More Scrooge at…4 in the morning. Oh Jesus Christ, let’s just get this over with already.

In Chapter 2, following Jacob Marley’s intervention with Scrooge on Christmas Eve, we are introduced to the 2nd of the 4 ghosts in a Christmas Carol: The Ghost of Christmas Past. This vibrant spectre of the holidays is clad in pure white, with glowing beams of candlelight emitting from it’s head. Out of the 4 ghosts, this one is one that plays a very crucial point in Scrooge’s interactions with the other ghosts: I invokes so many things within him about his past and views. But what about me? Self discovery is the game.

The first feeling I get from The Ghost of Christmas Past, is it’s build-up: From the start of Chapter 2, to the confrontation, the ghost is built up to heck; Scrooge knows this, he prepares himself for it’s arrival, counting to witching hour, mentally preparing himself for it’s arrival by setting up a field of view around his room from his bed: It gives us a sense of wonder, when and how will this ghost show up? Is it going to just *Poof* in the room? Creep into the view of Scrooge slowly like a mantis? You don’t know until you read. We want to know what this spectre is, and what dramatic entrance will it make. If we can expect something like Marley’s return, or something different is completely unknown. It’s investment, and relation to the reader: As Scrooge, he wants to deal with these spirits as soon as possible, but yet he fears it’s appearance. Will I see something akin to Marley, a green ghoulish phantom fettered in chains? Or something different? It invokes a sense of wonder, and thought into the reader, and into me.

Following on from my first point, once we do get our first image of The Ghost of Christmas Past, our sense of wonder gets replaced by a sense of confusion, and simple “Wait, that’s it?”, if you may. The appearance of The Ghost of Christmas Past is very peculiar: After seeing the appearance of the late Marley: Fettered by chains, groaning and ghoulish, with an eerie glow of green followed by the storm of ghosts akin to his appearance, there should be little reason to wonder why The Ghost of Christmas Past should share appearance with them, but yet it doesn’t. Rather than being dressed than it was in life, it is simply something akin to a small child mixed with a candle: Pure white cloths, adorned in holly and jolly green with a burning like hair aura of warmth. We are treated to this, not what we saw from Marley or what the ghost storm was earlier. It’s a huge contrast: From chain bounded green glowing mist men, to a candle glowing child…It’s a very odd transition, wouldn’t you agree? Or, perhaps the terminology I’m using is odd. Either way, the transition of design confuses me.

For my last point, after Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Past have their first interaction, we are then whisked away to a different environment: Why? How about we just slow down here for a second, we just met a character that is very important to the plot and development of Scrooge’s character, and there are barely any words to be said? That strikes me as kinda contrived and forced; I want to know more about this candle ghost! Not about all these smells of the country side Scrooge has forgotten for so many years. That stuff doesn’t interest me, sure, while character development is very important (So we don’t enter the “CreepyPasta Character Development” borderlines, although most of them are bland and perfect, go insane and become killers with knives), but still; Every detail ain’t necessary, I want to know who this ghost was before he/she/it died, and became a ghost: Maybe it was a candle maker, or a pyromaniac, or someone who died in a fire. THAT would be interesting to hear about, like Marley’s story of being a ghost, or the ghosts that Scrooge recognize during the ghost storm. Wine and Rock Cake ain’t working for me Dickens. Slow down with the plot is what I’m picking up from this.

Ending this in 5 in the morning. Yaaaaay, I’m going to bed.