Scrooge quotes

“If they would rather die, they had better do it and decrease the surplus population”

Stave 1

• A shocking attitude demonstrating Scrooge’s lack of compassion for those less fortunate

• Scrooge has been influenced by capitalism - the belief that man must look after himself

• Ironic as Scrooge has nobody and is a recluse, surely he would want the population to increase to gain more friends?

• Scrooge was perhaps a Malthusian (a supporter of the belief that too many people would deplete resources and lead to scarcity)

• Links to context: During the 19th century, London became the world’s most populous city. London’s population grew from 1 million in 1800 to over 2 million by the time A Christmas Carol was published, and to 6.5 million by the end of the 19th century.

“Solitary child, neglected by his friends”

Stave 2

• Child Scrooge was literally alone, this wasn’t his choice

• Juxtaposition of “neglected” and “friends” develops the reader’s empathy

“Scrooge seized the extinguisher-cap and pressed it down upon its head”

Stave 2

Scrooge covers the light coming from the ghost of Christmas Past - suggesting he finds his past too difficult to confront and face up to (implying feelings of regret, shame, guilt and remorse)

“Tell me Tiny Tim will live…”

Stave 3

Shows Scrooge is finally feeling compassion and sympathy for someone else; he is changing. Perhaps, Tiny Tim reminds Scrooge of himself as a young boy and therefore, doesn’t want the one thing that lights a spark inside of him to die

“Bah Humbug!”

Stave 1

Portrays Scrooge’s misanthropic attitude

“hard and sharp as flint”

Stave 1

• “hard” suggests he barricades himself away from others. A metaphor to show he has multiple impenetrable walls guarding his feelings

• “sharp” suggests pain - implying that Scrooge has no mercy towards others (he will hurt you mentally e.g. his treatment towards Fred)

• Simile emphasises Scrooge’s tough, cold exterior

• Flint is used to create fires - implying that there is potential for a spark of warmth within Scrooge

“as solitary as an oyster”

Stave 1

• Simile emphasises how he has chosen to isolate himself

• An oyster is a creature with a tough exterior but contains a valuable, beautiful pearl within, suggesting something worthwhile is to be found within Scrooge

“Are there no prisons, no workhouses for the poor?”

Stave 1

This suggests that Scrooge believed poverty was almost a crime

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try keep it the whole year round”

Stave 4

Scrooge makes a promise to live differently if he is given another chance. Links to Christian values of redemption, salvation and forgiveness

“I’ll raise your salary Bob and endeavour to assist your stuggling family”

Stave 5

Scrooge’s newfound generosity and goodwill is emphasised here; highlighting the charity and support needed in society, and embodied by the Christmas spirit

“I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy”

Stave 5

• Shows Scrooge’s distinct transformation

• Similes/repetition - constant affirmations of “I am” implies he is trying to convince himself

“His wealth is of no use to him. He don’t do any good with it.”

Stave 3

• In a capitalist society, wealth is predominantly viewed for your own benefit

• However, there are people who believe money can and should be used in different ways

• People view Scrooge as a lost cause, therefore at the end of the novel, when he transforms, it has a more meaningful significance

"A church, overrun by weeds, the growth of vegetation's death not life"

Stave 4

• His grave is unkept and "overrun by weeds" because no one has the slightest concern for Scrooge

• Dickens warns all the capitalists of the 19th century who were becoming more secular (small faith in God) and to society, represented by Scrooge, that money and everything they're chasing won't matter because they will eventually die. What comes after is very lonely

“Hear me! I am not the man I was!”

Stave 4

• A fear of the future is what persuades Scrooge to change his ways

• The exclamation mark underlines the ways in which the scenes with the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come have resonated with him, highlighting his eagerness to change

“Another idol has displaced me…a golden one”

Stave 2

The noun "idol" denotes material object representing a deity that is worshipped. This marks the birth of Scrooge's rapacious devotion to money and 'gold'. The religious connotations here are that Scrooge's devotion to money are parallel to worshipping a statue. Scrooge has let materialism replace his abstract 'love' for Belle.

“I can’t afford to make idle people merry”

• Adjective "idle"- reveals Scrooge believes the poor are lazy and to blame for their own situation. This mirrors the Victorian rich's attitude to the poor. Because poor people were thought to be lazy, workhouses were deliberately bad

• Scrooge believes that being merry has some kind of cash value; you cannot be happy and poor

“no warmth could warm, not wintry weather could chill him…”

• Extended metaphor of comparing Scrooge to terrible winter weather is carefully placed in Stave 1 to prepare readers to the eventual transformation

• What happens to snow? It melts. What happens to winter? The season pasts. This foreshadows that might might thaw

• Also links to how Bob Cratchit is forced to work in the cold