AQA GCSE English Literature: A Christmas Carol - Key Quotes

Context:

• The novella was written before Christmas in 1843

• Thomas Malthus - an influential believer in a surplus population caused by poverty, Scrooge represents his theory (mouthpiece). This novella is a direct criticism of his theory; Dickens uses him as a message to the middle and upper class.

• John Forster (a friend of Dickens) stated that ‘there was nobody that had not some interest in the message of the novella. It told the selfish man to rid himself of selfishness; the just man to make himself generous; and the good-natured man to enlarge the sphere of his good nature.’ - there’s a message for every man to learn.

• Carols were sung every Christmas: Dickens may have wanted his novella to be retold every Christmas to highlight the importance of charity during these times.

• A stave of music has 5 lines - the novella has 5 staves. Could link to Christmas Carols making the novella joyful and representing the theme of Christmas.

• The novella is easy to follow, and the story is explained during stave 1 by Marley.

• The novella is an allegory, it’s a story of redemption, Scrooge represents the wealthy members of society, and Dickens uses Scrooge to represent how these members of society are usually uncaring of the poor.

• Fred and Fezziwig represent the more generous middle class who look out for others, throwing parties for their friends. Fred contrasts Scrooge.

• “Ignorance” represents those in society who are uneducated and unaware.

• The poor law was amended in 1834 to reduce the cost of helping the poor, those desperate were sent to workhouses.

• The Victorian upper class had a very laissez-faire attitude towards others.

• Disraeli believed we had 1 nation, however, we had 2 divided by wealth.

• Ignorance and want are symbols of problems caused by poverty. The spirits say that it’s mankind’s fault they exist. The Ghost of Christmas Present represents the problem that is still present.

• Ignorance links to Freud’s theory, Scrooge repressed feelings of joy, care and love, come back to him in his “dream-like state” from the spirits.

• Scrooge’s childhood represents Dickens. Both worked in workhouses and were poor. Reflects how it affects people differently.

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Themes:

Generosity:

• “Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! A squeezing, grasping, clutching.” - Scrooge represents the opposite of generosity in every way possible.
• “The happiness he gives is quite as great as if it costs a fortune.” - Scrooge reflects on Fezziwig and how generous he had been and how money wasn’t the source of his employee’s fulfilment. Scrooge realised he hasn’t followed in Fezziwigs footsteps.
• “If it only puts him in the vein to leave his poor clerk fifty pounds.” - Fred wants Scrooge to give Bob Cratchit some money as he knows they’re struggling. “Vein” also is something that carries blood towards the heart, by giving away money, Fred could be suggesting it will make his heart grow.
• “I’ll send it to Bob Cratchits, whispered Scrooge, rubbing his hands and splitting with a laugh. He shan’t know who sends it. It’s twice the size of Tiny Tim.” - Scrooge realised the reward for generosity isn’t financial, it’s the feeling you have inside.

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Regret:

• “Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down and never raise them to that blessed star which led the wise men to a poor abode!” - Exclamatory sentence shows Marley’s regret for how he lived his life. Also referencing the old Christmas story, it shows the key to helping the needy.
• “They sought to interfere, for good, in human matters and had lost the power forever.” - Scrooge sees the ghosts suffering all regretting their past actions.
• “I wish, but it’s too late now… There was a boy singing A Christmas Carol at my door last night. I should like to have given him something that’s all.” - Use of the title in this quote brings attention to this quote, it’s important as it shows Scrooges’ regret for his actions and shows him begin to realise he needs to change.
• “Might have called him father and been a spring-time in the haggard of winter in his life.” - Scrooge regrets not staying with Belle, the motif of whether to represent Scrooge.

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Moral Responsibility:

• “Doomed to wander through the world and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared.” - Marley describes how humankind must care for each other, otherwise they will experience eternal torment. Assonance is used in the first sentence to create a dark gloomy tone.
• “Business! cried the ghost wringing its hands again. Mankind was my business.” - Repetition is used to emphasise how Marley is so distressed by his sins and that to be a good businessman you need to also be a good person.
• “They are man’s…and they cling to me[…] The boy is Ignorance, the girl is Want. Beware them both, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see doom unless the writing be erased.” - “Cling” shows desperation: society needs to take care of these metaphorical children in order to grow. Elipises makes the reader take a second to reflect on what this means.

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The Christmas Spirit:

• “a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time.[…] to open their shut-up hearts freely and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers.” - List of adjectives juxtaposes the ones to describe Scrooge. Fred thinks X-mas Unites classes as rich people are likely to be more generous towards poorer.
• “There was nothing very cheerful in the climate or the town and yet there was an air of cheerfulness abroad.” - Narrator described how the Christmas spirit can transform everything and the power of Christmas, not even to humanity but to the environment as well.
• “Every man among them hummed a Christmas tune or had a Christmas thought and every man on board had a kinder word for one another on that day than on any day in the year.” - Repetition of “every” shows how the Christmas spirit affects everyone no matter who you are.

