Scrooge is a miserly, cruel employer who treats the father of the Crachit family cruelly everyday but particularly on Christmas Eve. After finally allowing him to leave for the night, Scrooge heads home. Along the way he shouts angrily at poor people and at his nephew who invites him to dinner. Once home, he falls asleep only to be awakened by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future who torment him with visions. It is the Ghost of Christmas present who takes Scrooge to view how the Crachit family celebrates Christmas. Here Scrooge sees how despite the family's poverty, they enjoy celebrating Christmas as best they can with joy and love for one another. Scrooge appears both baffled by the family's happiness and to soften at this point, remembering some of the things he has said to Crachit and how he has treated him. Scrooge sees frail, sickly Tiny Tim and asks the spirit if Tim will live. The spirit warns that unless his life changes and he has better conditions, he will die. This appears to bother Scrooge a great deal. He is obviously distressed by it and protests the spirit's words. The spirit reminds Scrooge that in the past, he has wished that the sick would just die and decrease the population. As they move on with the spirit of Christmas future, the image of the Crachits and Tiny Tim remain with Scrooge who continues to be distressed by what he has seen of Tim's illness.
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