In the novel A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens, we are introduced to a grumpy old stingy character named Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge is visited by the three spirits of Christmas and undergoes a change of heart. The spirits visit him during his sleep and he goes on journeys through time, I think this is all part Ebenezer’s mind. Scrooge is depressed and is a schizophrenic, a person who has severe mental condition that interferes with the normal thought process, causing delusions, hallucinations, and mental disorganization. Through his schizophrenia he goes through periods of time with the “spirits”. Through his unpredictability, anger, visions, and loneliness it is safe to say Scrooge suffers from mental illnesses. Many people with …show more content…
Visions and delusions are symptoms of Schizophrenia, and Scrooge has had many visions since the beginning of the book. Scrooge imagines Marley’s face of the doorknob, and again when he warns Scrooge. Scrooge’s visions of the spirits are also an example of him saving schizophrenia. He imagines spirits who take him back through time or, his memories. Taking Scrooge back to his past Christmases and the time before he was depressed could have been just him looking back at his memories as schizophrenics have disorganized thinking. Scrooge talks to these spirits, but these spirits are in his head. It it common for patients to talk to themselves because they hear voices in their heads, another reason why Scrooge is a schizophrenic. Scrooge’s delusions could also be because of his depression. Delusions include the belief that others are trying to harm them or control their thoughts and the belief that others are sending them messages through television, computers, or other media (UXL Encyclopedia of Science).Scrooge could be having visions to change, maybe Scrooge is so depressed he wants to change and has a dream to do so. Scrooge does change through each visit from the spirits, in the beginning Scrooge is hostile and stingy, and through the visits he becomes generous and happy. But his visions were real he could touch things, well hallucinations in schizophrenic patients not are only vision, but also smell and touch, making it almost feel real. Not being able to tell if something is real can be very dangerous and could lead to panic attacks or outbreaks. After every ghost visit Scrooge is back in his bed, the bed can symbolize reality. Scrooge keeps jumping back to reality from his episodes of Schizophrenia, snapping in and out of reality every now and