The message that Dickens is communicating through Marley is that you must be a good person while alive, or else it will hurt you in the afterlife. Marley tells Scrooge, “Or would you know the weight of the strong coil you bear yourself” (Dickens, Pg 22). In this part of the stave, Marley has appeared to Scrooge wearing a chain of wrongs that he has committed in his mortal life, that are hurting him in his afterlife. Marley is telling this to Scrooge because Scrooge’s “chain” is greater than Marley’s, because of all of the wrongs that he has committed. He also tells Scrooge that their chains were the same length when Marley died, but Scrooge’s chain has expanded greatly since then. “No rest, no peace. Incessant torture of remorse” (Dickens,