stave 3

• Stave 3 is a clear turning point for Scrooge as he is displaying genuine emotions of remorse, compassion, and empathy.

  • His emotional change is clear with his use of imperatives: "Tell me if Tiny Tim will live".
• Scrooge's use of imperatives, paired with the verb "cried", highlights his catharsis (an emotional release) as he is so overcome with guilt due to his blatant disregard and ignorance of the plight (unfortunate situation) of the destitute - this being personified through the Cratchits.
• Scrooge's use of imperatives juxtaposes his earlier use of impolite imperatives;

  • He is now commanding to know about the well-being of others as he is developing benevolence and solicitude (kindness).
• Dicken's anti-Malthusian tale is clear within Scrooge's exchange with the ghost.

  • The ghost emulates Scrooge's heartless Malthusian view:

  "If he be like to die, he had better to it, and decrease the surplus population".

  • This resulting in Scrooge being "overcome with penitence and grief".
• Scrooge feels intense remorse as he has seen the physical effects of his blissful ignorance towards the plight of the poor.

  • Tiny Tim is a microcosmic for the victimisation of poor children because individuals like Scrooge who view them as an inconvenience in society.
• Social commentator, Dickens ensures his readers are reflective of their contribution to social ills and if their ignorance allows the mistreatment of the poor to commence.

  • Most significantly the victimisation of children.
• Scrooge shows respect and is receptive to the ghosts teaching.

  • He says "Forgive me if I am not justified in what I ask"

  This has biblical undertones of asking for salvation and forgiveness from God - "forgive me, Father, for I have sinned".

  • Scrooge appears to be understanding his need to be cleansed of sin - he uses the spirit, perhaps an incarnation of God, to be aided with this.
• Scrooge appears submissive to the ghost, open and welcoming the idea of his moral and spiritual awakening.

  • He, for the first time, shows remorse and obedience to his teachings: "Scrooge entered timidly, and hung his head before this spirit".
• The asyndetic list "ivy, turkey, game, poultry, brown, meat, pigs, sausages, oysters..." creates an image of abundance and excessive wealth.

  • This could compound how Scrooge is in the financial position to afford these luxuries and yet takes them for granted.
• However, as these foods all "vanished instantly" it could allude to how these materialistic luxuries only provide an ephemeral (temporary) amount of joy:

  • They are meaningless in the face of love and benevolence.
• Structurally, this presentation of abundance is before the destitute Cratchits.

  • This is used by Dickens as an indictment (criticism) of the access to abundance the rich have while the poor are left to suffer.
• The use of "oysters" in the asyndetic list mirrors Scrooge's earlier depiction of being "solitary as an oyster".

  • This symbolises Scrooge containing his internal moral 'peral', the repeated reference could suggest that this concealed moral nature is slowly being brought to the surface.
• [ Ignorance & Want ] Dickens makes Scrooge (an extension of the ignorant rich) meet the dehumanised poor for a sense of justice for his readership.

  • The rich are being forced to recognise how they are perpetuating the treatment of the lower classes.