Paul Hines

Phantasmal Compassion in A Christmas Carol

Everyone thinks they know the iconic spirits from Charles Dickenss A Christmas Carol.
The tale of Ebenezer Scrooge is one that is well-known to many and The Ghost of Christmas
Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present, and The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come are characters
that have become icons of pop culture through various adaptations of the story through various
forms of media. These spirits appear to the miserly Scrooge and aim to assist him in changing his
ways and becoming a better man. Each of the specters is eerie in their own way and yet
ultimately all of them aim to help Scrooge. In such a well-known and beloved tale it is easy to
overlook some of the more minute details in the depiction of the iconic ghosts. Perhaps none are
so overlooked as is The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, the spirit of the simplest, clearest, and
most consistent depiction through varying adaptations of the story. In order for Scrooge to be
truly undergo a change of heart he need be both shaken from his old ways through sheer terror
and guided by true compassion. These important qualities can be seen in all three of Scrooges
spectral visitors, but it is The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come who exemplifies them in the most
powerful manner.
Even in Dickenss time the classic English personification of Death as a figure cloaked in
black and hidden beneath a dark hood had been around for centuries. Traditional depictions
embody Death as a terror-inducing being of total mystery. Dickens plays off of this image with
his description of The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. The spirit is first described:
It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form,
and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand. But for this it would have been
difficult to detach its figure from the night, and spate it from the darkness by which it was
surrounded.

He felt that it was tall and stately when it came beside him, and that its mysterious
presence filled him with a solemn dread. He knew no more, for the Spirit neither spoke
nor moved. (63)
Much like image of the grim reaper, The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come is entirely bathed in
blackness. The spirit is hardly discernable from the darkness around it in a way that makes the
ghost, like death, extremely mysterious and frightening. At one point Scrooge looks upon the
spirit and shudders before feeling very cold (66). Later when Scrooge sees the body of a
deceased man he thinks directly of the classic personification of Death; he thinks of cold, cold,
rigid, dreadful Death (70). Both The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come and Death are described
as dread-inducing and both are related to coldness, furthering the connection between the two.
Although Scrooge is remarkably slow to pick up on it, this appearance also serves the purpose of
foreshadowing Scrooges grim fate in the future that the ghost shows. Only when brought into a
graveyard does Scrooge begin to understand the meaning of the ghosts appearance; the
phantom was exactly as it had been, but he dreaded that he saw new meaning in its solemn
shape (75). At the end of their time together Scrooge sees the truth in the spirits appearance and
is filled with an intense fear at the realization. While the earlier ghosts did have their own
unsettling elements, The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come stands out as the most horrific looking
by invoking the image of death itself. The frightful image of The Ghost of Christmas Yet To
Come is one of the key sights that scares Scrooge out of his old ways and onto a more righteous
path.
Appearance says a lot, but The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Comes actions speak even
louder than its looks. At a glance it easy to see this grim reaper doppelgangers actions as adding
more to its creepiness than anything else. That is not a disagreeable point; several of the spirits

actions do add to his terrifying aura. Upon first meeting Scrooge the phantom is ominously
described as approaching like a mist along the ground (63) and the spirits total silence
throughout the encounter certainly does not make it the most settling of company. Still, looking
closer into many of The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Comes actions readers can see something
that is easy to overlook; the spirit possesses care and compassion for Ebenezer Scrooge. The
gaze of the spirit is one very important element. Soon after meeting with his latest ghostly
companion Scrooge becomes aware that behind the dusky shroud, there were ghostly eyes
intently fixed upon him (64). These hidden eyes at first make the ghost more unnerving, but
they come up again. Later when Scrooge scans his surroundings for any sight of his own future
self he suddenly becomes aware of the fact that the Unseen Eyes were looking at him keenly
(66). Scrooge is reasonably unnerved by this, but it is not so clear why the spirit stares at Scrooge
so in this moment. While the old miser sees it as a scary act, a later passage perhaps adds another
layer to the scene. The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come brings Scrooge before the body of a
recently deceased man and silently bids the old man to uncover the body and look upon the
corpses face. Scrooge pleads with the previously adamant spirit to avail. Scrooge tells the ghost
that he has not the power to unveil the face and again it seemed to look upon him (71). While
the spirit remains still and quiet as ever, the fact that it does not actually make Scrooge uncover
the body implies that the look was one of pity. Knowing how to story plays out the spirits earlier
glances can gain a new meaning. While Scrooge searched in vain for his future self it is
reasonable to assume that the spirit, knowing the futility of Ebenezers searching, may in fact
have been looking upon its companion with compassion rather than malice.
The most defining aspect of The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come is its constant
unrelenting insistence on sticking to its plan. The phantom never speaks a word to Scrooge; it

