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Ghost of Christmas Present
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The Ghost of Christmas Present is a character in one of the best-known works of the English novelist Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.
The Ghost of Christmas Present was the second of the three spirits (after the visitation by Jacob Marley) that haunted the miser Ebenezer Scrooge, in order to prompt him to repent. It transported him around the city, showing him scenes of festivity and also deprivation that were happening as they watched. Among those they visited were Scrooge's nephew, and the family of his clerk, Bob Cratchit. The spirit also shares a vision of Tiny Tim's crutch, carefully preserved by the fireplace. Scrooge asks if Tim will die, and, quick to use Scrooge's past unkind comments against him, suggests "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population" — reflecting Scrooge's earlier comment to two charitable solicitors.
The spirit also reveals to Scrooge two emaciated children, clinging to his robes, and names the boy as Ignorance and the girl as Want. The spirit warns Scrooge, "Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.", underscoring the book's social message.
According to Dickens' novel, the Ghost of Christmas Present appears to Scrooge as a large man with a red beard and fur-lined green robe. He carried a large torch, made to resemble a Cornucopia, and appeared accompanied by a great feast. He was given to outbursts of laughter. He could change his size to fit in any space.
The Ghost of Christmas Present states that he has had "more than eighteen hundred" brothers, implying that he will only exist for a single Christmas, and disappear on the stroke of midnight.