In the allegory A Christmas Carol, Dickens presents the supernatural as inescapable psychological and moral interventions, that prove that fear and empathy together can reform even hardened characters such as Scrooge ultimately demonstrating that the psychological barriers between the rich and the poor can be destroyed and that they can live in harmony together thus destroying Malthusianism. Dickens uses the most important ghost - Marley as a catalyst for Scrooge' change and redemption throughout the play as without his original intervention, he would have refused to believe in the ghosts that showed him the truth. He states "I wear the chains I forged in life" suggesting that Scrooges fate mirrors his own if he refuses to accept change. The chains are a psychological representation of the sins that are committed in the living world that have to be carried for the rest of eternity in the afterlife. Dickens purposely uses the chains to encourage Victorian society to follow Christian teachings and to not commit sins otherwise their will be divine punishment in the afterlife. Thus through the use of the most important ghost Marley, Dickens presents the profound impact that the supernatural has on Scrooge. Dickens uses the ghost of Christmas past in order to show Scrooge how happy his life was before it was consumed by greed for wealth and that wealth caused Scrooge to lose key human relationships. Belle states: "another idol has displaced me" an idol is an object that is worshipped that people often make sacrifices for in order to please it. In this case, the idol is money and that Scrooge has sacrificed his humanity in order to please his own hunger for money. Through the use of the supernatural, Scrooge sees how money manipulated him from his once happy self into a lonely miser. Dickens intentionally shows Scrooges past to the Victorian society to demonstrate that the upper class are mere shells of who they once used to be because they sacrificed their own humanities for money and that the poor should not aspire to be like them. Scrooge embodies the cruelty of the upper class and is a microcosm for the upper class and through the use of the supernatural, presents how the upper class just like Scrooge can also change. for example he is described as "As solitary as an oyster" the lexis of solitary suggests that Scrooge has been forced to be lonely due to unknown forces and it creates a parallel with prison - just as prisoners are put into solitary confinement due to bad behaviour Scrooge is also alone in his dark room despite being surrounded by wealth. The oyster, is a symbolic representation of capitalism and it suggests that his love for money has caused Scrooge to be confined without any human relationships because of the sacrifices he has made in order to obtain money however through the use of the ghosts which are microcosms of the supernatural his hardened shell has been slowly cracked throughout the allegory until it finally broke towards the end revealing his more empathetic and caring self. Through the transformation of Scrooge by the supernatural acting as catalysts he demonstrates there is good in even the worst people if they follow Christian teachings of kindness and virtue. Overall, Dickens uses the supernatural as catalysts that helped Scrooge transform from a character that was hated by Victorian society to a character that was loved through their visions which they gave Scrooge which taught him that human relationships are more important than money.