TIME AND A CHRISTMAS CAROL. I came downstairs and announced my new thoughts about A CHRISTMAS CAROL to Annalisa and Mary Jane. It encapsulates a man’s life in a single day (it preserves the classical unity of a 24 hour period). Christmas Day is for many people the one day of the year in which experiences are ritually repeated from year to year so that the details of the day—both what is familiar and what is new—are memorable and significant for them. Annalisa said that the book shows a man being offered the opportunity to live in the moment, and he responds by beginning to experience sensory details and spontaneous human emotions. I responded to Annalisa that the book turns on the moment when Scrooge discovers that there is a new day and that he is still alive. Mary Jane went to our copy of the book and read this aloud:
“He was checked in his transports by the churches ringing out the lustiest peals he had ever heard. Clash, clang, hammer; ding, dong, bell! Bell, dong, ding; hammer, clang, clash! Oh, glorious, glorious!
Running to the window, he opened it, and put out his head. No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells. Oh, glorious. Glorious!”