| Jacob Marley |
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Marley was the business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge . Earlier, both men had Apprentice d in business and met as Clerk s (presumably in Accountancy ) in another business. The firm of Scrooge and Marley was a Nineteeth Century Financial Institution , probably a Counting House , as Marley refers to their offices as 'our money-changing hole'. They have become successful Banker s, with seats on the London Stock Exchange ; they are also Stockholder s and Director s of at least one major association, but a vast amount of their wealth has been accumulated through Usurious Moneylending . Both Scrooge and Marley have evolved from idealistic, ambitious clerks into astute and driven businessmen for whom money and profit is an end in and of itself. Seven years prior to the main events of the novel, Marley contracted an unspecified illness and died on Christmas Eve . After his death, Marley's spirit was condemned to walk the Earth for all eternity. As punishment for his shutting out of his fellow man, Marley's ghost could observe, but not interact with, living beings. As an added burden, his spirit was forced to drag around a heavy chain. This chain, made up partly of money boxes, was constructed by Marley's own greed and selfishness. Over the next seven years, Marley came to realize how wrong he had been in life. He also saw that Scrooge, his only friend in the world, was following the same path. Marley was able to procure a chance to help Scrooge avoid this fate by arranging the visitations of the Ghost s of Christmas Past , Present , and Future (just who or what Marley appealed to was never specified in the novel). Marley appeared to Scrooge and told him of the forthcoming visits by the three spirits of Christmas. In the animated movie Magoo's Christmas Carol, Marley makes fearsome moaning sounds when he approaches Scrooge. These spirits, Marley told Scrooge, were the only chance Scrooge had for redemption. Marley's gambit was successful. After the three visitations, Scrooge did amend his ways. The reader is left to imagine that even though Marley is condemned for eternity, his spirit can take some comfort in the knowledge that his friend will not share his fate. |
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