He begins with no compassion for others but eventually learns a better way to live. The portly gentlemen are also instrumental in delivering Dickens' message. The ribbons are her means of dressing more festively. No Way- he tells them that the poor should go and die then there would be less people in the world. The fog has lifted and Scrooge can 'see' the truth. Fan is portrayed with affection - and her term of endearment shows that Scrooge has known affection. Scrooge learns how little generosity creates a lot of happiness. Key quotes from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Bob describes his crippled son. The childhood innocence has been 'shrivelled' and 'twisted' showing the ill effects of their treatment. Stave 5 - Scrooge's reaction to discovering it is not too late Invite Scrooge to come for Christmas dinner 4. Stave 1 - why the portly gentlemen are collecting for the poor All rights reserved. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. My life tends that way, now., Bob Cratchit about Tiny Tims grave: I wish you could have gone. Xmas Present - This makes scrooge realise that he needs to change or Tiny Tim will die young which is the one of the first stages of scrooges change. Stave 3 - description of Mrs Cratchit The Cratchits are generous and loving in very difficult circumstances. A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens On this page, readers can explore the quotes, they are broadly separated into a few sub-categories. Here, we get the image of a country that is united during this time of year; a place where Christmas and Britishness are inextricably linked, which would have been incredibly popular for a Victorian audience who were in the throws of empire building. "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.". Stave 2 - the spirit takes him to past Christmases including seeing Scrooge alone at school. We are reminded of the contrast between the rendered status. Note the use of the adjective poor to describe Bob Cratchit. Themes= time/Christmas, "A solitary child, neglected by his friends.". A Christmas Carol (Key Quotes) 'Mankind is my business' - Marley (Should be Scrooges and everyone elses too) 'I will honour Christmas in my heart and, and try to keepit all the year' - Scrooge (Willing to change, become better person) . Stave 2 - The first of the three spirits The declarative 'will' conveys certainty showing how urgent it is that Scrooge change. Dr Aidan, PhD, provides you with key quotes and analysis relating to the theme of 'Christmas'. Draw one line under each main verb and two lines under each auxiliary verb. 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. - Scrooge, Is scrooges staple opinion to christmas at the start of stave one, showing off his negative opinions to begin with, this is used to emphasise the change in scrooges character from the beginning to the end. He has learned his lesson and been transformed from darkness into light - which is reflected in the world around him. uses long and short clauses to show how busy they are. Each sentence below contains a verb 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. "His eyes sparkled and his breath smocked.". Whatever the genre. Ignorance could represent the wealthy upper classes who are ignorant of what they must do to help. 'A lonely boy was reading near a feeble fire'. 5. Studying Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'? No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. Here in this quote, one can see Dickens playing with literal and figurative meanings to great effect. Ideas about purgatory and hell would have been recognisable to the mainly Christian readership at the time - and would have made the allegory more frightening. This is where the clerk lives. Everyone is entitled to be a little happier on Christmas, and the Ghost of Christmas Present helps them to be so. Themes= greed and generosity/ time. It could also show that, as it has been so long since he was happy, he finds it difficult to describe. Belle to Scrooge: "Another idol has displaced me a golden one.". Summary. ", cynical- "what's Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money", Isolated- "secret and self-contained, and solitary like an oyster. A Christmas Carol is rarely classified as a gothic novel. cried the gentleman, as if his breath were taken away. It would have done you good to see how green a place it is.". When it was made you were another man. 4 major themes of this novel are forgiveness, the influence of the past, greed, and poverty. 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. Home Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol Best Quotes. Past: "The curtains of his bed were drawn aside, I tell you, When the Ghost of Christmas Past arrives, the curtains of his bed were drawn aside by a hand. Here, it is clear that it is the ghost who makes the move the ghost actively. The gothic was a popular genre in the Victorian age and would have seemed fitting for a ghost story to Victorian readers. The image of the oyster is almost perfect for Scrooge at this stage in the book. The simile has connotations of stillness and endings. But, they were happy, grateful, pleased with one another and contented with the time. Of Mice and Men Section Overview . Discuss why you think the poet made these choices. Stave one 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." This symbolises his generosity and air of festivity. Copyright2007 - 2023 Revision World Networks Ltd. A merry Christmas to everybody! So while he did not invent these particular traditions many people credit him with popularizing them. In this quote, Dickens describes London as a dark and dangerous place. The dying fire at the beginning of the novel symbolizes Scrooges lack of either. The noun 'idol' shows that Belle believes Scrooge is so enamoured of money that he worships it. "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. It acts as a mirror for Scrooges wealth and position but also as a stark contrast in approach. Given an unexpected opportunity to communicateperhaps as a Christmas miracleMarley feels determined to help Scrooge and he warns him here. "', The ghost of Christmas present focuses greatly on the Crachit family and how, despite their poor financial situation, In the Victorian era, family and family time were extremely important, particularly around Christmas, ' A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. Throughout the book, Dickens makes use of metaphors, personification, imagery, and more. Flint is a type of ground that makes it difficult for life to grow kind of like how scrooges character allows no imaginations to grow. Stave 3 - ignorance and want Setting can help create an atmosphere or mood in a literary work. The word 'business' reflects Scrooge's earlier response to the portly gentlemen. Stave 5 - pathetic fallacy The multiple similes emphasise Scrooge's joy and elation at his second chance. These words are then used against him by the ghost of the Christmas present. He looked so irresistibly pleasant, in a word, that three or four good-humoured fellows said, "Good morning, sir. I am as giddy as a drunken man. Dickens believed in collective responsibility - that the wealthy should take responsibility for helping the poor, specifically through the provision of education and support for children. They were a boy and girl. The ghost of Christmas presents it sitting on a throne of food. Oh, glorious. For example, the first ghost is a metaphor for how memories and the past shape ones experience, while the last ghost is a metaphor for death and ones legacy. