Selfishness

• "Bah! Humbug!" (Stave 1)
• Consonance:

  • The phrase employs consonance with the recurring plosive "b" sounds in "Bah! Humbug!" creating a jarring effect to emphasise Scrooge's cynical and misanthropic attitude at the beginning of the novella.
  • This harsh phonetic devise mirrors scrooge's harsh mindset, highlighting his disdain for jovial celebration during the Christmas period. Dickens' use of this phrase early in the novella establishes Scrooge as the embodiment of selfish materialism, setting the stage for his moral transmogrification.
  • Dickens uses the character of Scrooge to act as a microcosm of the Victorian upper class as his cynical outburst reflects their misanthropic attitudes resulted in widespread poverty and suffering among the lower classes.
• Exclamation:

  • The repeated exclamation marks in "Bah! Humbug!" emphasise the harshness and forcedulness of Scrooge's tone which highlights Scrooge's irritable temperament and his disdain for festive cheer. His exclamatory outburst suggests an impulsive rejection of joy, reinforcing his misanthropic world view.
  • Dickens uses Scrooge's exaggerated emotional response as a dramatic vehicle to critique the unscrupulous selfishness of Victorian society, urging readers to embrace community and generosity instead.
• Key contect it relates to:

  • Charles Dickens: Scrooge's initial disdain for Christmas reflects Dickens critique of societal selfishness ad covetousness during a time when the wealthy ignored the plight of the poor.
  • Malthus: Scrooge's dismissal of the plight of the poor highlights his Malthusian perspective, encapsulating his ruthless belief that poverty is inevitable, which Dickens opposes through his eventual moral transmogrification.
• WOW Knowledge:

  Hegelian Dialect:

  • The novella follows a hegelian structure of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis.