The Ghost of Christmas
Present tells Scrooge that he has "More than eighteen hundred" brothers, and he
suggests that Scrooge could have "walked forth," or gotten to know by some experience
with the Christmas spirit, some of the ghost's older brothers, though not the brothers who are
so very old. This makes it seem as though there is a new Ghost of Christmas Present for each
Christmas since the birth of Christ (which makes sense since he is the Ghost of Christmas
Present only).
The book itself was published in 1843,
so if the Ghost of Christmas Present is alive in the year 1843, then he would have eighteen
hundred forty-two brothers. Therefore, the spirit is asking if Scrooge has known his brothers
of more recent years, years like 1842 or 1835 or even 1820, etc. (since Scrooge seems as though
he is somewhat of an older man). This means, then, that each Ghost of Christmas Present's
lifespan is exactly one day: Christmas Day. This is confirmed by the ghost's appearance at the
end of the chapter. The narrator says,
[...] the Ghost
grew older, clearly older [....]. "Are spirits' lives so short?" asked Scrooge.
"My life upon this globe, is very brief," replied the Ghost. "It ends
tonight."
Thus, the ghost's earthly life ends when
Christmas Day comes to a close.
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