scrooge stave 1

• ”eternal heat and cold had little influence on him”

  • Scrooge’s internal apathy and yearning for isolation is so omnipotent, that it even effects how nature interacts with him
  • the isolating bubble has has cast around himself is so strong, even nature’s natural processes are prohibited from affecting him
• “warning all human sympathy to keep its distance”

  • the diction warning has connotations of danger, this could be illustrative of how Scrooge sees human sympathy and interaction as a danger to his solemn and isolated existence
  • he would rather willing ostracise and isolate himself from society then have to face and deal with human emotion as he is emotionally conservative
• words for scrooge

  • parsimonious
  • frugal
  • misanthropic
  • apathetic
• “are there no prisons? … and the union workhouses?

  • malthusian views- scrooge does not feel regret/remorse for the inevitability of poverty
  • rhetorical question - he is questioning why he is morally inclined to give those who willingly chose to live in poverty - he lacks compassion and understanding towards their dehumanising treatment
• “every idiot who goes about with merry christmas on his lips..”

  • his use of hyperbole emphasises how much he hates Christmas time
  • reinforce by plosive sounds in boiled and buried which makes it sound like he is ready to explode with anger such is his loathing of Christmas.
  • Scrooge hates christmas because it is a time of year where people focus on kindness and family mote than work and money which he values more highly.
• solitary as an oyster

  • emphasises Scrooge‘s isolation from human connection
  • highlights Scrooge’s greedy nature as he protects his wealth at the cost of human relationships
  • suggests scrooge has an inner goodness that will be revealed if his shell is opened, foreshadowing how he is in stave 5