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The narrator describes Scrooge as “Hard and sharp as flint.” His appearance matches his character, with cold-looking, pointy features. He keeps his office cold, not even heating it at Christmas time. Consequently, everybody who comes into contact with Scrooge avoids him.

In Stave 1 of "A Christmas Carol," Dickens introduces Scrooge as a wretched character. He is wrapped up in his work and cares nothing for the needs of others. He is rude and demeaning to his nephew, cruel to his employee, and self-congratulatory about his disdain for Christmas and those who celebrate it. He symbolizes the members of the upper-class who built their wealth by taking advantage of a large pool of workers who had no laws to protect them.

At the beginning of the novella, Scrooge is presented as a cold-hearted miser. This is evident when it says, “Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge!