Marley

• role in novella

  to warn Scrooge about his future life if he doesn't change

  to warn the upper class about their future if they don't change
• Scrooge's reaction 


  strange - he listens to Marley - when he was in the town before Marley came, he was seen ignoring most people and being arrogant and rude to those he knew such as Fred

  shows change already as he listens to the ghost - spirit has a force over Scrooge as it induces fear in him - this suggests Scrooge already knows his weakness but feels its too late to change
• scrooge's reaction

  'I think I'd rather not'

  • 'I', 'I'd' - personal pronoun - shows how Scrooge has control of the situation - he discards Marley's warning
  • contrast when with Present and Future- 'Conduct me as you will', Scrooge bent down on one knee'
• 'Marley was dead; to begin with'

  • first line in the novella
  • makes reader have so many questions - Who is Marley?, Why is he dead?
  • ''was' = past tense - is he not dead anymore
  • 'dead' - shocks reader, they didn't expect a novella labelled Christmas Carol to start on such a depressing note - could show how Christmas is not happy for all
  • 'begin with' - implies he's coming back - clause, reinforces the first statement
• 'Old Marley was as dead as a doornail'

  • 'old' - adjective - reinforces he's dead as he is old - shows relation to the main protagonist (Scrooge) as it hints at past knowledge of the man
  • 'dead as a doornail' - simile - shows how Marley is very dead - alliteration - 'd' - the sound imitates bodies thudding to the floor which also emphasises how dead Marley is
  • foreshadows how Marley's face is portrayed as a doornail when Scrooge returns home
• 'Marley's face. Marley's face'

  • repetition - emphasis
  • shows disbelieve from Scrooge as we know Marley is dead but Scrooge is seeing his face
• 'the cellar door flew open with a booming sound'

  • 'cellar door' - noun - heavy, shows how a great force must have been used to open it
  • 'flew' - verb - shows the power behind the opening as they travelled quickly mid air
  • 'open' - leaves Scrooge vulnerable - nothing is there to protect him as the barrier (doors) have been opened - foreshadows how he is vulnerable to change
  • 'booming' - adjective - loud, noticeable - Scrooge can't escape the sound
• 'the same face : the very same'

  • 'same' - repeated - shows how death hasn't effected Marley as he was in Purgatory - could imply that the effects Marley left on those he used for money didn't die with him - they are still in debt
  • 'verb' - hints at shock - Marley hasn't changed at all - ironic as Marley has learnt his lesson - changed on the inside
  • ':' - colon - pause - Scrooge is trying to see a difference but can't - shock
• 'the chain he drew was clasped around his middle.'

  • 'chain' - forged for life - industrial revolution - hard to break
  • 'he drew' - no one helped him as he was the only one responsible for his current state
  • 'clasped around his middle' - uncomfortable - requires a lot of strength - strenuous task to hold them for 7 years
• 'like a tail... Cashboxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, heavy purses'

  • 'like a tail' - simile - dehumanises - shows how he didn't treat people as though they were people - he treated them below him
  • the list of objects -

  'cashbox' - carries cash

  'keys' - security

  'padlocks' - secrets

  'ledgers' - book of accounts

  'deeds' - money

  'heavy purses' - weight of carrying all the money

  • all have connotations of money and secrecy - shows what type of life Marley had
• 'I wear the chain I forged in life... I made it link by link and yard by yard'

  • 'I' - personal pronoun - no one else is to do/blame what he is doing/done
  • 'chain' - industrial revolution - hard to break
  • 'forged' - verb - strenuous task - easier to be nice
  • 'link by link and yard by yard' - repetition, alliteration - shows the length of the chain and how each individual experience has effected Marley
• 'Mankind was my business'

  • 'mankind' - noun - people who he manipulated
  • 'was' - shows how he has changed, he is not the person he was
  • 'my' - he felt he owned people as they took money from him
  • 'business' - his sole purpose was to make money from the poor people who needed help
  • emotionless
• 'I cannot rest. I cannot stay. I cannot linger anywhere'

  • 'I cannot' - repeated - shows how Marley is very restricted in his past life - he had too much freedom and power when he was alive - he abused it - now he has to suffer like the people he exploited
  • 'rest', 'stay' 'linger anywhere' - Pleasantries - Marley's life is now tiresome, nomadic and uncertain like the working class people
• 'Why did I walk through crows of fellow beings with my eyes turned down'

  • 'why' - questioning his life choices as he has now been set on an afterlife of pain - creates sympathy as he regrets
  • 'I' - no one else to blame but himself
  • 'crowds' - noun - emphasises how many people need help
  • 'fellow beings' - we are all one - everyone should help everyone else
  • 'my eyes' - he has control of what he see's like the rich people - they choose not too see those who need help because they are greedy - Poor Law got people off streets so they wouldn't have to deal with them
  • 'turned down' - shows how the rich neglected the poor