Characters:

Scrooge:

• “He carried his own low temperature always about with him[…] external heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No wind that blew was bitterer than he.” - Scrooge doesn’t allow external forces to influence his feelings or behaviour, if atmospheric conditions don’t alter him, mere people certainly won’t. Cacophony is used to create harsh sounds, reflecting his character.
• “I don’t make myself merry at Christmas, and I can’t afford to make idle people merry.” - alliteration shows how Scrooge chooses not to be happy at Christmas, he doesn’t try. “Can’t afford” also shows how he’s still focused on money and believes poor people are lazy.
• “Why it’s Ali Baba! Scrooge exclaimed in ecstasy.” - Exclamatory sentences and alliteration reinforce Scrooge’s happiness reflecting his imaginary story character visiting him at X-mas as a child, creating sympathy for Scrooge
• “His heart and soul were in the scene, he enjoyed everything.” - Alliteration emphasises his excitement about Fezziwigs party and Scrooge reflects on a time when X-mas meant enjoying people’s company.
• “If you aught to teach me, let me profit by it.” - Reader can see that although Scrooge wants to learn, his mind still isn’t in the correct place, however, this is progress, and shows hope.
• “I don’t know anything. I’m quite a baby.” - Scrooge has been reborn to be good to the world and learn and grow.
• “A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!” - Overwhelming sentence structure and use of list overwhelms the reader with the negative impression of Scrooge. 3rd person narrative delivers a judgemental and somewhat mocking tone which portrays Scrooge in a negative light. Asyndetic listing of verbs which are all synonyms with negative connotations suggests there’s no end to his selfish actions. The quote is Asyndeton.
• “Made his eyes red” - a colour associated with danger and evil. Creates a gothic atmosphere which was a popular genre- similar description to Frankenstine’s monster by Shelley. This shows how powerful Scrooge’s internal coldness is.
• “Every idiot who goes around with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.” - Humorous line, the reader needs to like Scrooge in some way to be invested in his transformation. Dickens wants the reader to also learn and if the reader just thinks of Scrooge as an evil man, they won’t stop to think about his transformation. Violent imagery, yet allows Scrooge to look more ridiculous than sinister.
• “It’s enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people’s.” -Scrooge chooses to be isolated, hard for the audience to feel sympathy.
• “Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend and sole mourner.” - repetition of sole represents his loneliness.
• “As solitary as an oyster.” - Similie, hard on the outside but foreshadows his later softer inner self.
• “The chain was long, and wound about him like a tail.” - Similie, compares the chain to a snake, which itself is symbolic of the devil. Could represent hell/purgatory which would’ve been made clear as the audience was very religious (Christian).
• “No eye is better than an evil eye dark master!” - again comparing Scrooge to the devil.
• “The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole and was so dense without, that although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms.” - pathetic fallacy creating an uninviting atmosphere. This represents Scrooge’s inability to see the good around him or those suffering. Foreshadowing phantoms. Fog can link to smog in Industrial Revolution
• Weather is used as a motif to represent how Scrooge changes. At the start- “cold, bleak, biting.” After dismissing the charity, “cold became intense” and “fog and darkness thickened.” Towards the end, “No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold piping for the blood to dance to; Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air.”
• “Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with pertinence and grief.” Dickens uses the Ghost of Christmas Present to show Scrooge how unpleasant his behaviour has been we can see Scrooge beginning to wish he could change.
• “You may be an undigested bit of beef.” Scourge is represented as self-deluded by trying to deny Marley’s presence by blaming bad food he’s eaten. He tries to maintain authority over his senses.
• Scrooge is synonymous with greed “squeezing” This could also relate to the squeezing of his heart. In Hebrew, the first part of his name (eben) means stone- reflecting his personality.
• “Darkness is cheap and Scrooge liked it.”
• “Another idol has displaced me. A golden one.”
• “A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!” - seven descriptions represent seven deadly sins: religious connotations.

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Bob Cratchit:

• “tried to warm himself at the candle.” - This shows his warm nature, trying to make the best from not a lot, and “tried” shows his determination to not be brought down.
• “My clerk with fifteen shillings a week and a wife and family talking about a merry Christmas. I’ll retire to Bedlam.” - Scrooge references an insane asylum reflecting his confusion about how Bob can be happy yet poor. Bob reflects on this. The use of the personal pronoun “my” shows how Bob is being owned by Scrooge.
• “When we recollect how patient and how mild he was.” - Bob used Tim’s death as a lesson for his family, and tries to make the best out of a bad situation: even in grief he tries to bring love.

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Fred:

• “I want nothing from you; I ask nothing from you; why cannot we be friends?” - Repetition of nothing shows Fred’s idea of how being generous costs nothing and Fred embodies the Christmas spirit
• “He wouldn’t take it from me, but may he have it nevertheless.” - Fred remains warm and kind to Scrooge after being insulted. The dramatic irony is that this contrasts to stave 5 where Scrooge is kind, whereas the first stave shows Scrooge as greedy.

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The Ghost of Christmas Past:

• “He could not hide the light.” - Scrooge may try and forget his past but they cannot be denied.

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The Ghost of Christmas Present:

• The Ghost of Christmas Present juxtaposes with Scrooge's “open hand” and “tight-fisted”. He holds a mirror up to Scrooge and his outlook “If he had die he had better do it and decrease the surplus population.” He’s prophetic, “Most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.” Ignorance is most important, everyone needs education.

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The Ghost of Christmases Yet to Come:

• “Save for one outstretched hand.” - this could reflect how all Scrooge needed to do was help one person in order to change his future. The verb “save” also plays on this idea. Alliteration emphasises how it was just a tiny thing he could’ve done.
• “Spirit! He cried, tight clutching at his robe. Hear me! I am not the man I was.” - Scrooge is clutching not out of greed now but out of regret.

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Tiny Tim:

• “he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day who made lame beggars walk.” - Tiny Tim reflects wisdom and uses it to think of others, juxtaposing Scrooge.

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

• “Tell me if Tiny Tim will live! Say he will be spared!” - imperative verbs reflect desperateness and regret. Leaves him to reflect on his attitudes to the poor.

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Belle:

• “The contract we made was of when we were both poor. You are a changed man.” - Contract links to money.

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