Isolation

• Isolation


  Scrooge is an outsider in society and is victim to his own, self-inflicted loneliness. No one necessarily pushed Scrooge away, instead he ostracised himself from society.
• Scrooge


  • Secret and self contained and solitary as an oyster
  • Sibilance is similar to that of a snake which suggests something sinister
  • Biblical allusion to the snake in the tree which tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
• Scrooge's isolation


  Dickens may be trying to say that isolation can be deadly
• Scrooge's description


  • Semantic field of isolation
  • Polysyndetic listing to make the adjectives used more powerful
• In the Victorian times people were extremely cordial with each other, greeting people was apart of the culture
• Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say...My dear Scrooge, how are you?
• The people in Scrooge's neighbourhood were aware of the kind of person Scrooge was and so did not make an effort to try and involve him
• Fred never gives up on Scrooge

  Even after Scrooge insults him he invites Scrooge to "Come! Dine with us to-morrow"
• Scrooge tries and is successful with isolating himself


  Fred is persistent with his uncle and in the end it pays off as Scrooge joins the dinner party
• Scrooge's change


  From "solitary as an oyster" to a social butterfly attending Fred's dinner party
• Dickens illustrates that it is never too late to come back and that no one has to isolate themselves
• Dickens' socialist ideology is based on inclusion and making sure that everyone in society is valued and treated equally
• Scrooge in his schoolboy days

  • A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still
  • Scrooge "sobbed" and "wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be"
  • Emotive language gives the reader a chance to see Scrooge in a vulnerable state
• Scrooge's isolation is caused by greed


  His fiancée Belle says that an "idol" has displaced her a "golden one", meaning his need for money has become a priority instead of nurturing the relationships he has in his life
• Belle says that she hopes he "happy in the life you have chosen!", this is the moment in which Scrooge finally chose money and greed over everything else
• Dickens intends to show the readers how choosing greed can lead to isolation
• Capitalism


  Ideology which Dickens was highly critical of, instead he believed in charity and helping those in need
• Scrooge says "It's enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people's." This reflects the capitalist ideology
• Scrooge's choice of words is also very interesting here as he uses the word "business" to talk of a person's life. This suggests that Scrooge's life was business, the focal point of Scrooge's life was money and greed it is what motivated him and why he was never satisfied