A Christmas Carol quotes and analysis

• This boy is ignorance...most of all beware the boy"-Stave 3-Ghost of Christmas present

  Metaphor. Representing Victorian society. The two children Ignorance and Want represents the attitudes of the rich to the poor in Victorian society. Dickens considers ignorance the worst, because it leads to want. Most of all beware ignorance because it leads to want.
• "Golden sunlight; heavenly sky"-Stave 5-The End of It

  Pathetic fallacy.
• "It was cold, bleak, biting weather"-narrator-Stave 1-Marley's ghost


  Pathetic fallacy.
• "Have they no refuge or resource?" (Stave 3) The Second of the Three Spirits


  We can see that Scrooge has gone through a huge amount of redemption, directly contrasting to his words in Stave 1 to the charity collectors "are there no workhouses?" and "are there no prisons?". Prisons in Victorian times were for people in debt and could not pay. Dickens' father was sent to a debtors prison because he was in debt. Dickens himself had to work in a factory because his father was in a debtors prison. Workhouses were deliberately
• "A solitary child, neglected by his friends" (stave 2)


  A description of Scrooge as young boy-he was left alone at school as others enjoyed their holidays. Adjectives "solitary" and "neglected" highlight his feelings of loneliness and isolation, therefore we feel sympathy for him. It also explains why he becomes "hard and sharp as flint" later on.
• "I can't afford to make idle people merry" (stave 1)

  Scrooges words to the charity collectors as he refuses to give charity.Adjective "idle"- reveals Scrooge believes the poor are lazy and to blame for their own situation. This mirrors the Victorian rich's attitude to the poor. Because poor people were thought to be lazy, workhouses were deliberately bad
• "Solitary as an oyster" (stave 1)


  Shows us that he's lonely and doesn't want to associate or communicate with anyone. This is also telling us that Scrooge traps his feelings up inside and refuses to open up to anyone. Additionally, it's also foreshadowing change. Since there's pearls inside oysters, it's foreshadowing change and a journey of redemption for Scrooge in the bildungsroman novella.