key quotes a Christmas carol quotes

Old Marley was as dead as a door nail

door nails are changed after they are dead (hammered into something) symbolising how Marley is really dead and changed after dead

hard and sharp as flint

this phrase describes Scrooge’s character and emphasises his coldness and unfeeling nature

solitary as an oyster

The simile underlines Scrooge’s underlying coldness and isolation, calling him an oyster, suggesting he has a hard exterior and a softer inside. the pearl inside an oyster takes 7 years to grow, which links to Marley, who died seven years ago, and now scrooge is starting redemption.

decrease the surplus population

the noun surplus suggests that scrooge believes the poor are useless and unneeded. using the verb decrease is quite violent dehumanising those who were poor

Darkness is cheap and scrooge liked it

Reveals scrooges charictor as a miser may also represent hus inner self

I wear the chains i forged in life

Brings in the first reall theme of consiquence chais represent the burden of his own greed