Marley made the chain himself in life and wore it as a punishment in death
Marleys chain is made from steel purses, ledgers, cashboxes, keys, and his office materials.
The chain in Charles Dickens' novella "A Christmas Carol" is made up of the items of greed and selfishness that Jacob Marley accumulated in his lifetime as a heavy burden to him in the afterlife. It represents the weight of his sins and acts as a warning to Ebenezer Scrooge to change his ways before it's too late.
Jacob Marley was doomed to wander the earth for eternity as "pennance" for his evil treatment of humankind while he lived. Charles Dickens describes his punishment by providing the visual context of the great chain Marley wears when he appears to Ebeneezer Scrooge. The chain has many items attached, including money boxes, to symbolize those things that were most important to Marley. Marley declares that Scrooge's own chain was every bit as "long and ponderous" as Marley's a full seven years previously when Marley died. Scrooge's only chance for redemption, then, appears to be a full repentance from the greed and avarice of his life's work, and a new and honest interest in the affairs of others.
Marvin (the tallest one) wears the cross chain as a special symbol
Marley expresses his remorse by telling Scrooge that he wears the chain he forged in life and believes it now weighs him down in death. He also regrets not doing more to help others while he was alive.
Marley's chain was made out of heavy cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel. These items symbolized the burdens and sins that Marley carried in life, weighing him down in death.
a heavy rusty chain that he forged in life . the chain is made up of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel
It was forged by aspects of his life
The chains that Marley wear symbolize all the mistakes that Marley made when he was alive. Built from the same mold as Scrooge, he was a miser and is warning Scrooge that if Scrooge doesn't change he will carry around these same chains but longer because Scrooge has lived longer than Marley. These chains are like the sins you have in your conscience. It is a burden. Marley says "I wear the chain I forged in life. I made link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?" Marley anguishes his mistakes and doesn't like the chains, he has learned to live with his mistakes and knows he can't change them. To make a long story short, the chains symbolize mistakes and are a warning to Scrooge to change so he can escape the fate of Marley's.
Bob Marley forged a partnership with Ebenezer Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol". After his death, Marley appears as a ghost to warn Scrooge about his miserly ways and the consequences of his actions.
It was a chain he forged in life that contained all the things important to him such as replica safes, keys, money bags and ledgers - He tells scrooge that because he ignored mankind's plight in life he wares the chain as a self-imposed punishment for his eternal torment. He further advises Scrooge that his chain was that same size as the one he wears seven Christmases again and Scrooges in now seven time bigger and more ponderous
Jacob Marley