While How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a famous children's book in its own right, many have noted a connection between Dr. Seuss's story and the novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol, published 1843, tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly old man with a bitter attitude toward Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley, as well as the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come. These encounters ultimately transform Scrooge into a kinder person who expresses care and concern for his employee, Bob Cratchit, and his family.
Of course, Dickens's novella does not feature any scheming to stop Christmas entirely, but the characters of Scrooge and the Grinch are markedly similar. Both antagonists are known for their isolation (Scrooge initially rejects an invitation to spend Christmas with his nephew, Fred), and both characters are indelibly transformed by the end of each story. While one may not go so far as to call How the Grinch Stole Christmas an adaptation of Dickens's work, it does render some of the major themes of A Christmas Carol in a shorter, more fantastical form befitting of children's literature.
