From A Christmas Carol
Jacob Marley
Scrooge’s partner • A wandering spirit
Scrooge’s old business partner, who returns as a see-through ghost to warn him.
Who is Jacob Marley?
Jacob Marley was Scrooge’s business partner, and he has been gone for seven years when the story begins. On Christmas Eve he returns as a see-through ghost wrapped in heavy chains made of cash boxes, keys and money purses. Marley explains that his greedy choices made those chains, and he comes to warn his old friend that three spirits will visit.
Jacob Marley is a character in A Christmas Carol, the 1843 novel by Charles Dickens, retold for ages 6–9 by Sean Lee.
What is Jacob Marley like?
- Solemn
- Regretful
- Caring
Jacob Marley’s story
The story begins with the words that Marley was dead, as dead as a door-nail. For seven years he has been gone, and Scrooge, his only friend and only mourner, was not much cut up about it. Yet on Christmas Eve Marley’s face appears in Scrooge’s door knocker, and later that night his ghost walks right through the door and into Scrooge’s room, dragging a long chain.
The chain is made of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers and heavy purses. Marley tells Scrooge he made it link by link in life, and that Scrooge’s own chain is even longer, since it was growing all those years. Marley is sad that he cared only for business and never for people. He says mankind should have been his business, along with kindness, mercy and charity.
Marley cannot rest and can only watch others he cannot help. He has been allowed to come back for one reason: to give Scrooge one last chance. He tells him to expect three spirits, the first when the clock strikes one. Then Marley floats out of the window, joining a crowd of mournful ghosts in the air, and Scrooge is left shaken and quiet.
“I wear the chain I forged in life”
A moment to remember
Before Scrooge even opens his door, Marley’s face appears in the brass door knocker, glowing with a pale blue light.
Family and friends
- Ebenezer Scrooge: his old business partner
- Ghost of Christmas Past: the first of the three spirits he announces
- Ghost of Christmas Present: the second spirit he announces
- Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come: the third spirit he announces
Talk about it
Marley wanted to help his friend avoid his own mistakes. Have you ever warned a friend about something to help them?
Questions about Jacob Marley
- Why does Marley wear chains in A Christmas Carol?
- Marley explains that he made the chain himself, link by link, through greedy and selfish choices in life. It shows that how we treat others stays with us.
- How many ghosts visit Scrooge?
- Four ghosts visit him: Marley, who comes first, then the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.
- Why does Marley visit Scrooge?
- Marley comes to warn Scrooge that he is headed for the same sad fate. He wants his friend to have a chance to change.
Read the story in
A Christmas Carol
Ages 6–9, 72 pages
