stave 1

• "Hard and sharp as flint"


  • Simile compares Scrooge to a stone, indicating he is static, emotionless and difficult to change.

  • The comparison "flint" also suggests he has the potential to spark fire and warm up as he becomes philanthropic and more socially responsible
• "Are there no prisons?... And the union workhouses?"

  "Decrease the surplus population."


  • Scrooge's reaction to the charity collectors serves as a microcosm for the upper classes' relationship with the rest of society.

  • His Malthusian views are prevalent and he believes the poor should be punished for being lazy - "prisons"

  • Scrooge is unable to see the poor with any humanity, instead, he sees them as sole numbers and statistics contributing to the "surplus population", which lambasts the wealthy for looking at the world through a monetary lens.

  • Scrooge questions why he is morally obliged to give, which gives the contemporary reader an insight to the reason why they lived in a destitute society - the rich do not believe it is their duty to be charitable.
• "Solitary as an oyster."


  • The simile emphasises Scrooge's isolation and misanthropic nature

  • "Oysters" are calcified, hard, and irregular in shape, which shows that Scrooge holds on tightly to everything he has; he is frugal, tightly closed, and will not be prised open unless by force.

  • Foreshadows his change, as oysters contain pearls, which hints at goodness being buried deep under his hard brittle shell.
• "Fog and darkness thickened"

  "Piercing, searching, biting cold."


  • The weather is a motif for Scrooge's mindset throughout the novella, typically changing alongside Scrooge.

  • Pathetic fallacy resembles the bleakness of the protagonist

  • Contextually, the fog in London killed hundreds of people. Here, Dickens may be alluding to how, just as the weather has the ability to destroy lives, the rich posses this same power - heighted by the conceit of the bitter weather.

  • Dickens also personifies as it is "piercing, searching, biting cold.". The power of nature may be an allusion to the forthcoming supernatural powers in the novella.
• "dismal little cell"


  • Adjectives ‘dismal’ and ‘little’ remind us that Bob represents the exploited worker who works in terrible conditions. The noun ‘cell’ establishes those in poverty are trapped through no fault of their own.

  • This hints at a sense of entrapment, as Bob Cratchit physically and metaphorically is unable to escape the "cell" or poverty - links to Tiny Tim's iron frame.
• "cold" "blue" "froze" "frosty"


  • Semantic field of cold = Scrooge as misanthropic, embodying Malthusian views: he is selfish, cruel, and avaricious.

  • The imagery links to death and foreshadows his inevitable punishment if he does not change.

  • Lack of social responsibility has made him look grotesque and unapproachable - reinforced that his internal apathy and detachment is so omnipotent, it alters his physical appearance.

  • His internal cold-heartedness has created a "frosty rime" on his head - every inch of Scrooge's being is tainted by his distant attitude, further ostracising him from society.
• "Squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner."

  • Asyndetic listing highlights his frugality.

  • 7 negative adjectives mirror the 7 deadly/cardinal sins, which in the Bible are seen as the root of all evil. As the foundations of Victorian morality was religion, the parallels between Scrooge and sins are used by Dickens to show that the rich are more sinful than the poor - 1834 Poor Law

  • Dickens inverts the idea that the poor are sinners, instead highlighting that the rich are immoral.

  • "Squeezing" and "wrenching" connote to a struggle, reinforcing how Scrooge struggles to assimilate into society. Alternatively, this is a criticism that the upper class do not endure any struggles, yet create struggles for the poor.
• ‘all in a glow’

  ‘sparkling eyes’

  ‘breath smoked’

  ‘ruddy and handsome’


  Semantic field of warmth and light introduces Fred as the antithesis to Scrooge. He emits light, and therefore goodness, and helps to represent Dickensian philanthropy.

  Adjectives ‘ruddy’ and ‘handsome’: Fred acts as a foil to Scrooge and his description is juxtaposed with Scrooge’s: Fred is happy and exuberant –

  Christmas and family give him life. He is associated with warmth and reminds us that genetically Scrooge has this ability in him too
• I wear the chain I

  forged in life’

  ‘Mankind was my

  business’

  ‘A ponderous chain


  Industrial verb ‘forged’ reminds us where Scrooge and Marley made their money. There is a sense that this has been physically created and is their own, personal responsibility.

  The symbol of the ‘chain’ is a physical manifestation of Marley & Scrooge’s sins and greed that they are forced to ‘wear’. The

  adjective ‘ponderous’ reveals the large size of Scrooge’s own sins and subsequent punishment . The reference to ‘business’ reveals that it is a foolish notion that business should be financially driven