Quotes

‘Marley was dead, to begin with.’

Subordinate clause ‘to begin with’ suggests that it leads to something: foreshadowing.

Contradictory statement, starting a beginning with an end.

‘Old Marley was as ‘dead as a doornail’

Repetition of the humorous simile shows the narrator’s conversational tone.

Emphasises the finality of death, no room for doubt.

The simile dates back to the 1300s, and was used by Shakespeare in the 1500s. Nails used in doors would be used in their final project.

‘a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!’

A list of adjectives which emphasises Scrooge’s harsh character and the narrator’s dislike of Scrooge.

Lexical field of hand linked adjectives emphasises Scrooge’s hold over money.

‘!’ draws attention to the following description of Scrooge.

‘hard and sharp as flint’

Simile suggests Scrooge has potential to provide warmth: flint makes a spark which starts a fire.

‘Hard’: lack of warmth, empathy and compassion

‘Sharp’: infliction of pain, Scrooge has no mercy

‘solitary as an oyster’

A simile to describe Scrooge’s loneliness

An oyster has a pearl inside which is hard to crack: under his cold exterior, he has kindness and generosity.

Sibilance adds a sinister tone

‘Solitary’ is used to describe Scrooge again in Stave 2 when describing his childhood. Dickens is suggesting money won’t make you happy.

‘He carried his low temperature always about with him’

Metaphor emphasises Scrooge’s cold hearted nature and how he makes others feel.

‘low temperature’ implies he has a cold heart: doesn’t allow external forces to influence his feelings or behaviour

‘low’ also reveals his bad mood: unhappiness, bitterness + loneliness

‘warning all human sympathy to keep its distance’

Personification of ‘human sympathy’ highlights the extent to which Scrooge is closing himself off to.

Shunning of human sympathy could also be symbolic of his inability to sympathise with the poor

‘old Scrooge sat busy in his counting house’

Shows how Scroogee’s obsession with money keeps him lonely

‘busy’ has connotations of being self-centered, unavailable as well as chronic stress

‘ a time for finding yourself a year older, and not ah hour richer’

Scrooge can turn a happy event into a negative one due to his obsession with money

Could possible represent Dickens’ father’s opinion as all he wanted was to get out of debt + debtors’ prison

‘Scrooge never painted over old Marley’s name…It was all the same to him.’

Scrooge and Marley are doubles: ‘it was all the same to him’

Doubles is a very gothic technique

“He was an excellent man of business on the very day of his funeral’

Shows narrator’s conversational tone and dislike of Scrooge through sarcasm

To Scrooge, everything is about ‘business’. Even on the day of his only friend’s funeral, he was more interested in profit.

‘he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled’

Fred is a narrative foil to Scrooge. Scrooge’s physical coldness reflects his cold heartedness, while his physical warmth reflects his warm heartedness.

‘glow’ suggests he radiates heat and has connotations of light and positivity.

‘I have always thought of Christmastime as a good time; as a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time’

Fred’s delight in Christmas is opposite to Scrooge’s hate. Adjectives ‘kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant’ suggests positivity.

Fred portrays Dickens’ opinions, characteristics he believes everyone should have.

‘Are there no prisons…Are there no union workhouses?’

‘The TReadmill and Poor Law are still in full vigor then.’

In Scrooge’s eyes, no one should worry about the poor because there are institutions and laws for them: ignorance, no need for reform

‘Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds and thousands are in want of common comforts.’

Adjective ‘common’ shows the reader that the poor only want these things that should be normal and available for all.

‘If they rather die, they better do it and decrease the surplus population’

Scrooge makes explicit reference to the Malthusian idea that the population must decrease to create better conditions.

Dickens was openly opposed to this view and challenges it throughout the novella.

‘it is not my business’

Scrooge is not interested in helping others as it is not his ‘business’: won’t help people unless he profits from it

‘Foggier yet, and colder. Piercing, searching, biting cold’

Pathetic fallacy: metaphorical fog hides ‘light’/’happiness’

‘Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it’

Scrooge’s money doesn’t bring him happiness.

His house is dark, reflecting the darkness in his character + the gothic atmosphere of the house.

Dickens uses classical binary opposition (light/dark) to symbolise good and evil

‘There’s more of gravy than of grave about you!’

Pun shows Scrooge trying to rationalise Marley’s ghost.

At the time a Christmas Carol was written, Victorians were very interested in Darwin’s book of Evolution: some doubted the supernatural while others believed in it more.

‘I wear the chains I forged in life’

The ‘chains’ represent Marley’s greed. His worldly greed costs him spiritually. Scrooge is making his own ‘chains’ with his own ‘covetous’ ways. If Scrooge carries on, he will end up like Marley.

‘Mankind was my business’

Marley’s ghost is distressed at the suggestion that he was a ‘good man of business’. The word ‘business’ reflects Scrooge’s earlier response to the portly gentlemen: Marley’s poor decisions in life are haunting him in death.

