The Three Ghosts Key Quotes

Key quotes → find summary + intent linked

“It was a strange figure—like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man.”

Character: Ghost of Christmas Past

Stave:2

Themes - Redemption + Change, Hope

• Antithesis, symbolises how memory can unstable and like two things at once

• Shows how innocence is affected by experience

• Highlights inhuman, supernatural nature

"Would you so soon put out, with worldly hands, the light I give?"

Character: Ghost of Christmas Past

Stave:2

Themes - Redemption + Change, Hope, Religion, Regret + Grief

• Metaphor , Ghost is here to illuminate his past and show where Scrooge has gone wrong

• Rhetorical question, Ghost challenges Scrooge fear of confronting painful memories

• Memory can be painful but is necessary for growth

• Motif of light

“A small matter to make these folks so full of gratitude”

Character: Ghost of Christmas Past

Stave:2

Themes - Redemption + Change, Generosity, Poverty + Social Injustice

• Epiphany – shows that it is easy to make employees happy.

“Come in! and know me better, man!”

Character: Ghost of Christmas Present

Stave:3

Themes - Redemption + Change, Generosity, Christmas

• Imperative, and Direct address, demonstrates the power that the Ghosts have over Scrooge and their ability to support him through his moral arc

• Ghost of Christmas present shows warmth + generosity - literary foil to Scrooge in Stave 1

“A jolly giant who bore a glowing torch with a cheery voice and a joyful air”

Character: Ghost of Christmas Present

Stave:3

Themes - Christmas, Generosity, Hope

• Alliteration, enhances the spirit’s warmth and vitality

• Torch symbolise generosity, light and festivity

• May show biblical imagery - guiding light

“They are Man’s. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware for I see that written which is Doom.”

Character: Ghost of Christmas Present

Stave:3

Themes - Redemption + Change, Hope, Regret + Grief, Poverty + Social Injustice

• Allegory , a warning about the social consequences of poverty and lack of education.

• The fact that these children are “Man’s” may suggest not just society’s guilt but its power to change their fate.

• The declaration “They are Man’s” places blame on society itself.

“If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

Character: Ghost of Christmas Present

Stave:3

Themes - Redemption + Change, Poverty + Social Injustice, Regret + Grief

• Irony , Scrooge’s earlier words are used to shame him

• Shows how far Scrooge has come on his journey of redemption

“It was shrouded in a deep black garment which concealed its head, its face, its form and left nothing visible except one outstretched hand.”

Character: Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

Stave:4

Themes - Redemption + Change, Regret + Grief, Religion

• Symbolism, describing ghost like it is the grim reaper

• Represents the uncertainty of the future and form is not fully revealed

“I fear you more than any spectre I have seen.”

Character: Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

Stave:4

Themes - Redemption + Change, Regret + Grief, Religion

• Epiphany, Scrooge understands that he needs to change is is opening up by expressing his emotions

• The fear of death drives people towards moral redemption

“Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be only?”

Character: Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

Stave:4

Themes - Redemption + Change, Regret + Grief, Hope

• Rhetorical question, Scrooge is desperate for redemption and hopes his fates can be changed

• There are many ways to achieve redemption