The Hidden Story Behind A Christmas Carol

Most people in the Western World are familiar with the classic Charles Dickens story of A Christmas Carol. A Christmas Carol has been made into plays, comics, and many movies including one with the Muppets and even one with Mickey Mouse and pals . What people may not know is that A Christmas Carol has a deeper and sometimes darker story to tell then the story of a bad man turning good. In fact while A Christmas Carol is a story of conversion of a man it is a story of conversion of a different kind

One of the first signs that this story is not what as it appears at first glance is the occupation of Ebenezer Scrooge who is a money lender/financier. During the time the book was written the only people who were legally allowed to be moneylenders or financiers were Jews because of religious observation over usury laws. From this we can see that Mr. Scrooge was in fact Jewish which makes this story possibly anti-Semitic in nature especially since Mr. Scrooge is so negatively viewed and his love of money was a common caricature of Jews at the time and at time when Jews were highly disliked for their love of money when moneylender financier families like the Rothschild's were at the height of their power and disdain.

Because Jews were the only ones to legally participate in financial trades the modern stereotype of Jewish people being good with money has come into existence. Jewish people had few options for making a living; performing arts like theater that many countries forbid Christians to perform in, medicine, and business were also against law and custom for Christians to take part in for various reasons. So in fact the Jewish people have a long tradition of performing such jobs. Because these are jobs that may not be easy to get involved in having family in the practice has given Jewish people a helpful hand in entering these occupations.