‘like a child; yet not so like a child’

Oxymoron shows how confusing the supernatural are. SHows how the Ghost of Christmas Past is timeless.
Describing the ghost as like a child and an old man is suggestive of the journey

‘from the crown of its head there sprang a clear jet of light by which this was all visible’

‘clear jet of light’ sounds biblical and angel like

‘clear’ suggests purity, holiness and a symbol for goodness

‘he has a special desire to see the spirit in his cap’

Scrooge is afraid of the Spirit’s light

‘The jocund travellers came on; and they came, Scrooge knew and then named everyone’

Boys were ‘jocund’ (merry) because they get to go home for Christmas. Scrooge stays in school ‘alone’

‘wept to see his forgotten self as he had used to be’

Scrooge ‘wept’ when reminded he spent many hours ‘alone’ at boarding school.

‘Forgotten’ suggests he didn’t feel loved/valued because he was so much of an afterthought

‘Here he was, alone again’

Scrooge was isolated from a young age.

Verb ‘again’ suggests this is not the first time he is ‘alone’: happens regularly

‘but she had a large heart’

Scrooge’s sister who he loved with his whole ‘heart’ died in childbirth and he is angry at his nephew for basically killing her.

‘shaking hands with every person individually as they went out’

Fezziwig is the type of boss Scrooge could be but chooses not to. By shaking hands with ‘every person’ he works with it shows respect and that he sees them as an equal, which he does not do with Bob.

‘The happiness he gives is quite as great as if it cost a fortune’

Seeing Fezziwig’s joyful Christmas celebration reminds Scrooge ‘happiness’ doesn’t have to cost a ‘fortune’

It also shows Scrooge that it is possible to partake in holiday cheer cheaply, it is more important to act generously and show appreciation than spend money’

‘‘What idol has displaced you?’ He rejoined. ‘A golden one.’’

Scrooge replaces love with money and becomes obsessed. Scrooge grows up poor and when he earns money, he is scared of losing it.

Scrooge was sent away to boarding school where he spent many hours ‘alone’: lack of care may be why he is so isolated.

Money was the only thing he could rely on growing up.

“Sprinkled incense on their dinners from his torch.”

Sprinkling incense was a way of making disagreements vanish and spreading good spirits​in the Victorian times​. ​ ​This Ghost emphasises that it is working to spread positive spirits to the “​to a poor one most” ​because they have a greater need.

“a feathered phenomenon.”

About the Cratchits’ goose, this shows how grateful they are and was central to the theme.

“There never was such a goose. Bob said he didn’t believe there ever was such a goose cooked.” 

Portrays the goose as being so delicious and plentiful that it is considered almost miraculous, despite their poverty; it highlights the joy and spirit of their Christmas celebration despite their limited means

“If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.”

The ghost warns Scrooge that without change, Tiny Tim will die, highlighting the consequences of an unfair social system

“I’ll give you Mr Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast.”

Bob Cratchit- this shows his loyalty and. gratitude to Scrooge who he defends against Mrs Cratchit's criticisms.

“This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy.”  

Ignorance symbolizes all of the things that we ignore and to which we remain oblivious. Want represents everyone's need for more. Dickens uses children to symbolize the sins of man, because at that time he was writing there were too many homeless and poor children roaming the streets of London.

“I am prepared to bear you company, and do it with a thankful heart.” 

To the ghost of christmas yet to come- shows that already within moments of meeting him Scrooge is willing to listen and perhaps repent his sins and change

“It’s likely to be a very cheap funeral,” said the same speaker; for upon my life I don’t know of anybody to go to it.”

Two business colleagues- Scrooge's business colleagues suggest that no one cares that Scrooge has died.

“I see, I see. The case of this unhappy man might be my own. My life tends that way, now.” 

S. to the Ghost of Christmas yet to come- he expresses horror at the thought that his life could lead to a lonely demise, indicating a significant character transformation.

“I wish you could have gone. It would have done you good to see how green a place it is.” 

Bob Cratchit about Tiny Tim’s grave- Tiny Tim's burial place is eden like - as, despite his poverty and place in life, he was good and will be welcomed by god

“It really seemed as if he had known our Tiny Tim, and felt with us.” 

Bob Cratchit about Fred’s kindness. Fred’s kind-hearted nature has a positive influence on people.

“overrun by grass and weeds.”

Describing Scrooge’s grave. There is no one to care for him when he is gone.

“I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”   

Scrooge shows he has truly changed at this point by accepting the lessons of the spirits and learning the true morals and values of Christmas which he will use to redeem himself if given a second chance.

“The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me.”

Demonstrates Scrooge's commitment to change and his willingness to embrace the values of kindness and generosity

“I am as light as a feather’

The simile 'as light as a feather' leads the reader to infer that he has cast off the chains of his earlier way of life (chains that are currently weighing Marley down). Feathers also connote freedom and flight, implying that he is closer to Heaven than he was previously.

“Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all and infinitely more;’

Dickens wanted to be clear at the end that Scrooge did not just claim he had changed, but proved it through his actions. He actively strove to become a good man, and worked every day to be better.

“He knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the Knowledge.”

Affirms Scrooge’s change of character. Demonstrates power of self reflection and change at any point in life.