Scrooge's sympathy for himself leads to sympathy for the carol singer from the night before. One interesting feature of this stave relates to the fact that two people die in it: Scrooge and Tiny Tim: the richest and the poorest people in the book. Only financial gain. Analysis. Marley haunts scrooge- a description of his chains. Inclusive now of society - not isolated and solitary. Clash, clang, hammer; ding, dong, bell! He doesn't believe it, but when he goes to the window, the street is deserted and dark as nighttime. Oh, glorious. About Scrooge: As solitary as an oyster., External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge., If they would rather die, said Scrooge, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population., Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it., Marleys Ghost: Mankind was my business., Marleys Ghost: I am here to-night to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate., There was a boy singing a Christmas Carol at my door last night. The father of a long, long line of brilliant laughs. The entrance of Scrooge 's nephew Fred at the beginning of the story introduces another side to the miser. However, some of the scenes are to help develop Scrooge's character and add backstory. It is really in this Stave that Dickens brings to life the Christmas that we all know and love today: the food, the presents, the games, the snow, and good feeling, the parties and generosity. Refine any search. These morally repugnant, ugly people are simply treating Scrooge the way he treated others and he is horrified. Scrooge awakes and finds his room as dark as when he fell asleep at two o'clock. Example: The scientist, along with her two assistants, (is, are) working on a computer simulation of earthquake activity. Towards the end of the book, Scrooge has clearly learnt that fact and decides to spend his remaining days sharing his time, his wealth, and enjoying the fruits of his fellow men. His description of the setting suggests that poverty has bred crime and deep unhappiness. External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. The description of Marley's ghost has his chain wound about him. Losing a business partner around Christmas time could not have been easy. Scrooges offences carry their own punishments. "If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population." Instant PDF downloads. All rights reserved. ``My little child!''. Stave 5 - Scrooge's reaction to discovering it is not too late 'Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend and sole mourner'. ', "Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it.". Studying A Christmas Carol? Both have religious connotations and suggest a true depth of despair at his previous notions. Dickens also suggests that, through his adoration of a false god, he is no longer a good christian. Of Mice and Men Section Overview . "Mankind was my business. ". All rights reserved. Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words and was overcome with penitence and grief. 'The Ghosts' in A Christmas Carol (Key Quotes & Analysis) Dr Aidan 22.1K subscribers Subscribe 47K views 3 years ago Studying A Christmas Carol? The repetition of the word 'little' reinforces to the reader how young and innocent and undeserving of death was Tiny Tim. Scrooge has been transformed - just as his room has been transformed by the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas present - and wants to learn. "Every person has a right to take care of themselves. Being such a short story there is very little that is extraneous. Draw one line under each main verb and two lines under each auxiliary verb. Fire symbolizes emotion and warmth. 2003-2023 Chegg Inc. All rights reserved. Fezziwig's office has a large fire which adds to the welcoming atmosphere, offering the reader an additional opportunity to compare it to Scrooge's cold office with the meagre fire. * The use of pathetic fallacy shows that he is in direct opposition to anyone who tries to help him. Stave 4 - in the rag 'n' bone man's shop What I think is really clever is that the story is framed so that when we see the ghost of Christmas past, seeing the things that shaped Scrooge into the man he is at the beginning of the play starts to let us feel sympathy for him so that when he is offered a second chance as a reader, we are glad he gets to redeem himself. Dickens' use of the word 'good' repetitively to demonstrate the juxtaposition between Scrooge at the beginning of the novel, where Dickens describes Scrooge as a 'covetous old sinner'. Pathetic fallacy - Scrooge can see now clearly - reinforced by the adjectives juxtaposing the foggy, misty scenes of earlier chapters when Scrooge could not see the error of his ways. The word 'business' reflects Scrooge's earlier response to the portly gentlemen. ), phrases like holding a candle for someone mean to remember them, while candles are used in c. Scrooge finishes the stave by putting out the candle, which shows him symbolically putting down his past leaving behind the resentment he has harboured at having lost his childhood to neglect. There is no magic formula to revision but this three-point Ghost of Christmas Present, Stave 3, he warns that if Scrooge doesn't change himself that "doom" will be in his future. Dickens, therefore, is attacking the Malthusian capitalist theories. No Way- he tells them that the poor should go and die then there would be less people in the world. In Victorian times, the deceased were usually dressed in their best clothes for burial but here, Scrooge's clothes after death have been removed and sold for money. The simile has a snake like connotations, Marley is a symbol of evil. The noun 'contract' reflects the language of business - reflecting the change that Scrooge has undergone. Dr Aidan, PhD, provides you with key quotes and analysis relating to the theme of 'Christmas'. Stave 2 - Belle breaks off the engagement. The problem is internal, within Scrooges heart. The onomatopoetic verb 'gasping' makes the reader explicitly imagine the death, suggesting struggle and pain. The ghost of Christmas future symbolizes death and the mistakes that are sure to haunt him after his death. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them. Stave 3 - Scrooge asks if Tiny Tim will live, having been moved by his goodness. 'A Christmas Carol' Key Quotations Stave 5 Analysis Term 1 / 5 "I am light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. For each of the following sentences, identify the subject of the verb in parentheses. Here, readers are exposed to the ghost of Christmas yet to come. The ghost breaks the news to Scrooge that the person whose death has been talked about so callously was his own. A Christmas Carol Key Quotes and Analysis. Themes= time/Christmas, "A solitary child, neglected by his friends.". However, these are two children that he has no control over. () At the time, Camden town would have been a crowded suburb. It is too much linked to his miserly ways thus suggesting that the learning is not finished yet. This means that Scrooge is implying Christmas was designed to trick and fool people into spending money. Marleys ghost is the one that kicks everything off but also acts as a mirror to Scrooge to show him the error of his ways. The metaphor shows that the school didn't help any student achieve their dreams, instead it destroyed their lives as they could not fulfil their potential. This shows that scrooge is only hurting himself by being so money orientated it doesnt affect his family but does himself. Mr and Mrs Fezziwig ..'.shaking hands with every person individually as he or she went out, wished him or her a Merry Christmas.'. Stave 5 - pathetic fallacy Stave 1 - Scrooge's rponse to being asked to give money to charity, "If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.". Y. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! However, the verb 'profit' still has a hint of selfishness - as well as an implication of individual, even material, gain. The ghost is dressed in green reminiscent both of the Green Man from Pagan mythology, and also the traditional character of St Nicholas or Father Christmas, who has more recently come to symbolise the holiday period. Recognizing Progressive Forms and Tenses. Workhouses were a terrible place and menial and dangerous jobs such as sweeping chimneys still existed. The use of the word 'alone' is repeated showing again that selfishness will lead to a life of loneliness. Scrooge will avoid spirits for the rest of his life geddit? Scrooge signed it. The idea that we are all 'fellow passengers' serves to emphasise the idea of the transience of life - we are all going to die some day so we are more similar than we are different. He is designed to show that the wealthy can make a significant difference. ', 'I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it! 'A Christmas Carol' is a widely studied book filled with memorable quotes. Her gown is poor but she is 'brave in ribbons'. The dying fire at the beginning of the novel symbolizes Scrooges lack of either. I am not the man I was. Dickens uses these characters to challenge popular preconceptions that the wealthy had about the poor - preconceptions which led to support for the poor law and the workhouses. This mirrors the Victorian rich's attitude to the poor. Whatever the book. This is fitting because it is traditionally colder at Christmas but also because the cold is an apt metaphor for Scrooges personality. "He hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple and it might be pleasant for them to remember on Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see.". However, this in itself would probably not have been enough to alter his ways. Themes= greed and generosity/Christmas. The final ghost appears as a phantom a spectre dressed in black: clearly an image of The Grim Reaper himself. The verb forged shows skill and effort- Marley spent his whole life's time and effort in his greed so is suffering the consequences. The Christmas Spirit I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time the only time when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers. However, how the poor were treated was far more extreme in Victorian England. Bitter- "no wind that blew was bitterer than he. A description of the school house that Scrooge was left in as a child, by his family. () A famous geographer Thomas Malthus came up with the theory that the poor were just surplus population and thus should be left to their own devices - even if this meant letting them die. A solitary child, neglected by his friends is left there still - Scrooge sobbed, This shows scrooges lack of companionship and support even since a child this could show why scrooge became so money obsessed, I have always thought of Christmas a good time. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy., Scrooge says to the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come: I am prepared to bear you company, and do it with a thankful heart., Two Business Colleagues: Its likely to be a very cheap funeral, said the same speaker; for upon my life I dont know of anybody to go to it., Scrooge to the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come: I see, I see. Whoever the author.Discover new and exciting books to dive into with our Book Explorer Tool. Each sentence below contains a verb No, Spirit! Whatever the book. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Contrasting similes emphasise his god like figure- he is at once innocent and knowledgeable. Gone are the puritanical values that banned Christmas, and, also, to a large degree, gone as well are the memories of Christmas as a serious and religious celebration of the birth of Christ. The chains are a metaphor for his punishment for his greedy life. Privacy Policy, https://bookanalysis.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol/quotes/. Then write the form of that verb There is a very real suggestion that Scrooge knows that the people are describing him. A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens On this page, readers can explore the quotes, they are broadly separated into a few sub-categories. "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. Dickens uses Scrooge to show the extent of change that is possible in a small amount of time. Stave 2 - Belle breaks off the engagement This is another quote where Dickens draws on the semantic field of the cold weather. This again leads back to Dickens' idea of collective responsibility - that everything that we do influences others. Perfect for those studying the book at school (particularly GCSE students) or simply those wanting to learn more about it.For more in Dr Aidan's 'A Christmas Carol' series:The 10 Most Important Quotes in A Christmas Carol - https://youtu.be/8wpegV4ueYYPicture credits: Grim Reaper: openclipart.comCornucopia: openclipart.com But it does share a lot of gothic conventions. Dickens though that this was wrong and aimed to change perception, 'Mankind was my business. Bob Crachit and the Cratchit Family Quotes, A Christmas Carol- The Ghost of Christmas Pre, 'An Inspector Calls' Key Quotations Analysis, myPerspectives: English Language Arts, Grade 7, myPerspectives: Grade 10, Volume 2 California Edition, myPerspectives, English Language Arts, Grade 8, California My Perspectives English Language Arts, Grade 9, Volume Two. If he had been, he'd have had somebody to look after him when he was struck with Death, instead of lying gasping out his last there, alone by himself.'.
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