Ghost of the Christmas yet to come

• The ghost's revelation of Scrooge's death

  • A bare, uncurtained bed on a ragged sheet
  • The image of exposure is highlighted through "bare" and "uncurtained" suggesting Scrooge is exposed in his death, his money failing to protect him when he is no longer alive
  • "ragged" connotes neglect, this exacerbated through his neglected grave being "overrun by grass and weeds"
  • The image of neglect, paired with the image of death and forgotten-his uncompassionate nature is physically reflected in his uncared-for grave
• Scrooge's focus on materialism was futile as even his simple privacy of having "Bed-curtains" in his death was stripped of him as nobody cared for his existence
• A Victorian reader would seek comfort in Scrooge's justly punishment due to their strong religious beliefs. The idea of eternal damnation and judgment from God was one of the most fearful ideas that pervaded society. As Scrooge gets his punishment it would reinforce the warning that being full of covetousness (desire for wealth) will lead to eternal damnation from God
• Scrooge appears to be understanding the spirit, perhaps welcoming the idea of redemption with penitence and obedience
• The asyndetic at the end highlights Scrooge's excessive wealth. The abundance and excessive wealth Scrooge is in the financial yet takes them for granted
• The pathetic fallacy foreshadows how Scrooge will remain oblivious and ignorant- as 'fog' prevents clear vision, this is on to how Scrooge prevents himself from seeing a pathway of redemption
• The diminishing "darkness and the mist had vanished with it" symbolises how with each ghost, Scrooge is gaining clarity, diminishing his own mental darkness, on how to be the moral individual- he is unlocking the hopeful potential the reader initially encounter with
• The aggressive verb "pressed" paired with the rapid action of "seized" highlights Scrooge's desperation to repress the memories of his past
• "shrouded in a deep black garment"

  "solemn dread"

  This is reminiscent of the description of the grim reaper, a symbol of death as he was believed to collect people's souls. The alikeness in description is suggestive that Scrooge's chances of redemption have vanished, and he is now going to be mercilessly taken to his hellish death.

  This supernatural dread is key in Scrooge's emancipation (freedom) as it allows Scrooge to fear the inevitable future he will face if he continues to be shrouded in his own internal darkness.
• Scrooge is presented as cowardice and petrified of the ghost, he is filled with "solemn dread . This supernatural dread is key in Scrooge's emancipation (freedom) as it allows Scrooge to fear the inevitable future he will face if he continues to be shrouded in his own internal darkness.
• Dickens: 'smell, and dirt, and life, upon the straggling streets; and the whole quarter reeked with crime, with filth, and misery.'
• Stave 5 setting


  • London streets full of squalor and agony
• Dickens uses his novel as a social documentary to highlight the true conditions of London- people are treated in dehumanising ways while the streets are filled with abandonment and neglect.
• Dickens chooses this setting for Stave 5 to show how this squalor is synonymous with the ignorant attitudes of the upper class, the attitude that Scrooge is being punished for, and without justice being served to those perpetuating this dehumanising abuse, society will continue
• Dickens' message strengthens throughout. His message is subtle at first, creating Scrooge to be an archetypal Victorian villain that the readers would not want to like. However, by the end of the novel, his political diatribe is fully developed and it is clear that his comical fiction is an attack on social inequality and the dehumanising treatment of the destitute.
• The ghost of Christmas yet to come is symbolic of death as it holds a strong resemblance to the grim reaper. It's menacing enigmatic depiction elicits tremendous dread within Scrooge as he realises that his gloomy death is imminent and irreversible.

  Dickens uses his novella as a work of social documentation to highlight how justice will be served to those who are belligerent and ignorant in society. He uses Scrooge's neglected and abandoned grave to represent how a neglection of others will cause your lonesome death.