A Christmas Carol: Stave 4 Summary & Analysis

The last ghost approaches, but is shrouded in a black garment so that all Scrooge can see of it is an outstretched hand and a mass of black. This figure fills him with greater dread than the other ghosts. It does not speak to him and beckons mysteriously with its hand. Scrooge guesses aloud that it is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and the ghost replies with a slight movement of its head. Though he fears the ghost, Scrooge urges it desperately to show him what it has for him.

Scrooge follows the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and suddenly they are in the midst of a street, busy with trade. Scrooge stops by a group of businessmen and hears them gossip about the long-awaited death of one of their contemporaries, whom they say is bound to have a cheap funeral. One gentleman comments that he will only go to the funeral if lunch is provided.

Scrooge looks questioningly to the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, but it just moves on to another group. Scrooge recognizes these men. This time the men merely mention the death of the mysterious man, and don’t seem to care at all. Scrooge puzzles through what he has heard. He knows that he is hearing these comments for a reason, but he can’t figure out whose death they are discussing. He waits to see himself appear in the vision, as he did in the scenes of Christmas past, but when they arrive at the corner where Scrooge usually stands, another man has taken his place. Scrooge hopes that this is because his future self has taken a new turn in life.

Scrooge realizes the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is looking at him again, and feels a new surge of terror. The ghost leads him to an infamous part of town, full of misery and crime. Here, in a grimy rag-and-bone den, they find an old man trying to keep warm in his meager lodgings. He is soon joined by three others and the group start to laugh together. The old man, Joe, invites his friends into the parlor and the three men offer to trade him bundles of things they have come into possession of after a rich man’s death. They agree that it is no sin to take these things without permission, since their owner was so unkind in life.

The first opens the first bundle and finds a few small items of not much worth. Joe totals up the value for its owner. The next woman opens her bundle and reveals some silver and fabrics. The next reveals a pair of bed curtains and blankets, which the woman says she unwrapped from the dead corpse. It would have been wasted, she adds, by wrapping him in it. Scrooge listens, appalled.

The room changes, and now in dim light, there is a bed and on top, a body, covered in a sheet. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come points ominously towards the head but Scrooge finds he can't make himself remove the cloth. The narrator recites a lesson about death—that the good-natured body cannot suffer from death and will instead “sow the world with life immortal.” This lesson is what Scrooge hears in his mind when he looks at the body, and imagines the wicked thoughts that have led him to being rich and not good. He considers the awful prospect of dying alone.

Scrooge assures the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come that he is aware of the lesson he is being taught and begs to leave, but the spirit will not rest and seems to be staring at him. Scrooge begs him to show one person who feels emotion at the death of the man. They are instantly transported to the home of a young family. The husband comes home, burdened by bad news, but he says there is hope. He tells his wife that the man they are indebted to is dead. His wife can’t help but be thankful. They don’t know who will take over their debt but it’s very unlikely that he should be such an incredible miser as the last. The house becomes a little lighter and happier for the man’s death.

But Scrooge wishes to see some scrap of tenderness to dim even slightly the terrible image of the body lying alone in that house. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come takes him to Bob Cratchit’s house, where the Cratchits are unusually silent, waiting for Bob to come home. Mrs. Cratchit is sewing but stops because the color is making her eyes tired. As Scrooge enters with the spirit he hears a phrase as if in a dream, “And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them.” Scrooge realizes that Tiny Tim has died. Bob is due home but one of the children says he’s been walking slower recently, and they all agree that he used to go more quickly with Tiny Tim on his shoulders.

At that moment, Bob enters, wrapped in his blanket. His family help him to tea and his children gather around him to comfort him. Bob is pleasant with everybody. He has been to see the place where Tim will be buried – he is pleased to find it green. He promised Tim he would walk there every Sunday. At the thought of his promise, he breaks down into tears. He goes upstairs to the room where Tim has been laid down on a bed. He composes himself, kisses Tim's little face, then goes downstairs again.

Bob then tells his family of the beautiful kindness of Scrooge’s nephew, whom he met in the street. Fred noticed that Bob looked sad and gave him sincere condolences, and sent his love to his family and gave him his address, so that they could be in touch if they need anything. Bob thinks he might even be able to get Peter, the eldest, a job. One of the other children says that Peter will soon leave them and set up with a family of his own. Bob admits that this may be so, but that they will never forget this time together, and their first loss, of Tiny Tim, and how very good he was.

Scrooge can tell that the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is about to leave him. He wants to know finally who the dead man is. The ghost takes Scrooge to his office, but they seem to be passing through it. Scrooge asks to see himself inside his house, but the spirit points in another direction. He joins the spirit again at the iron gate of a churchyard, a wretched, lifeless place.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come keeps pointing, now it is clear that he is directing Scrooge to one grave in particular. Scrooge desperately asks whether the things the spirit has shown him can be changed or whether they are set in stone, but the spirit only points with more determination. Scrooge goes to the gravestone indicated by the spirit. It is neglected, and Scrooge's own name is inscribed on it. Scrooge cries out, knowing that he is the dead man on the bed, alone and unloved. He gets down on his knees before the spirit and begs him to reassure him that an altered life will produce an altered fate. He vows to honor Christmas and learn all his lessons. He catches the spirit’s hand, and squeezes, and the spirit floats down into the ground and disappears.