A Christmas Carol

• Introduction

  • novella - about a bitter miser called Scrooge - with the help of three ghosts, Scrooge changes dramatically and becomes kind and generous by the end
  • novel explores very real problem of poverty in Victorian society - critices attitudes of rich people who Dickens saw as dismissing - Dickens wrote ACC to make people think about the consequences of their actions and to highlight the different life experiences of rich and poor
• Introduction

  • ACC strongly emphasises importance of social responsibility- Dickens argues that people have a duty to help the less fortunate
  • set at Christmas - Dickens saw Christmas as a special time of year, when people treated each other with kindness and generosity - this was an attitude he believed should continue all year round
• Context

  • debtor’s prison - Charles was taken out of school due to fees and sent to work in a blacking factory, trying to raise money for his fathers debts at the age of 11 - his father was imprisoned for being in debt when Dickens was 12 - his mother moved 7 of her children into prison with the father, but kept Charles and one sister where Charles lived and worked in a workhouse labelling bottles - his father soon received inheritance and paid off debts - after father was released, Dickens went to school and became a law clerk, before working as a court reporter and then a novelist
• Context

  • Malthusian theory - human population grows faster than food supply
  • Poverty - rich people felt that those in poverty had brought it upon themselves - it was their own fault/punishment and could have been avoided - poor living and working conditions meant crime rates and child mortality rates were high - children as young as 5 worked very long hours for low wages in Victorian England - unsanitary living conditions/lack of access to medicine lead to rapid spread of disease
• Context

  • Industrial revolution - transition from creating goods by hand to using machines
• Summary

  Stave one:

  • Scrooge walks through the streets of London and everyone avoids him
  • Fred visits Scrooge to invite him to Christmas dinner - Scrooge declined and says he hates Christmas
  • Two charity gentlemen ask Scrooge for money, he declines rudely and blames people for being poor
  • Bob asks for christmas day off - Scrooge allows it but tells him to come in early on Boxing day
  • Marley wants Scrooge to change his behaviour towards people otherwise he will be doomed when he is dead and be in chains
• Summary

  Stave three:

  • Ghost of Christmas Present appears in Scrooge’s home - Scrooge sees Cratchit’s palling for christmas day- he is interested by Tiny Tim but the ghost warns him he’ll die soon - spirit takes Scrooge around the country to show him everyone happy at christmas - he is taken to Fred’s party where Fred pities Scrooge while the other guests make fun of him - two starved and malnourished children appear under ghosts robe (Ignorance and Want) - ghost vanishes and a hooded figure appears
• Summary

  Stave four:

  • Ghost of Christmas Yet to come appears - he shows some business men talk about the death of an unnamed man - Mrs Dilber (Scrooge’s laundress) laughs about some sheets she stole from a dead man - spirit shows a dead body with a sheet covering it - Scrooge is disturbed and begs for sympathy for this man
• Stave four continued

  Scrooge is shown a couple happy about the dead man because their debt is erased and Scrooge feels sorry for this dead man - Scrooge sees Cratchit’s mourning the death of Tiny Tim - he sees his own grave with his name on it and is shocked, he begs for another chance and says he’ll change his ways - he then wakes up startled in his bed
• Summary

  Stave five:

  • Scrooge wakes up differently in a happy mood with excitement and greets a boy in christmas morning - he tells him to buy the biggest turkey he can find and send it to the Cratchit’s - he walks happily on the streets to Fred’s house for christmas party - Bob is late to work on Boxing day, scared he will be fired from the job - Scrooge pretends to sack him but instead raises his salary
  • Years go by and Scrooge becomes a second father to Tiny Tim - he gives many gifts to the poor
• Key quotes

  • “solitary as an oyster“ - capitalism - simile - ‘oyster’ is symbolic - ‘solitary‘ is foreshadowing - ghosts crack oyster to reveal Scrooge
  • “I wear the chains I forged in life“ - Marley - chain links symbolise every bad action he did
  • “The smooth white sheet of snow upon the roofs…dirtier snow upon the ground“ - juxtaposition - ‘snow’ symbolises the rich and poor - pathetic fallacy
• Key quotes

  • “Boy is Ignorance, girl is Want” - metaphor - short sentences - children reflected vulnerability - symbol of poor society
  • “I will not shut out the lesson that they teach!” - redemption - ‘shut out’ links to oyster being opened
  • “If the course be deported from, the ends will change” - ‘deported’ leave past behind - metaphor for life/actions -our choices and actions have consequences and influence the direction of our lives
• Key quotes

  • “The cold within him, froze his old features” - personification - foreshadowing - pathetic fallacy - danger of following your desire - redemption
  • “Good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man” - triplication - redemption/transformation - ‘good‘ repetition - product of ghosts
  • “Another idol has displaced me” - gender - money has replaced lover - ambitious for the wrong things - change - miser
• Key quotes

  • “Are there no prisons?Are there no workhouses?” - Scrooge to charity gentlemen - attitudes and behaviours - social class - selfish