Stave Four Analysis

Quotes

‘Phantom/ Spectre’- supernatural, scary, mysterious, nerve-wracking, different, abnormal, intangible, illusionary, difficult to interact with

‘Scatter gloom and mystery’ – solemn, serious, spooky, gothic, death, despair, misery, confusion, silent, intimidating

‘He could hardly stand’ - with the other spirits he wasn’t fearful, he enjoyed it and joked, now he is terrified and scared to stand, intense presence

‘I am prepared to bare you company’ willing to change, wants to understand, curious, accepting of change/ progress

‘I thought he’d never die’ - cruel, rude, upsetting, lacks sentimentality, cold, emotionless, abrupt, lacks reverence and respect, uncaring, you reap what you sow, disrespectful, underlying implication, antithesis of what we would hope conversations about our death would be like, clinical, no friendship or love for him, lonely, laughing and mocking the dead

‘Obscure part of town’ – troubled, filthy, crim, death, disease, barely surviving, illegal activities, severe poverty due to capitalism, dickens sympathises with the poor

‘Alone by himself’ - even when he died, he spent his last few moments completely alone, nobody cared enough o visit or help him, disliked, he has family who didn’t want to see him, more concerned with robbing him and making profit off his death, than respecting him as a dead man

‘He lay there in the dark empty house’ - nobody will find his body so no one can take care of him, give him a real funeral and let him rest at peace

‘I beseech you’ – desperate, begging, lacking, poor in this sense

‘So merciless a creditor in his successor/ sleep with light hearts’ – takes weight of their shoulders knowing he’s dead, relaxes/calms them, people are glad he is dead/ wanted him to die, were waiting for it, has no mercy, unkind, brutal, savage, barbaric

‘The kind hand trembled’ language changes completely, opposite, comforting, kind, peaceful, calm, welcoming

Summary

The mysterious Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come takes Scrooge into the future to witness different conversations about a dead man. No one cares that this man has died, and the thieves have so little respect that they have stolen the clothes from his corpse. In contrast, the Ghost then takes Scrooge to see the Cratchits who are deeply upset because Tiny Tim has died. Finally, Scrooge is shown a gravestone with his own name on it. He realises he is the dead man whom the people were talking about. He promises to change his ways.

Context

Supernatural- the supernatural wasn’t common to the Jacobeans therefore would have scared them and made them listen as Dickens used fear to get them to understand what he was trying to convey and make them better people