Ebenezer Scrooge is a mean, miserable, bitter old man with no friends. He loves money more than he loves his neighbour and exhibits downright meanness in the consummate dismissal of the plight of the poor. One cold Christmas eve, three ghosts take him on a scary journey to make him realize his nasty ways. By visiting his past, present and future, Scrooge learns to love Christmas and the people all around him. With superb literary treatments of Christian imagery, Dickens shows there is no better analogy for the human spirit of hope, which forms the message of A Christmas Carol. Even the hardest of hearts can soften and it is truly never too late to transform despair into hope. Like Scrooge, people can change, sometimes literally overnight.