communicates solely by pointing a finger on its lone exposed limb. The spirit points Scrooge
from place to place and uses its finger to indicate which people in the vicinity are the important
ones. The stern hand is used throughout Scrooges encounter with The Ghost of Christmas Yet To
Come and at various points is described as steady, inexorable, unmoved, and
immovable. These descriptions further the novels effort to portray the ghost as an
uncomfortable presence. However two major moments show that there is more the ghost than
simple scare tactics. Soon after meeting Scrooge the generally unmoved ghost allows for a
break in its journey. Scrooge is very frightened to travel with the phantom and finds it difficult to
travel with it. The novel then reads: the spirit paused a moment, as observing his condition, and
giving him time to recover (64). While the spirit generally appears dead set on its own
intentions, it does have this noteworthy moment of thoughtful notice. In giving the frightened
man a chance to compose himself, The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come shows compassion and
care. The second break from the spirits usual stern pointedness comes at the climax of the novel.
The hooded figure brings Ebenezer to a graveyard and points the man toward his own grave and
in doing so shows Scrooge that his future is merely to die alone and unloved. The ghost points
toward the grave solemnly. In spite of Scrooges terrified cries the specter stays immovable as
ever (75). As Scrooge pleads the finger remains steady. However Scrooges terror only gets
worse as he desperately clings to his companion in hopes of some form of comfort. Then, for
the first time the hand appeared to shake (77). The ghost attempts to remain steady but clearly
something begins to shine through as Scrooges pleas do not fall on a deaf hood. The old mans
desperation becomes more apparent as Scrooge falls to the ground before The Ghost of
Christmas Yet To Come and begs for hope. Then the kind hand trembled (77). The final
adjective used to describe The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come is perhaps the most important.

For the first time in the novel Dickens describes the spirit with a positive connotation. No longer
does the ghost possess a stern and foreboding hand. Rather, the hand is now kind and trembling
out of what is implied to be compassion and pity for Scrooge.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, like the other ghosts in the novel, is an entity rife
with purpose. All of the ghosts both terrify Scrooge and show him kindness, but none are as
carefully depicted as is The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. The final spirit to visit Scrooge
possesses the most frightening appearance yet also displays the truest compassion for the man it
aims to aid. The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come finishes what its brethren started by sternly
terrifying Scrooge away from his grim fate. And yet, it is clear that this does not stem from any
ill intentions, but rather from true compassion and care. Only by scaring Scrooge to the point of
such desperation that even the spirit itself cannot help but waver in its otherwise authoritarian
manner can The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come put Scrooge on the right path. The Ghost of
Christmas Yet To Come appears in the novel for less than fourteen pages and speaks no lines of
dialogue whatsoever, yet Dickens still masterfully manages to give the character a real implicit
depth and to imbue every detail of the spirit with meaning and importance, making the depiction
of the final spirit the strongest representation of the forces needed to change the heart of
Ebenezer Scrooge.

Works Cited
Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol. A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books. DouglasFairhurst, Robert. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. 9-83. Print.