death and loss

• Death and loss are recurring ideas within A Christmas Carol. Dickens uses these ideas to underscore the permanency of death and to signal to the reader that it is never too late to change.
• knowledge and evidence

  The opening lines of the novella state: “Marley was dead, to begin with”:

  • As death normally signifies the ending of things, Dickens inverts this and instead begins the novella with a death and ends it with the rebirth of Scrooge:
  • It is Marley’s death which makes Scrooge’s transformation possible 
• knowledge and evidence

  • Dickens presents the death of Marley but there is no sense of loss conveyed:
  • His death is described in a clinical and detached manner which alludes to Scrooge’s cold character
• knowledge and evidence

  • Marley’s ghost serves as a warning to Scrooge and to the reader that everyone is responsible for their actions and will be held accountable
• knowledge and evidence


  • While Scrooge is very much alive in the novella, Dickens uses images associated with death to describe him:
  • “The cold within him froze his old features…his thin lips blue” suggests that something within Scrooge is also dead
• knowledge and evidence

  • Dickens uses the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come as a foreboding symbol of death, bringing punishment or reward:
  • While the previous two spirits were associated with light, this spirit is linked to darkness, death and concealment and is an  ominous and sombre figure
• knowledge and evidence

  • Dickens presents images of death to signify the consequences of the unfair capitalist system in which the characters exist
  • Dickens uses Tiny Tim to highlight the high levels of child mortality in Victorian England, especially for those who were poor
  • Dickens juxtaposes two contrasting images of death: Scrooge’s death and Tiny Tim’s death
  • Tiny Tim’s death highlights the poor living conditions and malnourishment experienced by many poor children
• knowledge and evidence

  • Scrooge’s behaviour towards Fred signifies his bitterness towards the loss of his former fiancée:
  • Scrooge’s annoyance at Fred’s merriment could be seen to be motivated, in part, by his resentment towards his happy marriage
• writers intention


  • Dickens is critical of the unjust capitalist system in which individuals are forced to exist 
  • Dickens aims to encourage others to look after one another and to work towards a society where all members are treated more equally and fairly