Scrooge appears irredeemable in the novella, because the anecdotes describing his callous and bad behavior are more numerous and dramatic than those described after his transformation. The majority of the first stave was written by Dickens to show the reader Scrooge’s horrible nature. In Stave One, Scrooge is approached by two gentleman canvassing for charitable donations, of which he declines to donate. In an appeal to emotion, the gentlemen then inform Scrooge that many of the poor would rather die than subject themselves to the governments assistance. In response Scrooge says, “If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” Many of the memories presented by the Ghost of Christmas Past reinforce this