Marley is unlike the rest of the characters who find solace at the end of the story, for he is destined to spend the rest of eternity wandering the world as a chained phantom as punishment for his selfishness and greed in life. Marley comes to Scrooge as a phantom and tries desperately to warn his business partner to change his ways or he will end up a chained phantom as well saying, "You have labored on [your chain] since. It is a ponderous chain!"
One of Marley's first hints of forthcoming to Scrooge begins with the ringing of a bell. As the story is written, "[Scrooge] threw his head back in the chair, his glance happened to rest upon a bell, a disused bell, that hung in the room, and communicated for some purpose now forgotten with a chamber in the highest story of the building."
This quote is key because it suggests the coming of a servant of a higher power, one of another world; the phantom of Marley. For the bell's intention in the house was for it to be rung when a servant was called upon, and in this case, Marley appears soon after.
As Marley foretells of the coming of three spirits, and Scrooge embarks on his journey of reform, one must wonder what will happen to his loyal servant, Jacob Marley?
After all, Marley's loyalty spans beyond life into his death when he says, "I have sat invisible beside you many and many a day." One would hope that such loyalty would be rewarded with an appeasement of his suffering.
As with many conditions in life, Marley's character perhaps serves as a brutally honest mirror to the human race, especially when he says, "Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunities misused!"
Still, Marley serves his purpose to this day, causing readers of A Christmas Carol to reflect on their own lives and heed the warning of the consequences of "life's opportunities misused."
Dover Thrift Editions: A Christmas Carol
Image from BBC
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