Final answer:
Scrooge's childhood is depicted as lonely and isolated, with him spending Christmas alone and becoming the miserly adult due to the lack of familial warmth and social interaction.
Step-by-step explanation:
The childhood of Ebenezer Scrooge, as described in Chapter 2 of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, is illustrated through a series of melancholic memories revealed during the visit of the Ghost of Christmas Past. Scrooge is portrayed as a lonely child, neglected and isolated from his peers, spending Christmas alone at boarding school. Textual evidence paints a vivid picture of young Ebenezer reading alone by a feeble fire, suggesting both his intellectual curiosity and the emotional coldness of his environment. These experiences helped shape Scrooge into the cold-hearted miser he became as an adult. The lack of familial warmth and social interaction during his formative years contributed significantly to his emotional detachment and frugality.