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Leading up to this moment it appears as if Scrooge already fears that this is the case, but that does not detract from the tension that Charles Dickens can create here. 'This boy is ignorance.most of all beware the boy"-Stave 3-Ghost of Christmas present Metaphor. Ultimately he tries to extinguish the ghost's light. So, therefore, we should take responsibility for being a positive influence. Dickens, therefore, is attacking the Malthusian capitalist theories. This is one of Freds lines, and it really helps to highlight the difference in viewpoints between Fred and his uncle. Himself, always. 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. Oh! Like an oyster, he keeps himself to himself, hidden beneath a hard shell that he uses to protect himself from the world. Scrooge can see the error of his ways and then acts accordingly to become a better person. The conditional subordinate clause represents Scrooge's future actions. "The cold within him froze his old features", Early description of scrooge. Then, identify each underlined word by writing above it ADV for adverb or ADJ for adjective. Stave 3 - Scrooge asks if Tiny Tim will live, having been moved by his goodness. Arguably, this is the most famous quote from A Christmas Carol. Stave 3 - Christmas at Fred's He is described as been so dislike that even the weather is better in that at least it 'comes down' gracefully. Scrooge is presented as a miserly character - his money does not even bring him any happiness. but stopped at the first syllable', Repeated phrase (Juxtaposition and patterning), Stave 5: 'Hear me! Belle "Our contract is an old one. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Scrooges offences carry their own punishments. Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents. Privacy Policy, https://bookanalysis.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol/themes-and-analysis/. They are mans. "If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.". Scrooge makes explicit reference to the Malthusian idea that the population must decrease in order to create better conditions. Scrooge is particularly affected by the death, and this is a death he is able to reverse in the future when he amends his behaviour. A happy New Year to all the world. The case of this unhappy man might be my own. Stave 4 - in the rag 'n' bone man's shop The ghost of Christmas future symbolizes death and the mistakes that are sure to haunt him after his death. Their terrible behaviour is a consequence of the ignorance and want that Dickens personified in stave 3. The most clearly religious image though is how it wears a tunic of purest white, as though it is a pure, innocent Angel sent to guide him. This is to illustrate to the rich that they can be part of the solution, Dickens was of the belief that things in society could change and this was something he wished to portray to people to ensure they didn't lose hope, Stave 2: 'I should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk just now', Stave 4: 'Fear you more than any other spectre I have seen. Stave 5 - Scrooge's reaction to discovering it is not too late Scrooge's assertion that 'it is not my business' is challenged quickly by Marley's ghost whose view is that 'mankind' should have been his 'business. 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. the strength of Scrooge's dismay about hearing his own words repeated back to him is reinforced through the use of the nouns, penitence and grief. Of course, there is still a massive equality gap between the rich and the poor. How does the speaker begin and end "Incident"? This girl is Want. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. However, how the poor were treated was far more extreme in Victorian England. 'The Ghosts' in A Christmas Carol (Key Quotes & Analysis) Dr Aidan 22.1K subscribers Subscribe 47K views 3 years ago Studying A Christmas Carol? Whatever the book. The speaker is clearly fed up with Scrooges behaviour and wants him to get to the end of his journey and realize his mistakes as soon as possible. To Kill a Mockingbird -Analysis of Major Characters. Stave 1 - Scrooge's view of the plight of the poor 'Long and wound about him like a tail made of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds and heavy purses.'. He always did!". These include Scrooge's cold nature, the power of wealth, and loss. Studying 'A Christmas Carol'? But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. However, these are two children that he has no control over. This is evident in his early relationship with his nephew Fred. Both have religious connotations and suggest a true depth of despair at his previous notions. Dickens is very clever in his use of dialogue in this section of the story as the Ghost of Future Yet To Come shows Scrooge the people that are talking about his death. 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. "Business!" Below one can explore the themes, symbols, and more that appear throughout the novel. He must have slept through a whole day and half a night. Instant PDF downloads. Perhaps Dickens is using him to represent the idea of childhood innocence and how close children were to God in order to reinforce his message that the wealthy need to do more to mitigate childhood poverty. "Quite alone in the world, I do believe.". The two children Ignorance and Want represents the attitudes of the rich to the poor in Victorian society. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. God save you! God bless us!, At the time people rid themselves of any guilt by blaming the poor for the fact they were poor. He did it all and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father., He knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the Knowledge.. The opening line says, ''Marley was dead: to begin with. Recognizing Progressive Forms and Tenses. Of course, the suggestion that people might be talking about him is beastly to Scrooge. "Its genial face, its sparking eye, its open hand. 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. 'It was a strange figurelike a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man'. 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 may be a way of showing what Dickens thinks should be happening. Exhausted- "i cannot rest,i cannot stay, i cannot linger anywhere.". 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. The tone is impatient as he does so. Spirit! he cried, tight clutching at his robe, hear me! Losing a business partner around Christmas time could not have been easy. But as I know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to live to be another man from what I was, I am prepared to bear your company and do it with a thankful heart', Stave 1: 'He tried to say 'Humbug!' The spirit of Christmas is personified in his open heart, open hand, and outstretched arm. A merry Christmas to everybody! Repetition of 'chuckle' emphasises Scrooge's newfound delight in giving. Stave 4 - the final ghost

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