christmas carol

• "Solitary as an oyster"


  Scrooge's isolation - an oyster has connotations of wealth, like Scrooge, but the pearl inside could be material or spiritual. Scrooge must open up to show us this, linking to the theme of generosity and sending out one's spirit.
• "I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute."


  Fred is the embodiment of the Christmas spirit. He still has sympathy for Scrooge, even though his uncle is miserly and cold towards him.
• "Are there no prisons?"


  A rhetorical question illustrating how unwilling Scrooge is to let go of any of his money: he sees the workhouses and prisons as an obvious solution for the deserving poor.
• "A poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty-fifth of December!"


  The plosive ps here emphasise the way Scrooge spits out his words, because he is so hateful towards Bob - because he has to pay Bob. He sees no positives to Christmas time, which causes the reader to ask why.
• "Again the spectre raised a cry, and shook its chain and wrung its shadowy hands."


  This is a striking image - Marley is forever tormented by his greed in the afterlife, and shows to Scrooge a possible fate. This links to the Christian idea of heaven, hell and purgatory.
• "From the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light,"


  The image of light conveys the spirit's illumination of Scrooge's past - knowledge. 'Jet' suggests that it is determined, which we see later on. When Scrooge extinguishes the Ghost, he is shown to want to be ignorant - but this is because he now sees his flaws.
• "A lonely boy was reading by a feeble fire;"

  This mirrors the way Scrooge sits by a low fire now. The sibilant 'feeble fire' draws attention to this isolated image.
• "And wept to see his poor forgotten self as he had used to be"


  Scrooge is capable of sympathy. Clearly, his childhood was somewhat traumatic - this subtly hints to the reader a slight explanation for Scrooge's character now.
• "In they all came, one after another,"


  Fezziwig welcomes anyone. He does not care about monetary wealth, unlike Scrooge, but cares about everyone having a good time at Christmas. He serves as a role model to Scrooge.
• "He has the power to render us happy or sad,"


  Scrooge recognises Fezziwig's status-caused influence. This is satirical and ironic, because Scrooge doesn't yet realise that he also has that power.
• "the master-passion, Gain, engrosses you."


  Gain is personified as if it is a romantic rival for Belle. Verb 'engross' connotes obsession.
• "Leave me! Take me back. Haunt me no longer!"


  Scrooge uses three imperatives - he doesn't want to see anymore, not because he doesn't want to learn, but because he can see that so much is wrong with him. Also exclamatives. This contrasts how he persists in shooing others away in Stave One.
• "Its capacious breast was bare,"


  'Capacious' means roomy, so the Ghost bares all to everyone because there is space. This shows openness and generosity - the Christmas spirit.
• "An antique scabbard; but no sword was in it,"


  The spirit is very powerful, but chooses not to use it in a negative way. Contrasting this, Scrooge uses his money to make people's lives worse, for example, Bob, or the deserving poor.
• "His white comforter dangling below his waist"

  This shows us Bob's poverty: literally, as he has no great coat like Scrooge (a symbol of status); 'dangling below his waist', however, implies that Bob is a very small man, which symbolises his lack of power and contrasts Scrooge.
• "Nobody said or thought it was at all a small pudding for a large family."


  The Cratchits do not even consider focusing on their lack of funds at Christmas time, but make do with and enjoy what they have, emphasised by 'at all'.
• "If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."


  The spirit echoes Scrooges earlier words, but applies them to an individual so that Scrooge sees the people he was referring to. Scrooge is ashamed, and we see how much he has changed.
• "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to the old man, whatever he is!"


  Again, it doesn't matter to Fred what sort of person Scrooge is: he is family, and he sympathises with him.
• "a stale and shrivelled hand [...] had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds"


  Ignorance and Want: the hand is perhaps a personification of poverty, tarnishing the image of youth and innocence these children should have. This would have been very striking to the Victorian reader.
• "They are Man's,"


  Mans selfishness has produced these children, and though extreme the most likely exist. They do not belong to any individual, but it is society's responsibility to bring them back to health and wellbeing.
• "I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will..."


  Marley is emphasising the consequences of Scrooge's selfish actions in the afterlife - but the chain could symbolise how his greed and fear restricts him too. The verb "girded" suggests security. It is clear that the chain is a result of Marley's deliberate actions, too.
• "I hope to live to be another man from what I was,"


  Scrooge has changed, basically. There could be emphasis on the 'live' part, since the GOCYTC looks like the grim reaper.
• "Avarice, hard dealing, griping cares? They have brought him to a rich end, truly!"


  Scrooge recognises his own flaws without realising that the body is him, so this is seriously ironic - but it shows how much he has changed. "Rich end" obviously satirises the way he was wealthy, but everyone hated him for his greed.
• "I am very happy," said little Bob, "I am very happy!"


  We don't really know whether Bob is happy or not, but we know that his emotions are strong from the exclamative. Tiny Tim's death is a consequence of Scrooge's avarice, and as he is an innocent child would be incredibly persuasive to the Victorian reader. The adjective "little" further appeals to our sympathy.
• "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."


  When Scrooge realises that he is the dead body, he is determined to make things right; he recognises his impact on others and not just the consequences in the afterlife, vowing with the certain modal "will" to keep Christmas all year - this meaning, of course, the charitable Christmas spirit.
• "Will you let me in, Fred?"


  Scrooge has overcome his fear, and approches Fred on Christmas day, who, characteristically, welcomes him with open arms - though an interrogative shows that Scrooge is not sure, perhaps because he is aware of his past wrongdoings. If someone as wicked as Scrooge can do this, then so can the Victorian reader.
• "Good morning, sir! A merry Christmas to you!"


  The exclamatives show Scrooge's excitement to send out his spirit - this directly contrasts Stave One, where he enjoyed his isolation and avoidance of everyone on the street.