Ghost of Christmas Present

• role in novella

  • symbolise generosity
  • show Scrooge the present Christmas
• Scrooge's reaction

  • Scrooge 'obeyed' the ghost - ghost has control over him - he is below the ghost - dehumanises
  • Scrooge follows the light - he is drawn to the change he is about to experience
  • changes as he asks about Tiny Tim - 'no, no ... o no kind! spirit say he will be spared'
• 'Glowing torch not unlike Plenty's horn'

  • 'glowing torch' - bright light - shows hope and happiness - Scrooge is drawn to the light which means he is drawn to the happiness
  • 'Plenty's horn' - ancient Greek / Rome - symbolises abundance as it was usually full of food
• scrooge - 'Conduct me as you will... let me profit off it'

  • 'conduct' - dehumanises Scrooge - he allowing someone else to take charge of the situation (contrasts when with Marley) - shows he is changing
  • 'me' - he doesn't want control of himself
  • 'you' - he's giving the ghost full control over the situation
  • 'profit' - still not completely changed as he still uses money terminology
• 'die, he better do it and decrease the surplus population'

  • 'die' - blunt, emotionless, mirrors Scrooges language
  • 'better do it' - makes reader question Scrooge and his views
  • 'surplus' - too much - links to money in business - saying too many people is expensive
• 'This boy is Ignorance. The girl is Want'

  • personifies Ignorance and Want - creates empathy for the poor children who are effected
  • 'boy' , 'girl' - implies innocence, youth
• 'Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?

  • mirrors Scrooge's language from Stave 1
  • 'workhouses' - where poor people were sent due to the Poor Law to get them off the streets
  • 'prisons' - debtors prison which Dickens father had to go to meaning him and his family went to workhouses
  • makes the reader feel as though the institutions is wrong for sending these vulnerable people into these terrible environments
• 'on its head... holly wreath'

  • 'holly' - links to the last ghost
  • 'wreath' - crown - Religious reference - Jesus wore a crown of thorn
• 'but no sword... the ancient sheath was eaten up with rust'

  • 'but' - conjunction - Scrooge is confused
  • 'sword' - connotates with violence - the ghost brings no violence
  • 'ancient' - old
  • 'eaten up' - personifies the rust
  • 'rust' - dirt, brail, out of use, abandoned - ghost doesn't use it
• 'the walls and ceilings, living with green'

  • 'walls and ceilings' - surrounding
  • 'living' - alive
  • 'green' - natural, life, innocence
• 'mighty blaze' (chimney)

  • 'mighty' - Scrooge has to follow the light - its all he can see
  • 'blaze' - light - God, heaven - symbolises the gateway to heaven - light = hope and happiness
  • light is the ghost offering love - ghost's = cheerful and full of love
• 'heaped up to form a kind of throne'

  • 'heaped - abundance - there is lots of it - rich
  • 'throne' - power, ruling, Kings
  • the throne is made of food - food rots and degrades down - this shows how the monarchy will eventually die (like rotting) - power is temporary