Charles Dickens Day
Today marks 322 days until Christmas leaving just 45 weeks until the big day. It is also the 204th birthday of Charles Dickens, who was born on this day in 1812.
The name of Charles Dickens can hardly be said these days without thinking of Christmas. While his career spanned decades with volumes of legendary written works it is his story of A Christmas Carol that keeps his name on the lips of Christmas lovers everywhere.
The young life of Charles Dickens clearly influenced both the story and the message of A Christmas Carol. He lived a tough existence during a time when little thought was given to child labor laws. The poor of Great Britain were a central theme to the story and that story was tempered by Dickens’ experience working sometimes 15 hour days as a child in a factory. With his father serving in debtors prison life was hard for the Dickens family and it under these circumstances that he shaped social views that were clearly on display in the classic Christmas tale.
His writing career was a bit of a roller coaster and the Christmas ghost story of A Christmas Carol is legendary for actually saving his career. Indeed, it can be said that Dickens came very much to be like Scrooge in that he ended his life as an enthusiastic celebrant of Christmas, often telling the story of Scrooge in dramatic readings that he would stage all over the world.
