A Christmas Carol follows the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a greedy and selfish old man who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, on Christmas Eve. Marley warns Scrooge that he is in danger of joining him in an afterlife of torment if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is then visited by three spirits who show him different aspects of his past, present, and future, all in an attempt to help him realize the error of his ways and to become a better person.