Christmas carol

• 'Tight fisted hand at the grindstone' - scrooge


  - metaphor for scrooge's miserly nature

  - sets us up for a biblical transformation (deliberately antiquated imagery , used in biblical times)
• 'a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching covetous old sinner' - scrooge


  - long list to reinforce these negative characteristics

  - hyperbole is clear in rhythm of the sentence

  - exaggeration brings an element of comedy which allows us to accept his transformation as we are to believe he isn't truly evil
• 'sharp as flint'


  - Simile

  - sibilance mimics the sound of a snake, signifying evil

  - Clear over exaggeration ton Dickens' part to show to the reader that the story will not be so serious as fitting for a Christmas tale. Scrooge is almost like the villain of a pantomime
• 'I wear the chain i forged in life.... I girded it of my own free will' 


  - We are responsible for our actions is dickens' message

  - Also, we have freewill and although we could stray to evil , we should remain good. Linking to Christianity and the free will God gave humans
• 'The happiness he gives is quite as great as if it costs a fortune - Fezziwig


  - simile

  - The book is too expensive for the working man, it would be read by the wealthy

  - Dickens' wants to show these employers how we should treat our workers and youth

  - The true value of your wealth is how you use it to benefit others

  - Fezziwig challenges not only Scrooge's view on money, but also the readers
• 'Ali baba! At the gates of Damascus'


  - Damascus is important to Christians as where St Paul was headed when he converted. This conversion demonstrates everyone can convert their views. Also shows how education is trans formative as it can convert people's situation
• 'Father is so much kinder than he used to be that home's like heaven' 


  - Tries to explain how Scrooge became so obsessed with money

  - Dickens demonstrates that the lack of parental love leads to a need for control through Scrooge's overpowering desire for money and control

  - Lacking a father, scrooge has to learn how to father Tiny Tim at the end of the novella

  - simile with 'Heaven' links to the Christian message of the book
• 'If they would rather die... they had better do it and decrease the surplus population' 


  - Thomas Malthus was an economist and argued some level of poverty was inevitable and so we shouldn't help the poor. Scrooge also believes that the poor are lazy

  - Scrooge, as a successful businessman (Dickens' audience), believes this. Dickens disagrees and demonstrates Scrooge is wrong when the working class steal from him after his death showing that although aren't lazy and are employed, they still must steal due to the lack of help they get
• 'Tell me if Tiny Tim will live' 


  - Scrooge is starting to see why he must redeem himself - it is up to him

  - We start to see Scrooge's redemption/transformation
• 'Bob Cratchit, my clerk, with 15 shillings a week'


  - Repeated reference to how little Bob is paid begs the question why doesn't he move jobs?

  - Dickens shows us that Bob cannot move jobs because all employers are miserly and pay so little

  - not only is 'bob' a common name showing that these poor conditions affects man in London

  - 'bob' is also associated with money in Victorian England and so by naming a character this way objectifies them as another cog in an employer's business
• 'This boy is ignorance. This girl is want. Beware.. for on his brow I see that written which is Doom'


  - Dickens is showing how education is vital in order to stop children being left behind in the industrial revolution and keeping them poor

  - He warns that if his should happen there would be violent revolution

  - To avoid revolution, young people must be looked after
• 'To tiny Tim... he was a second father' 


  - Scrooge has learnt his lesson. Tim represents all the poor youth in society as does Scrooge represent business owners in society. Dickens uses them to show the positive impact those with money can have on the youth and how it can benefit business owners themselves

  - Now that Scrooge has overcome his trauma, he can finally move forward and be a good force in the world. Fathering Tiny Tim has helped reconcile his relationship with his own father, filling the void in his own heart
• 'I'll raise your salary'


  - Charity is nowhere near as important as wages in Dickens mind. He is using Scrooge raising Bobs salary to hint o business owners as to what they should be doing.
• 'Some people laughed to see the alteration in him but Scrooge let them laugh. His own heart laughed' 


  - Dickens is conscious of the reader's own psychology and this is a subtle message to them showing them that though they may be embarrassed to change their prior beliefs, they should do it anyway and embrace the change, not fearing other business owners opinions as it will make themselves feel better - altruism
• Themes


  - Poverty and its effect

  - fair pay

  - Charity

  - Supernatural

  - Control
• 'solemn shape' -GOYTC


  creates a semantic, eerie atmosphere which reflects what will happen if society does not change. Sibilance further enforces the foreboding tone.
• "From the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light"


  - Light is hope. All the wealthy in society can change. When Scrooge tries to extinguish the flame it shows how the wealthy cannot own up to their action or how they are resistant to change
• 'Scrooge crept towards it, trembling as he went'


  - Scrooge is a metaphor for business owners and wealthy. Here he demonstrates how he seeks to change but is fearful -'trembling'