My personal A Christmas Carol adaptation gripe is that Fred is usually glossed over, if not completely ignored, during the finale. Like, I get it: you need to wrap things up quickly, and the Cratchits are important, we all want to know their lives will be better and Tiny Tim will live. But Fred represents a form of reconciliation that's as important to Scrooge as his newfound benevolence.
Fred is Scrooge's only living relative, the only child of his late younger sister Fan, who we see only briefly but who the young Scrooge obviously loved very much. Dickens never says how or when Fan dies, but the description of her as "a delicate creature, whom a breath might have withered" leads the reader to presume she died young, and very likely as a result of giving birth to Fred (which would go a long way towards explaining Scrooge's coldness towards the young man). But even more important than their blood tie is the fact that Fred is the only person who has not completely given up on Scrooge.
Scrooge's isolation from humanity and human kindness is near-total when we first encounter him. Complete strangers recoil from his manner. His business colleagues care so little for him that they wouldn't attend his funeral. Bob Cratchit is willing to raise a glass to his employer in the spirit of Christmas, but his family is very reluctant to join in--just the mention of Scrooge throws a pall on their holiday cheer. Only Fred greets his uncle with a smile, invites him to Christmas dinner even though his every overture of kindness is met with the harshest dismissal. Yes, he laughs at Scrooge's sour disposition and miserly ways, but he has no malice in his heart for the old man, only pity--pity for a lonely, empty existence that he makes an effort to brighten in spite of Scrooge's resistance to it. And opening Scrooge's eyes up to that welcoming warmth and compassion is every bit as important as opening them to the humble poverty of the Cratchits.
When Scrooge makes amends with Bob, he is confident--confident enough to pull a small prank at his expense--because at the end of the day he is still in a position of authority and influence over him, even if that influence will now be used to better purpose. But Fred? He asks nothing, needs nothing from his uncle. Despite Scrooge sneering that he's "poor enough" he's clearly living comfortably, and doesn't expect to benefit from his uncle's wealth either during or after Scrooge's life. Scrooge knows he doesn't have a leg to stand on with his nephew; he literally told Fred to go to Hell the last time they spoke, and he accepts Fred's dinner invitation with absolute trepidation. He paces in front of Fred's house for a long time before he has the courage to knock on the door; he refuses to let the maid announce him (which would allow Fred to turn him away without seeing him); he humbly asks to be allowed to stay, knowing he has done absolutely nothing to deserve it, knowing Fred could throw his "I'll see you in Hell" back in his face and not a single person would blame him for it.
But Fred doesn't. Fred welcomes his reformed uncle with open arms and open heart, makes him a part of his Christmas joy as if he'd always been there. And that shows Scrooge that he can accept the generosity of others as well as being generous himself, that the past he cannot change can still be forgiven, that it really isn't too late to live a better, fuller, happier life than the one he had. For Scrooge, such compassion must seem as miraculous as any ghost or spirit.
So let's hear it for nephew Fred, a man so full of Christmas cheer that there's room in his heart even for Ebenezer Scrooge.
