The tale begins on a "e;cold, bleak, biting"e; Christmas Eve exactly seven years after the death of Ebenezer Scrooge's business partner Jacob Marley.

Scrooge is established within the first chapter as "e;a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!"e; who has no place in his life for kindness, compassion, charity or benevolence.

He hates Christmas, calling it "e;humbug,"e; refuses his nephew Fred's dinner invitation, and rudely turns away two gentlemen who seek a donation from him to provide a Christmas dinner for the Poor.

His only "e;Christmas gift"e; is allowing his overworked, underpaid clerk Bob Cratchit Christmas Day off with pay - which he does only to keep with social custom, Scrooge considering it "e;a poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty-fifth of December!"e; Returning home that evening, Scrooge is visited by Marley's ghost... (Excerpt from Wikipedia)