Mr. Dickens And His Carol

Fog is a motif that used to drive The Search for Inspiration and The Essence of the Christmas Spirit. Within the context of the novel, fog represents the mental block that prevents Charles Dickens from finding inspiration, and it also evokes the trauma and frustration that have robbed him of his Christmas spirit. When Dickens goes to London to find new inspiration, the fog is described in such a way that it alludes to the ghostly presences that haunt A Christmas Carol, for the narrative states:

‘It was a bludgeoning, hairy mist, he thought, like a prowling thief that would follow on your heels, knock you over the head, steal your thoughts, chew them up, and spit them out right in front of you, tiny particles scattering away on the brackish air. It was just the right weather for chasing phantoms about town’ (73).

Significantly, the fog appears whenever Dickens has difficulty finding inspiration during his solitude, and it clears when Eleanor first appears and lifts whenever he gains inspiration or feels more joyful. Likewise, the fog reappears whenever his writer’s block returns and he is overcome with frustration at his many problems.