A Christmas Carol

• SCROOGE IN STAVE 1


  miserly

  misanthropic

  avaricious

  callous / cold

  miserable
• SCROOGE IN STAVE 5


  benevolent

  transformed

  optimistic

  warm hearted

  influential
• “I wear the chain i forged in life” - Marley’s ghost
• “I am as light as a feather” - Scrooge
• “Another idol has displaced me, a golden one” - Belle
• “They were a boy and a girl, Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish.”
• THEMES:

  • greed
  • tranformation
  • family
  • responsibility
  • redemption
• “If they would rather die then they had better do it and decrease the surplus population” - Scrooge
• “Solitary as an oyster”
• “Show me no more. Why do you delight to torture me?“ - Scrooge
• “Bright clear jet of light”
• “Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?” - Ghost of present mimicking Scrooge.
• “Shrouded in a deep black garment”
• “I‘m not the man I was”
• ESSAY INTRO:

  Dickens wrote this allegorical novel in 1843 when poverty was at it’s height due to the industrial revolution. Dickens was horrified by accounts of the degredation and poverty in slum cities. He uses the character of Scrooge as a message to change victorian attitudes towards the poor and bring about social reform.
• “I learned a lesson which is working now […] tonight if you have aught to teach me, let me profit by it”
• ESSAY MUSTS:

  • malthusian views
  • road to redemption
  • social reform
• scrooge was his sole executor, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his soul friend and soul mourner


  stave 1- description of scrooges relationship with marley.

  repetition of the word sole, emphasis they only had eachother. scrooge is alone and friendless.
• solitary as an oyster


  description of scrooge, simile emphasises how he locks himself away from society.

  sibilance adds a sinister tone, word solitary is also used when describing his childhood which suggests hes lonely and unhappy by choice.

  dickens suggests money does NOT make you happy. oyster could symbolise he has a softer interior or at least it could foreshadow his transformation
• no warmth could warm, no wintery weather chill him

  use of anaphora through repetition of the word no shows that he cant be affected by outside influences. hes so unfeeling and cold that weather doesnt bother him- just as the plight of poor doesnt. dickens is criticising the wealthy upper class and their coldheartedness
• it was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal

  pathetic fallacy, repeated emphasis of the ferocity of the weather directly reflects the character of scrooge who is unviting to fred and the charity collectors. the word biting makes it seem viscious. the fog is symbolic of scrooge’s inability to see the truth until he is shown the light by the ghosts which by the end has cleared the fog
• scrooge had a very small fire but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal


  this description is used to reinforce his message about the wealthy. he is presented as a typical wealthy miser who treated the poor badly. dickens himself had first hand experience of poverty
• (scrooges response to being asked to give money to charity)

  are there no prisons? are there no workhouses?
• if they would rather die then they had better do it and decrease the surplus population


  scrooges response- explicit refrence to hte malthusian idea that the population must decrease in order to create better conditions.
• its not my buisness


  dickens believed in collective responsibility, that the wealthy should also take responsibility for helping the poor specifically through education and support for children.
• darkness is cheap, and scrooge liked it

  description of his home- money doesnt even buy him happiness. dark house reflects his dark character and adds to a gothic atmosphere.
• i wear the chain i forged in life

  marley explains to scrooge that his actions had consequences which led to him being relentlessly tortured by remorse and guilt. he tries to warn scrooge to change before its too late
• another idol has displaced me, a golden one


  belle believed scrooge was more infactuated with his wealth and materialistic things than his love for her. she didnt feel loved by scrooge so thought scrooge practically worshipped money
• show me no more

  scrooge becomes distressed and ultimately tries to extinguish the ghosts light
• bright, clear jet of light


  the ghost is a symbol of hope purity change acceptance. which are all qualities scrooge does not possess to begin with
• tonight if you have aught to teahc me let me profit by it


  scrooge now has a willingness to learn.

  transformed however the verb profit still has a hint of selfishness as well as an implication of individual gain
• scrooge asks if tiny tim will die

  dickens uses tiny tim to represent the idea of childhood innocence in order to reinforce the message that the wealthy need to do more to mitigate childhood poverty
• the ghost of the present mimicks scrooges cruel words from stave 1

  dickens here is attacking the malthusian capitalist theories and this phrase forces scrooge to feel remorseful about his cruel words
• yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish

  ignorant and want

  personification of mans ills

  could represent wealthy upper classes and could reflect the lack of education of the poor
• shrouded in a deep black garment

  reference to death.
• overrun by grass and weeds

  scrooges grave is overrun and uncared for just as he was and just how he uncared for everyone else
• i am as light as a feather, as happy as an angel, i am as merry as a schoolboy, as giddy as a drunken man


  discovers its not too late to change. multiple similes emphasise scrooge’s joy and gratitude at having a second chance. repetitive structure of short exclamations proves he cannot put into words how excited he is. the innocence of angels and schoolboys contrast with the hellish image of marleys ghost
• contrast

  hard and sharp as flint- light as a feather
• no fog, no mist, clear bright jovial stirring cold cold piping for the blood to dance to golden sunlight heavenly sky sweet fresh air merry bells oh glorious glorious


  pathetic fallacy. fog has now lifted which represents scrooge can now see clearly the truth of his mistakes and has learned his lesson and reached the end of his road to redemption and has been transformed from darkness into light which is reflected by the world around him