scrooge stave 3

• understand plight of the poor - “tell me if tiny tim will live”

  • clear turning point
  • displays genuine remorse, compassion & empathy
  • imperative: “tell me if Tiny Tim will live”
  • paired with verb “cried” highlights catharsis as he is so overcome with guilt due to blatent disregard and ignorance to plight of destitute personified through Cratchits
  • juxtaposes earlier use of impolite imperative; now commanding to know about wellbeing of others - developing benevolence and solicitude
• understanding plight of the poor - “overcome with penitence and greif”


  • anti-malthusian tale clear - emulates Scrooge’s heartless view
  • “if they die, they better do it, and decrease surplus population”, resulting in Scrooge being “overcome with penitence and grief”
  • feels intense remorse
  • seen physical effects of blissful ignorance towards the plight of the poor
  • Tiny Tim is a microcosm for victimised poor children due to upper class seeing them as an inconvenience
  • as a social commentator, Dickens ensures his readership is forced to reflect on their contribution to societal ills
• beginning of redemption - “forgive me“

  • shows respect and is receptive to ghosts teachings
  • “forgive me if i am not justified in what i ask”
  • biblical undertones of asking for salvation and forgiveness from god
  • “forgive me father for i have sinned”
  • understands he needs to be cleansed of sin
  • spirit is perhaps an incarnation of god and aids this
  • submissive to ghost and open to idea of moral and spiritual awakening
  • for first time shows remorse and obedience
  • “scrooge entered timidly, and hung his head before the spirit“
• beginning of redemption- “ivy, turkey”

  • asyndetic listing “ivy, turkey, geese, poultry, brown, meat, pigs, sausages, oysters“
  • creates imagery of abundance and excessive wealth
  • compounds how scrooge is in a financial position to afford these luxuries yet takes them for granted
  • however these foods all “vanished instantly“
  • alludes to how these materialistic luxuries only provide ephemeral joy
  • meaningless in face of love and benevolence
  • structurally, presentation of abundance before destitute cratchits is used by dickens as an indictment of access to abundance the rich have
  • use of “oysters” mirrors scrooges earlier depiction
  • scrooge is containing inner moral ”pearl”
  • concealed nature is slowly bough to surface