Ebenezer Scrooge experiences significant change from the beginning of a Christmas Carol to the end, although this change is not sudden. It occurs as the story progresses, and we see this in each episode with the Christmas Ghosts.
Stave I: At the beginning of the story, Scrooge is a heartless, cold, and uncaring man. He hates Christmas, the people who celebrate it, and anyone and anything that is not his money.
When Marley visits him...
Ebenezer Scrooge experiences significant change from the beginning of a Christmas Carol to the end, although this change is not sudden. It occurs as the story progresses, and we see this in each episode with the Christmas Ghosts.
Stave I: At the beginning of the story, Scrooge is a heartless, cold, and uncaring man. He hates Christmas, the people who celebrate it, and anyone and anything that is not his money.
When Marley visits him on Christmas Eve and warns him of the ghosts to come, we see for the first time that Scrooge actually had a friend at one point. He even had one who cared enough about him to try to change him now! So, there is slight foreshadowing here that Scrooge will be reminded of the man he once was.
Stave II: The Ghost of Christmas Past arrives and takes Scrooge to his old school where he remembers how lonely he used to be; then he is taken to Fezziwig's, where he remembers how wonderful his boss was to him; and finally, he sees himself and Belle breaking up because he is too greedy. All of this makes Scrooge sad. We see that he IS capable of emotion and hurt. These are all instances that either bought him joy or pain, and this is the first time in a long time that he has felt any of these emotions.
Stave III: The Ghost of Christmas present takes him around London to Fred's house and to the Cratchits. This episode helps Scrooge to see happy family life and reminds him that he is not a part of either of them. He also sees Tiny Tim is crippled and is concerned for him. He wonders if he will live. This is a different Scrooge already from the one at the beginning who would not have cared about Tiny Tim's ailment and may have even viewed him as a burden.
Stave IV: Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come shows Scrooge a group of people talking callously about a man's death (that he later finds out is how own), and he sees that Tiny Tim has died. Finally, he sees his own gravestone. He realizes he died a lonely and miserable death and no one will mourn him. This is contrasted with how sad everyone is about Tim being dead. This is the biggest revelation for him to change him.
Stave V: At the end of the story Scrooge has changed completely from someone selfless to generous. He wants to share his wealth with others rather than to hoard it. He finally realizes he cannot take his money with him when he dies and he does not want to die alone and with no one having cared that he was gone. This shows that he wants to not only live life, but be a part of the lives of others - something he actively shunned at the beginning of the story.
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