The Ghost of Christmas Present is the strangest one
And the only one who laughs
Past is a flickering, unsettling thing with a light coming out of its head. Future never speaks and points at a grave. And in between them Dickens puts a cheerful giant in a green robe, sitting on a pile of turkeys and fruit, holding a torch shaped like a horn of plenty.
He is the best character in the book and he is on stage for one night only — literally. He tells Scrooge his life lasts a single day, and over the course of the chapter he visibly ages, gray hair appearing, until he is gone before midnight.
He is the only one who enjoys anything
The other two ghosts conduct a case. This one eats, drinks, laughs, and sprinkles something from his torch onto people's dinners, which Dickens does not explain and is better for it.
"There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour."
That line comes during Fred's party, watching people play games Scrooge cannot join, and it is doing real work. The book's argument is not that Scrooge should feel guilty. It is that he is missing something enjoyable, and that the loss is his.
And then the children
The ending of the chapter is genuinely shocking and most adaptations cut it.
The Ghost opens his robe and two children are hiding underneath — "yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish." Their names are Ignorance and Want. The jolliest figure in the book has been carrying them the whole time.
It is the only moment where Dickens stops telling a ghost story and simply states his politics, and he puts it in the mouth of the one character who has spent the evening laughing. That is not an accident.
For the middle ghost, and the party Scrooge watched:
Questions people ask
How long does the Ghost of Christmas Present live?
A single day. He tells Scrooge so, and visibly ages across the chapter — gray hair appearing — until he is gone before midnight.
What are Ignorance and Want?
Two children Dickens reveals hiding under the Ghost's robe at the end of the chapter. It is the book's most direct political statement, and most adaptations leave it out.
Why is the Ghost of Christmas Present important?
He is the only one who enjoys anything. The book's argument is not that Scrooge should feel guilty but that he is missing something good — and that is made by a character who spends the night laughing.