stave 1

• How is Scrooge characterized at the beginning of the novella?

  • Isolated and lonely
  • Described as 'solitary as an oyster' and 'hard and sharp as flint'
• What does the description of Scrooge as 'hard and sharp as flint' imply?


  It characterizes him as misanthropic and cold-hearted
• What key event occurs in Stave 1 regarding Scrooge's character?

  He is described as isolated and lonely
• What does Fred say to Scrooge during his visit?

  “A Merry Christmas uncle! God save you!”
• What does the 'chain' symbolize in Marley’s ghost's warning?


  • Represents Scrooge’s sins of avarice and cruelty
  • Indicates punishment in the afterlife if he does not change
• Marley’s ghost

  “I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard.

  “Without their [the Spirits] visits,” said the Ghost, “you cannot hope to shun [avoid] the path I tread.”
• Fred

  ‘His eyes sparkled’

  ‘A Merry Christmas uncle! God save you!’
• scrooge showing social injustice

  “If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” 
• marley describing humanity

  Marley’s Ghost: “Mankind was my business.”