International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct,London, EC1A 2BN, United Kingdom, 2023 Book Analysis. "Mankind was my business. Fire symbolizes emotion and warmth. Any study of the time will tell you about the working conditions for the lower classes. Pre-modified adjectives create a sensory description -they remind scrooge of the delights of generosity and how it will create happiness. The father of a long, long line of brilliant laughs. The book also explores what you might call the true meaning of Christmas and while this might not be true from a Christian standpoint, from a morality/spiritual view, you could claim that it really does help to make that point. Stave 4 - the final ghost "Quite alone in the world, I do believe.". ", 'A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. A Christmas Carol is a well-loved and commonly read novel that focuses on themes of Christmas and poverty. Stave 2 - the spirit takes him to past Christmases including seeing Scrooge alone at school. Throughout the book, Dickens makes use of metaphors, personification, imagery, and more. Key quotes from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Tiny Tim is frequently referred to in Christian terms - as though his true goodness is close to God. ', Where the portly gentlemen explain to Scrooge about the plight of the poor and the responsibility of the rich to deal with it, In Stave 5, Scrooge begins to redeem himself for all the terrible things he did in the past, Victorian society was still extremely religious at this point and they believed strongly in the impact of sin upon the treatment of one in the afterlife, The way that Scrooge worships money would have been considered as sinful at the time as it is in a way idolising something that is not the holy lord, Stave 5: 'that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge', Stave 1: 'A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping clutching, covetous old sinner! Stave 5 - The response of the portly gentleman to the money Scrooge wants to give him: Scrooge was better than his word. We have never had any quarrel, to which I have been a party. in Its progressive form. It could also show that, as it has been so long since he was happy, he finds it difficult to describe. Marleys ghost is the one that kicks everything off but also acts as a mirror to Scrooge to show him the error of his ways. Stave 4 - About Scrooge's grave: With the title of the book being A Christmas Carol you would expect Christmas to feature prominently throughout the novel. Scrooge is particularly affected by the death, and this is a death he is able to reverse in the future when he amends his behaviour. The declarative 'will' conveys certainty showing how urgent it is that Scrooge change. He doesn't believe it, but when he goes to the window, the street is deserted and dark as nighttime. "It was long and wound about him like a til.". A Christmas Carol is rarely classified as a gothic novel. Of course, the fact that this is obvious does not detract from the big reveal due to the way that Dickens masterfully creates tension. Dickens also suggests that, through his adoration of a false god, he is no longer a good christian. "', The ghost of Christmas present focuses greatly on the Crachit family and how, despite their poor financial situation, In the Victorian era, family and family time were extremely important, particularly around Christmas, ' A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. Thus Dickens is ending with the message that we can all change our selfish ways and be a positive influence. uses long and short clauses to show how busy they are. About Scrooge: As solitary as an oyster., External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge., If they would rather die, said Scrooge, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population., Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it., Marleys Ghost: Mankind was my business., Marleys Ghost: I am here to-night to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate., There was a boy singing a Christmas Carol at my door last night. People can change, but Scrooge has thus far been content with his situation. Watching Scrooge forge his own invisible chain served as part of Marley's punishment for his deeds in life. "[He called out in a] comfortable,oily, rich. The shortness of the main clause at the end makes the message more shocking. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. GCSE (9-1): Literature: A Christmas Carol: Key Quotes: Key Quotes with Analysis 4.7 (15 reviews) Term 1 / 36 'Sole' (stave 1) Click the card to flip Definition 1 / 36 repetition - Isolated, lonely. The verb sparkled has magical and positive connotations, shows Fred is the antithesis of scrooge. In the first stave of A Christmas Carol, the following quote is really important in characterizing Scrooge:. "Every person has a right to take care of themselves. Bell, dong, ding; hammer, clang, clash! Themes= greed and generosity/time. Dickens creates sympathy for the poor, through the Crachit's and their tight knit family. These include Scrooges cold nature, the power of wealth, and loss. A Christmas Carol: Key Moments Being such a short story there is very little that is extraneous. