He expresses the hope that these scenes of the future can be changed, and vows to incorporate the lessons of the past, present, and future into his adoption of the Christmas spirit. Scrooge finally discovers that he is the one who has died and whose death has only pleased people.

He learns that Tiny Tim has died, but the Cratchits maintain their unity and love. Scrooge does not know, however, who the man is. He shows Scrooge several scenes of people discussing someone's death no one seems pained by the death, and most are happy about it. The silent, black-clad Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come replaces the other ghost. The Ghost calls them Ignorance and Want and warns Scrooge to beware of Ignorance. Finally, a ragged boy and girl crawl out from the Ghost's robes. He also shows Scrooge the party at Fred's house. The Ghost informs Scrooge that unless the future is changed, the Cratchit's crippled and good-hearted young son, Tiny Tim, will die. He shows Scrooge several current scenes of Christmas joy and charity, then shows him the Cratchit household. Scrooge goes to sleep and is awakened by the Ghost of Christmas Present, a giant with a life span of one day.

Scrooge shows newfound emotion when revisiting these scenes, often crying from identification with his former neglected self. The Ghost shows Scrooge scenes from the past that trace Scrooge's development from a young boy, lonely but with the potential for happiness, to a young man with the first traces of greed that would deny love in his life. Scrooge falls asleep and wakes up to find the Ghost of Christmas Past, a small, elderly figure.

He tells him Three Spirits will come to him over the next three nights. He has come to warn Scrooge and perhaps save him from the same fate. Marley's spirit has been wandering since he died as punishment for being consumed with business and not with people while alive. At night, Scrooge's former partner Jacob Marley, dead for seven years, visits him in the form of a ghost. He rejects a Christmas dinner invitation, and all the good tidings of the holiday, from his jolly nephew, Fred he yells at charity workers and he overworks his employee, Bob Cratchit. Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly, cold-hearted creditor, continues his stingy, greedy ways on Christmas Eve.

A christmas carol short story