Ghost of Christmas Past

• role in novella

  • to show Scrooge's past memories
  • change form to represent memories
  • make Scrooge remember what it is like to have people who cared about him
• Scrooge's reaction


  'desired to see the spirit in his cap'

  • 'desired' - adjective - really wants to
  • 'spirit in his cap' - put the spirits light out - suppress the memories, put away from his mind - foreshadows the later incident at the Belle memory
• Scrooge's reaction

  'I should like to say a word or two to my clerk just now'

  • shows the start of his transformation
  • 'I' - personal pronoun - shows how Scrooge feels he needs to speak to Bob
  • 'word or two' - hints at an apology
  • 'my' - possessive personal pronoun - shows how he hasn't fully changed but is noticing how he is wrong
  • 'clerk' - noun - shows how he doesn't have a personal connection with Bob
  • 'just now' - shows how he has only just realised how badly he treats Bob after seeing how Fezziwig treated him
• 'like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man'

  • simile
  • 'child' - noun - suggests innocence, youth - from the Stave title, we know its about the Past - child = Scrooge's past when he was a child
  • ':' - colon - pause - shows how Scrooge is taking in the ghost
  • 'not so like a child' - contradiction - shows confusion - makes reader confused as they are reading and receiving the same information as Scrooge
  • 'old man' - reflects Scrooge now - shows how his past made him who he is
• 'being diminished to a child's proportion'

  • 'being' - verb - general term - not just Scrooge doing it
  • 'diminished' - verb - shrunken dramatically - makes the importance of the ghost smaller - people don't think their past is important so the diminish their memories
  • 'child's proportion - makes reader think it is small - Dickens does this to show how people metaphorically shrink their past to forget it
• 'tunic of the purest white'

  • 'tunic' - noun - simple clothing, people cover up their path simply to forget it
  • 'purest white' - innocence untouched, memories are untouched as people refuse to reflect on them to grow - both = adjective
• 'branch of fresh green holly'

  • 'branch' - noun - extended part of a tree - the holly extends the ghost
  • 'green' - adjective - healthy, natural, growth - foreshadows Scrooge's transformation
  • 'holly' - evergreen, never dies - once Scrooge is transformed, he will never go back to his old, greedy ways, - they ghosts presence will always be felt

  links to next Ghost 'on its head.... a holly wreath'
• 'crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light'

  • 'crown' - royalty - memories rule a person as they are past experiences - Scrooge was poor when he was younger and is scared to be poor again
  • 'sprung' - verb - energy
  • 'bright' - adjective - blinding, hopeful
  • 'clear' - adjective - Scrooge can see his past clearly now - nothing is stopping the memories
  • 'jet of light' - 'jet' - shows strength, power - 'light' - hope, new beginning - like a sun rise
• 'its arms were very long and muscular'

  • contrast the child-like proportions
  • 'its' - dehumanises
  • 'very' - exaggerates
  • 'long' - shows length - the past is very long
  • 'muscular' - adjective - the past can be intimidating
• when at Belle's - 'Why do you delight to torture me?'

  • 'you' - pronoun - Scrooge is blaming the ghost but it is his past - he put himself in this situation and therefore he is 'torturing' himself
  • 'delight' - Ghost is happy to see Scrooge's transformation - Scrooge doesn't realise he is changing
  • 'torture' - noun - extremely violent - seeing the memory of Belle is physically painful for him - shows importance of Ghost, even thought it hurts, we still have to look at our pasts
  • 'me' - personal pronoun - still self obsessed
  • '?' - rhetorical question - Scrooge is confused as to why he has to look at this memory when it brings him so much pain
• Fezziwig quotes:

  • 'he has spent but a few pounds of your mortal money'
  • 'a small matter... silly folks so full of gratitude'
• school boy ; 'solitary child, neglected by his friends'

  • 'solitary' - adjective - alone,
  • 'child' - creates sympathy as Scrooge is young and vulnerable and has no one to look out for him
  • 'neglected' - blunt, ignored, shows how Scrooge didn't always choose to be this isolated, sometimes it was forced on him
  • 'friends' - adjective - describes the people he is with but contrasts their actions as it isn't friendly to neglect someone - shows how Scrooge finds it hard to trust people - he is scared they will leave - damages relationship - Belle, Fred
• 'Scrooge pressed down with all his force, he could not hide the light'

  • 'pressed down with all his force' - Scrooge is trying to put the cap on the ghost to hide the memory of Belle - 'all' - adjective - he is trying his hardest - 'force' - he is putting is effort to not remember the memory = painful
  • 'pressed down' - action - he deliberately forgot this memory as it caused so much harm to him
  • 'could not hide the light' - no matter how hard he tried, Scrooge couldn't help but relive the memory and realise his greed ruined his engagement - 'hide' - verb - doesn't want to see it - 'light' - hope, emotion, happiness