Marley's Ghost

• Scrooge [BEFORE][S1] - "Marley was dead: to begin with"

  • Foreshadows his own fate if he remains a miser and a hard-nosed business man like Marley.
• Scrooge [BEFORE][S1] - "Marley was as dead as a doornail"

  • Simile repeated twice to indicate there's no reference to him as a person with emotions.
  • Lack of legacy from Marley causes the reader to reflect on their own life/actions
• Scrooge [BEFORE][S1] "was his sole executor" | "his sole administrator" | "his sole friend"

  • Anaphora shows how isolated and lonely they both were. The structure of the sentence to put the nouns "executor" before "friend" alludes to the idea that money made them greedy and they prioritised worldly matters before their relationship with people
• Scrooge [BEFORE][S1] - "Scrooge never painted out Old Marley's name" | "It was all the same to him"

  adverb "never" shows scrooge has not changed the sign. This could be because:

  • he is not willing to spend money painting over it
  • deep down he valued Marley as a friend

  adverb "all" and adjective "same" highlight his callous behaviour presented at the beginning heightens the idea that he and Marley did not care about anyone - idea of capitalist mistreatment in society

  • Dickens intends to set up a clear link between the two - so much so he will answer to both name. Same fate without change
• Marley's ghost - [S1] "the chain he drew" | "made of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks" etc | "I wear the chain I forged in life"

  • All of the things on the chain are belongings/nouns which are metaphorical for his bad choices in life- punishment in the afterlife for the way he treated people-poor people live miserably before, so now he does. Used to keep money to himself and everything was safe, now he unable to escape.
  • He created his own punishment with every bad deed he committed - he is responsible. The verb 'forged' shows that they were purposeful choices.
• Scrooge / Marley's ghost [S1] "Not a knocker, but Marley's face" | "it was not angry or ferocious"

  • the fact that the face appears on the knocker is important to his role. He is there to warn Scrooge of his avarice behaviour and to only help him, so he appears on an expensive feature of his fancy house.
  • The denial of adjectives "angry" and "ferocious" show that Marley is not there to hurt scrooge but instead teach and guide him
• Marley's ghost [S1] - "The whole time ... no rest, no peace, incessant torture of remorse"

  • The denial of the comforting abstract nouns "rest" and "peace" are describing what will happen to Scrooge in the afterlife.
  • This is what the poor live like every day because of people like him, so he is being punished in the same way by not having these luxuries which are the basic necessities of life that Scrooge took advantage.
• Marley's ghost - (in response to "you were a good man of business") "Business!" cried the ghost ... mankind was my business ... charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence"

  • Marley is desperately filled with remorse/regret as shown by the verb "cried" for ignoring he need of others, that was his business
  • Deeply concerned with his friends fate, he doesn't want him to wear the same 'chain that he forged' in life. This shows that Marley is caring for Scrooge.
• Scrooge / Marley - "i am here tonight to warn you" | "you will be haunted" | "i-i think i'd rather not"

  • Scrooge's last chance, dangerous otherwise. The decision is Scrooge's - must be able to know right + wrong. Could be the voice of Dickens, warning audience to reflect on their past, present + future.
  • Pauses/stuttering - seems to act uninterested + doesn't seem to take on Marley's message seriously. Dismissive towards the lesson - it's an inconvenience + a burden for him to care for the poor. This could be why 'no beggars implored him".
  • Also could show his fear towards the supernatural