GCSE English Lit Quotes - A Christmas Carol

“I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel!”

The use of similes show his joy is almost childlike, he is rediscovering innocence

“Light” contrasts with Marley’s chains, showing he’s free from guilt

Dickens uses this to show that redemption brings genuine happiness

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”

This emphasises that scrooge is trying to change

Reflects Dickens message that charity and compassion should be year round

Shows that scrooge is embracing empathy, memory and human connection

“Hard and sharp as flint”

Flint produces sparks - foreshadows that Scrooge can still ignite warmth.

Suggests he’s jagged and damaging to others.

“Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?”

These rhetorical questions reveal Scrooge’s cold acceptance of cruel institutions.

They show how he avoids personal responsibility by relying on harsh Victorian systems.

Dickens uses them to criticise society’s treatment of the poor.

“Decrease the surplus population”

Suggests that scrooge sees poor people as disposable objects, not human beings

Highlights his cruelty, selfishness and lack of empathy.

Dickens uses this to criticise societal attitudes that ignore the suffering of the vulnerable

“I wear the chain i forged in life”

The metaphor of the chain shows that Marley’s greed and selfishness has trapped him in eternal suffering

Dickens uses this image to warn Scrooge and the reader about the dangers of living a selfish, uncaring life.

“This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want.”

Ignorance represents the lack of education, (the boy), Want represents poverty (the girl)

They are shocking and vulnerable, showing the real consequences of neglecting the poor.