the human race never escapes Earth to spread its iniquity elsewhere. C.S Lewis