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. The Ghost of Christmas Past is an interesting vision it changes shape and size, it has many arms and then a few, it seems distant and close, old and young in fact it seems riddled with contradictory images. Representing Victorian society. Themes= greed and generosity/Christmas. Dickens, therefore, is attacking the Malthusian capitalist theories. Spirit! he cried, tight clutching at his robe, hear me! Scrooge awakes and finds his room as dark as when he fell asleep at two o'clock. Studying A Christmas Carol? The verb 'shrouded' makes explicit reference to death which is reinforced by the 'deep black' of its clothes. "Are there no prisons?" Stave 2 - the arrival of his sister, Fan 'No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells. Oh, glorious, glorious! This shows scrooges selfishness and his addiction to money with belle feeling replace with money she feels like she doesnt matter to him and that all he cares about is money. Foul weather didnt know where to have him. This is one of Freds lines, and it really helps to highlight the difference in viewpoints between Fred and his uncle. The two children Ignorance and Want represents the attitudes of the rich to the poor in Victorian society. Himself, always. No Way- he tells them that the poor should go and die then there would be less people in the world. The metaphor shows he is rigid in his unfeeling behaviour to others. This went against what Victorians considered to be a 'good death' where you die surrounded by friends and family and then are mourned afterwards. We are reminded of the contrast between the rendered status. Themes= poverty/family/greed and generosity. The words of the charwoman, who disgusts Scrooge, in the rag 'n' bone man's shop reflect the views to which Scrooge subscribed at the start of the novella when he declared that the poor were not his 'business' implying that his only business was himself. This is fitting because it is traditionally colder at Christmas but also because the cold is an apt metaphor for Scrooges personality. On this page, readers can explore the quotes, they are broadly separated into a few sub-categories. phrase on the line at the right. "I am sorry for him; I couldn't be angry with him if I tried. Money 5. Glorious!'. Dickens uses him to enable the reader to see that this is unfair, perhaps looking to make his readers reflect on the high mortality rate amongst poor children. I think this is why the character of Fezziwig exists to show that Scrooge is not representative of all the upper classes. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Accessed 4 March 2023. cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. however, her reference to their father suggests that he had not been kind in the past, thus reinforcing our sympathy. There is no doubt . Bitter- "no wind that blew was bitterer than he. " Scrooge entered timidly and hung . He always did.". He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. As a result of this he was damned to walk as a ghost chained with money boxes surrounding him. Stave 5 - Scrooge's reaction to discovering it is not too late This phrase is repeated to describe both Mrs Crarchit and her daughter. He spreads joy over all like a force of nature. The adjectives: genial show his joy/ cheer, sparkling presents tense- has connotations of light and magic and open emphasises his generosity.Themes= greed and generosity/Christmas. Stave 3 - ignorance and want 'He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. Then, identify each underlined word by writing above it ADV for adverb or ADJ for adjective. This is to illustrate to the rich that they can be part of the solution, Dickens was of the belief that things in society could change and this was something he wished to portray to people to ensure they didn't lose hope, Stave 2: 'I should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk just now', Stave 4: 'Fear you more than any other spectre I have seen. Themes= time/Christmas, "A solitary child, neglected by his friends.". Everyone is entitled to be a little happier on Christmas, and the Ghost of Christmas Present helps them to be so. Marley haunts scrooge- a description of his chains. This almost prompts a realization in Scrooge as he catches on to the fact that his wealth provides him (and indeed Fezziwig) with the power to make people happy. Use if fairy tale convention, shows the story will have a magical ending. Ghost of Christmas Present, Stave 3, he warns that if Scrooge doesn't change himself that "doom" will be in his future. In Victorian times, the deceased were usually dressed in their best clothes for burial but here, Scrooge's clothes after death have been removed and sold for money. ', Stave 1: 'that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellowmen, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. The description of the figure who is both like a child and like an old man, is suggestive of the journey that the ghost takes him on. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! He begins with no compassion for others but eventually learns a better way to live. "His eyes sparkled and his breath smocked.". ``Are there no workhouses? Without the ghost of Christmas future, Scrooge wouldve been unlikely to change. ", "there's a cold within him" that "froze his old features", sociable- "wonderful party, wonderful games, wonderful unanimity". 'Long and wound about him like a tail made of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds and heavy purses.'. The onomatopoetic verb 'gasping' makes the reader explicitly imagine the death, suggesting struggle and pain. () The famous phrase Humbug really means either shame or hoax. Here in this quote, one can see Dickens playing with literal and figurative meanings to great effect. Key quotes from a Christmas Carol- Stave 2, A Christmas Carol Vocabulary, A Christmas Car, myPerspectives, English Language Arts, Grade 8, myPerspectives: English Language Arts, California (Grade 9, Volume 1), myPerspectives: English Language Arts, Grade 7, myPerspectives: Grade 10, Volume 2 California Edition, A Christmas Carol - quotation analysis-Stave. They were a boy and girl. The ghost of Christmas future symbolizes death and the mistakes that are sure to haunt him after his death. If he had been, he'd have had somebody to look after him when he was struck with Death, instead of lying gasping out his last there, alone by himself.'