Saturday, September 5, 2015

Can you comment on the relationship between utilitarianism and compassion in A Christmas Carol? What are the differences and the similarities?

The theory of utilitarianism posits that the moral course of action is that which benefits the greatest number of people. At the risk of muddling the issue, one can cite the father of the theory of utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham as articulating this central point:


“By the principle of utility is meant that principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question: or, what is the same thing in other words to promote or to oppose that happiness. I say of every action whatsoever, and therefore not only of every action of a private individual, but of every measure of government.”



Basically, then, doing good for the benefit of mankind is moral; doing bad or remaining neglectful of the common good is immoral. That’s a bit of an over-simplification, but it should suffice for purposes of the current discussion.


Charles Dickens, in describing the existential transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge from that of miserly, bitter old man to joyful, munificent gentleman, has presented in his protagonist the personification of the theory of utilitarianism. As A Christmas Carol begins, Scrooge is presented, as noted, in the most negative of terms, as a “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner.” An extension of Scrooge’s personality, Dickens emphasizes, is the bleakness of the atmosphere that encompasses the town he inhabits. Read, for example, the following passage from early in Stave I in which Dickens describes this emotionally-toxic environment created by Scrooge’s temperament:



“Once upon a time—of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve—old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already . . .”



Winter in England is, in fact, cold and bleak, but Dickens has made a point of depicting the bleakness of the English winter as an extension of Scrooge’s personality. Contrast this depiction of Scrooge with that of his nephew, who merrily greets his miserly old uncle in a manner more befitting the season:



“‘A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!’ cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge’s nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach. ‘Bah’ said Scrooge, ‘Humbug!’ He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge’s, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.”



Basically, Dickens has begun his story by emphasizing the unhappiness and all-around dreariness of the atmosphere in a town financially dominated by the exceedingly uncharitable Ebenezer Scrooge (“No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle”). Scrooge’s business practice and philosophy towards life in general has condemned his sole employee, Bob Cratchit, to a life of destitution, Bob’s son Tiny Tim seemingly destined to die for want of the financial resources that only Scrooge possesses. In other words, the greater good is sacrificed at the altar of Scrooge’s bank account and disdain for those less fortunate than himself.


Now, contrast those images with the transformation that Scrooge experiences as a result of his dream, in which he is visited by, first, his late business partner Jacob Marley, and then by the three spirits representing past, present and future. Having seen the error of his ways, and the distraught with which he greets the suggestion that he is destined to die alone, forgotten and certainly unloved, Scrooge instantaneously undergoes a miraculous transformation into a joyful, generous person eager to spread his wealth for the benefit of the greater good—the ultimate manifestation of utilitarianism. Note, for example, Scrooge’s sudden willingness to materially improve the lives of Bob Cratchit and his family. In dispatching a young boy to the local butcher’s shop to purchase the largest turkey available, Scrooge now relishes the opportunity to have this magnificent bird delivered anonymously to the same Bob Cratchit he previously deprived of physical warmth through his control of the coal supply within his office:



“I’ll send it to Bob Cratchit’s!” whispered Scrooge, rubbing his hands, and splitting with a laugh. “He sha’n’t know who sends it. It’s twice the size of Tiny Tim. Joe Miller never made such a joke as sending it to Bob’s will be!”



Additionally, Dickens now emphasizes the effects of Scrooge’s new-found generosity on the wider world:



“The chuckle with which he said this, and the chuckle with which he paid for the Turkey, and the chuckle with which he paid for the cab, and the chuckle with which he recompensed the boy, were only to be exceeded by the chuckle with which he sat down breathless in his chair again, and chuckled till he cried.”



Scrooge’s change in temperament and outlook has now translated into greater distribution of wealth to incorporate the world beyond his walls, including the cab driver and the aforementioned young boy. More, Dickens now presents Scrooge has bestowing joy upon all those with whom he comes into contact, even when that joy may be at his own expense. Scrooge has, in the early sections of the story, repeatedly expressed disdain for the notion that one could be happy despite being financially poor. He ridicules his nephew and Bob for their joyful demeanors during the Christmas season despite the fact that both exist on the opposite end of the economic spectrum from him. It is his sudden generosity upon waking form his sleep, however, that most noticeably connects financial resources to happiness, as when Scrooge encounters the gentleman he has earlier dismissed with typical disdain for the latter’s request of provisions for the poor. Scrooge is now more than happy to contribute financially to the cause of those less-fortunate them himself.


As A Christmas Carol approaches its ending, the atmosphere in the town has brightened.  Scrooge has turned a new leaf, so to speak, and the entirety of the community he inhabits has benefited from his transformation. Dickens includes the following passage to illuminate the transformative effects of his protagonist upon the world around him:



“He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset. . .”



If the theory of utilitarianism posits that the decisions or actions that benefit the greater good are those that are most moral, then Scrooge’s transformation has demonstrated the validity of that theory. He has experienced a fundamental metamorphosis from angry, bitter and miserly to happy, optimistic and generous, and Dickens makes clear that this change has been for the greater good.

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