Many people are more concerned with money then the well-being of others. When we make money our focus in life we cut ourselves off from people and true joy. Consequently, Scrooge does that exact thing. In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge proves that money can be the end to our humanity if we make it our main focus in life.
In the beginning of the story Scrooge has turned many people away because of the selfishness and obsession that consumes him. When Scrooge is with the ghost of Christmas past, Scrooge visits himself while he is with Belle, his former fiancée. Belle has chosen to release Scrooge from his promise of marriage because she sees that he has become infatuated with money and with his greed he would never be able to truly love her without having regrets. In the present, Scrooge has also pushed his nephew away because of greed. His nephew comes to wish Scrooge a merry Christmas, Scrooge being the miser that he is responds, "bah humbug!" Additionally his nephew has also invited Scrooge to Christmas dinner but Scrooge refuses. Because Scrooge is so engrossed by money he has pushed away people that wish to show him love and make his life more joyous. Scrooge's rapacity makes him unable to see past money and his own selfishness. .
Furthermore, Scrooge proves that being consumed with greed makes us bitter and incapable of compassion towards people. In the beginning of the story Scrooge treats his clerk terribly, he only allows him one price of coal to keep warm and the clerk is left to imagine being warm, although even that is not enough to keep him from shivering. Later, two donation people ask Scrooge to contribute to help the poor. Scrooge passionately refuses saying that the poor should go to work houses or die and "decrease the surplus population." However, the most convicting example though is when Scrooge talks to his nephew.
