stave 4

• keywords:

  • Proleptic death, economical language, dehumanised, exposed, neglected, devalued, eternal damnation, allegorical.
• Dickens uses prolepsis (hints of what will happen in the future) to create Scrooge to have a proleptic death.
• Dickens resents the ever-growing Victorian capitalist notion of business being central to society and particularly to an individual.

  • Hence, he uses economic language around Scrooge's death to highlight that Scrooge's focus on being "a good man of business" has caused his solitary and sombre death.
• Ironically, the businessmen who use this economic language are not understanding the consequences of being infatuated with money:

  • "What has he done with his money?"
  • "Cheap funeral"
  • "Marketing the corpse"

  Mrs. Dilber uses this too: "to profit us when he was dead!"
• This is ironic as in Scrooge's life his money caused him to treat the poor in a dehumanising way, however, in his death he is dehumanised by only referring to him in economic terms.

  • His value as a human is lost to his value as an emblem of money.
• Mrs. Dilber is metaphorically used to trivialise being enamoured (obsessed and love) with money.

  • Scrooge's focus on materialism was futile as even his simple privacy of having "Bed-curtains" in his death was stripped of him as nobody cared for his existence.
• The ghost reveals "a bare, uncurtained bed" on a "ragged sheet".

  • The image of exposure is highlighted through "bare" and "uncurtained" suggesting Scrooge is exposed in his death, his money failing to protect him when he is no longer alive.
• The ghost reveals "a bare, uncurtained bed" on a "ragged sheet".

  • "ragged" connotes neglect and this is exacerbated through his neglected grave being "overrun by grass and weeds".

  The image of neglect, paired with the image of death and decay, highlights how Scrooge in his death has been devalued and forgotten - his uncompassionate nature is physically reflected in his uncared-for grave.
• Scrooge's grave is neglected by being "overrun by grass and weeds".

  • "overrun" presents the "grass and weeds" as having more vitality and life than him.

  This is a mockery of his materialistic driven life as he is now become even more insignificant than the decaying plants that surround his grave.
• The exclamative sentence of it being "a worthy place!" is a form of karmic retribution.

  • Scrooge's frugal and miserly existence has been justly punished.
• A victorian reader would seek comfort in Scrooge's justly punishment due to their strong religious beliefs.

  • The idea of eternal damnation and judgment from God was one of the most fearful ideas that pervaded society.

  As Scrooge gets a justly punishment, it would reinforce the warning that being full of covetousness (desire for weath) will lead to eternal damnation from God.
• Scrooge understands that his dire and bleak future is imminent, as well as the bleak future that the Cratchits will be subject too if he does not transform.
• Scrooge despairs at the idea he is "past all hope" so commands "Hear me! I am not the man I was".

  • The imperative phrase "Hear me!" shows Scrooge's desperation to be allowed a chance at redemption and salvation.

  The exclamative sentence compounds this desperation as he is shouting and pleading at the ghost.
• Scrooge's realisation marks the climax of the allegorical novella as he says:

  • "I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The spirits of all Three shall strive within me."

  The personal pronoun "I" reinforces Scrooge taking personal responsibility for his injurious (likely to cause damage or harm) actions.
• "I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The spirits of all Three shall strive within me."

  • The concept of "three" could be a biblical allusion to the three different forms of God within the holy trinity: the father, the son, and the holy spirit.

  This could emphasise how the three ghosts almost acted as incarnations of God himself - relaying a moral and religious message that penetrated deeply within Scrooge.