Various posters here have made legitimate points that Scrooge's hesitation in first offering a shilling, then sort of grudgingly increasing it to two, simply demonstrates how he was so set in his old stingy ways that it took awhile for him to change and become more generous with his pocketbook.
However, Patrick Stewart's interpretation of this hesitancy, this reluctance, this taking some time to change is not true to Dickens' novel. In the book there is no indication of any such reluctance, only Scrooge's sheer joy in seeing this most 'intelligent, remarkable' boy and delight in giving him a generous compensation for fetching the prize turkey. At least I can't detect myself any hint of hesitation in the following passage from the book, so while it may be Patrick Stewart's own personal interpretation, it doesn't seem to have been Dickens' intent for his character.
Running to the window, he opened it, and put out his head. No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells. Oh, glorious! Glorious!
'What's to-day?' cried Scrooge, calling downward to a boy in Sunday clothes, who perhaps had loitered in to look about him.
'Eh?' returned the boy, with all his might of wonder.
'What's to-day, my fine fellow?' said Scrooge.
'To-day?' replied the boy. 'Why, Christmas Day.
'It's Christmas Day!' said Scrooge to himself. 'I haven't missed it. The Spirits have done it all in one night. They can do anything they like. Of course they can. Of course they can. Hallo, my fine fellow!'
'Hallo!' returned the boy.
'Do you know the Poulterer's, in the next street but one, at the corner?' Scrooge inquired.
'I should hope I did,' replied the lad.
'An intelligent boy!' said Scrooge. 'A remarkable boy! Do you know whether they've sold the prize Turkey that was hanging up there? -- Not the little prize Turkey: the big one?'
'What, the one as big as me?' returned the boy.
'What a delightful boy!' said Scrooge. 'It's a pleasure to talk to him. Yes, my buck!'
'It's hanging there now,' replied the boy.
'Is it?' said Scrooge. 'Go and buy it.'
'Walk-er!' exclaimed the boy.
'No, no,' said Scrooge, 'I am in earnest. Go and buy it, and tell them to bring it here, that I may give them the direction where to take it. Come back with the man, and I'll give you a shilling. Come back with him in less than five minutes and I'll give you half-a-crown!'
The boy was off like a shot. He must have had a steady hand at a trigger who could have got a shot off half so fast.
'I'll send it to Bob Cratchit's.' whispered Scrooge, rubbing his hands, and splitting with a laugh. 'He sha'nt know who sends it. It's twice the size of Tiny Tim. Joe Miller never made such a joke as sending it to Bob's will be!'
The hand in which he wrote the address was not a steady one, but write it he did, somehow, and went down-stairs to open the street door, ready for the coming of the poulterer's man. As he stood there, waiting his arrival, the knocker caught his eye.
'I shall love it, as long as I live!' cried Scrooge, patting it with his hand. 'I scarcely ever looked at it before. What an honest expression it has in its face. It's a wonderful knocker. -- Here's the Turkey. Hallo! Whoop! How are you? Merry Christmas!'
It was a Turkey! He never could have stood upon his legs, that bird. He would have snapped them short off in a minute, like sticks of sealing-wax.
'Why, it's impossible to carry that to Camden Town,' said Scrooge. 'You must have a cab.'
The chuckle with which he said this, and the chuckle with which he paid for the Turkey, and the chuckle with which he paid for the cab, and the chuckle with which he recompensed the boy, were only to be exceeded by the chuckle with which he sat down breathless in his chair again, and chuckled till he cried.
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amybeth68
16 years ago
I am the original poster from way back when, and I was so surprised that so many people disagreed with me...thank you so much for your reply and for including Dicken's words which truly shows what the author's vision was. You're right...it may well have been Stewart's interpretation but it just doesn't seem to work...even Michael Caine did it better with the Muppets! :)
"What is it, Sebastian? I'm arranging matches..."
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roghache
16 years ago
Thanks for replying! No, whether or not some viewers might consider Stewart's interpretation here a more realistic portrayal, I don't believe it was Dickens' intent.
I can't recall Michael Caine's take on this scene with the Muppets (though I did see it years ago) but in every other version that I've seen, the reformed Scrooge is excited and eager to give the turkey boy a generous reward!
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superbh
16 years ago
I've watched this, and many other versions of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and I consider this my favourite. This scene is, notably, strange and perhaps out of context, but consider the scene after, when he is given the Turkey. He instructs the butcher to take it Bob Cratchit's house. He tells him he must take a cab rather than walk and LAUGHS heartily as he hands over a large sum of money. In this instance, he is actually finding himself enjoying helping others. There is no hesitation here. After giving the boy his reward, he has found the joy in giving.
Hesitation is always natural when approaching something new. For Scrooge, giving is new, so naturally, he is aprehensive, even to himself. He may have been redeemed by the Spirits and shown the error of his ways, which he understands, but he still has to LEARN new things in order to amend his miserly existance.
Apologies for the long post, just needed to give my two cents, or two shillings, rather.
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roghache
16 years ago
I do see your point, superbh, but I guess this interpretation just doesn't work for me. I suppose I compare it to Alastair Sim's portrayal. It might seem unrealistic for someone like Scrooge to change overnight, so to speak, but Sim makes it seem so believable.
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