> In Charles Dickens' 1843 book A Christmas Carol, how many ghosts visit EbenezerScrooge?And the answer: 4. Photo courtesy: Sotheby's.In A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is an elderly miser who is visited byfour ghosts: the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, andthe Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, as well as the ghost of his former businesspartner Jacob Marley. By the end of the book, Scrooge is transformed into akinder and gentler man.While Christmas Carol remains a well-loved staple of the holiday season eventoday (certainly owing special thanks to its 24 movie adaptations), CharlesDickens' story grew out of a very specific moment in history. In the early tomid-nineteenth century, a quickly industrializing England swept into its fervora slew of underpaid and desperate workers. While the population of cities grew,so too did unskilled manufacturing lines, bringing with it a desire for low-pay,low-stakes work. Unfortunately, in times like the "Hungry '40s," it was oftenchildren who who would work for the least. After reading a government report on child labor in 1843, Dickens was stricken.The conditions were rough for children workers, and yet such 11-hour days wereconsidered ordinary. While the author initially considered publishing a pamphletto raise awareness and stir compassion for unfair labor laws, he was moved towrite a novel instead. In A Christmas Carol, characters embody the traits ofIgnorance, and Want, while ghosts warn of the troubles brought by an apatheticexistence. In the end, Tiny Tim proclaims around a full dinner table, "Merry Christmas,every one!" While Scrooge's heart is lightened (and laden with the warnings ofthe ghosts), the message rings true in the hearts of readers everywhere. Howeverand wherever we may, this Christmas season is as good a reason as any to takewith us such lessons of kindness, compassion, and respect for one another.