The story is simple. Ebenezer Scrooge has lost his only friend, his business partner Jacob Marley. Seven years have passed since Marley's Christmas death, and Scrooge has not changed a bit. He still refuses to give to the poor, suggesting that for them perhaps the only place better than prison is the grave. He still only grudgingly gives his employee Christmas day off, and he still refuses his nephew's offer of Christmas dinner. He dismisses the whole holiday as a "Humbug."