Why did Ebenezer Scrooge become crotchety and selfish?

Asked by Kardamom (33292) December 28th, 2018 from iPhone

Short version: why was Scrooge such an asshole, while Fezziwig wasn’t?

Long version:
I love Charles Dickens’ story A Christmas Carol, and have read the book, and have seen many movie versions, and many animated versions, and even listened to the book being read, on Youtube last night.

When you hear the name Scrooge, most people automatically think of a stingy, mean old grouch. But the story unfolds and tells the entire life story of Scrooge. He starts out as a sad, lonely little lad, then becomes a happy young man when he is apprenticed to Mr. Fezziwig, and falls in love with Mr. Fezziwig’s daughter Isabelle.

He sees Fezziwig as a kind, and generous man, even though Fezziwig is rich, but when Ebenezer, himself, becomes succesful financially, he takes a turn for the worse, and becomes selfish and mean.

What happened to Scrooge at that point? Fezziwig, with his monetary success was happy, and giving, and kind, so it could not have just been all about the money. What happened to Scrooge? Are we missing a scene in the story? Why didn’t he simply follow Fezziwig’s example?

It is not until the end of the story that Scrooge is made to see the error of his ways, and how much his own kindness could make a difference in the lives of other people. He had to be forced by ghosts to take a hard look at his life, and the impact that his choices made on other people.

Meanwhile, old Fezziwig was fat, and rich, and happy, and kind, and generous. He didn’t need three spooks and a dead co-worker showing up at his house in the middle of the night.

To what do you attribute the difference in the way that these two men treated people, when they were in a similar position?

This is what Scrooge finally figures out (decades later) about good old Fezziwig. Scrooge says, “He has the power to render us happy, or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil. Say that his power lies in words and looks; in things so slight and insignificant that it is impossible to add and count ‘em up: what then? The happiness he gives is as great as if it cost a fortune.”

Why couldn’t Scrooge see what seems to be obvious, until he was forced to by the insomniac spirits?