. The most clearly religious image though is how it wears a tunic of purest white, as though it is a pure, innocent Angel sent to guide him. The silent. Dickens' use of the word 'good' repetitively to demonstrate the juxtaposition between Scrooge at the beginning of the novel, where Dickens describes Scrooge as a 'covetous old sinner'. Scrooge signed it. forgiving- "to Mr Scrooge, the founder of the feast.". This quote shows Ebenezer Scrooge's miserly, miserable attitude toward Christmas at the opening of the story; he is obsessed with his money and has no time for festivities, family, or joy. Scrooge has undergone a metamorphoses - he has literally been reborn as a new man. This is said by criminals who plundered/ stole from scrooge after he died. Stave 4 - Tiny Tim's burial place is eden like - as, despite his poverty and place in life, he was good and will be welcomed by god. Stave 4 - in the rag 'n' bone man's shop Tiny Tim's comment is generous in spirit, seeing his disability positively as it will remind others of the true meaning of Christmas by allowing them to think of Jesus on Christmas day. Instant PDF downloads. The use of light throughout the novel suggests the truth/ the right path which Scrooge at first does not want to see. 'It was a strange figurelike a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man'. My life tends that way, now., Bob Cratchit about Tiny Tims grave: I wish you could have gone. 2003-2023 Chegg Inc. All rights reserved. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. "The noisy little Cratchit's were as still as status". By the time he reaches the third ghost The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come he orders the ghost, using the imperative phrase Lead on! He is in control now, and wants the change desperately enough to be forceful about it. Given an unexpected opportunity to communicateperhaps as a Christmas miracleMarley feels determined to help Scrooge and he warns him here. Stave 5 - Scrooge walks the streets enjoying the company of others. scientist; is. The repetitive structure and short exclamations create the sense that he cannot put into words how happy he is. So we have tried where possible to focus on the most vital sections of the novella. As it is used in line 32 , the word reticent means the opposite of. Summary. The metaphor shows that the school didn't help any student achieve their dreams, instead it destroyed their lives as they could not fulfil their potential. Stave 2 - Belle breaks off the engagement. A Christmas Carol (Key Quotes) 'Mankind is my business' - Marley (Should be Scrooges and everyone elses too) 'I will honour Christmas in my heart and, and try to keepit all the year' - Scrooge (Willing to change, become better person) . Are there no prisons?'' The adjectives squeezing and wrenching, etc., relate to how one should imagine him with money, refusing to let go of his wealth. said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. The noun phantom has negatives connotations in contrast to the more positive spirits - once again, warning scrooge of his fate if he doesn't change his ways. ', Stave 5: 'No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold;', Stave 5: 'He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world.'. The final ghost appears as a phantom a spectre dressed in black: clearly an image of The Grim Reaper himself. jovial voice.". 'The Ghosts' in A Christmas Carol (Key Quotes & Analysis) Dr Aidan 22.1K subscribers Subscribe 47K views 3 years ago Studying A Christmas Carol? Ultimately he tries to extinguish the ghost's light. Scrooge's sympathy for himself leads to sympathy for the carol singer from the night before. In what ways does the text indicate lbn Batutta's social status? Hallo!" Click the card to flip Definition 1 / 5 The simile has a snake like connotations, Marley is a symbol of evil. Stave 2 - Scrooge's response to the ghost saying that it was only a small thing that Fezziwig did. ', People with lots of money already are more likely to be greedy for more, not thinking about sharing that money with others effectively. Invite Scrooge to come for Christmas dinner 4. Oh! Of course, the suggestion that people might be talking about him is beastly to Scrooge. Gone are the puritanical values that banned Christmas, and, also, to a large degree, gone as well are the memories of Christmas as a serious and religious celebration of the birth of Christ. Themes= Christmas/greed and generosity/family. The ghost of Christmas presents it sitting on a throne of food. The adjective monstrous, creates a negative impression of the man, almost evil, and reinforces Dickens message that it was the ignorance of the rich that created many society's problems. You are changed. I am not the man I was', When Scrooge sees the name on the gravestone, he realises that time for change is limited, The ghost of Christmas past shows Scrooge some memories that may have been lost to time, Stave 2: 'each one connected with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long forgotten', Stave 4: 'Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only? The dying fire at the beginning of the novel symbolizes Scrooges lack of either. Only financial gain. the adjective idle reveals scrooge believes the poor are lazy and are to be blamed for their own situation. A Christmas Carol Quotes 50 of the best book quotes from A Christmas Carol 01 Share "God bless us every one!" Charles Dickens author God person A Christmas Carol book Tiny Tim character christmas blessings concepts 02 Share "Every traveler has a home of his own, and he learns to appreciate it the more from his wandering." Charles Dickens author Themes= greed and generosity/ time. The Christmas Spirit By Section Stave One: Marley's Ghost Stave Two: The First of the Three Spirits Stave Three: The Second of the Three Spirits Stave Four: The Last of the Spirits Stave Five: The End of It By Character Ebenezer Scrooge Bob Cratchit Fred Jacob Marley The Ghost of Christmas Past The Ghost of Christmas Present All rights reserved. A merry Christmas to everybody! Dickens uses Scrooge to show the extent of change that is possible in a small amount of time. Stave 3 - Scrooge asks if Tiny Tim will live, having been moved by his goodness. Stave 5 - pathetic fallacy LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Christmas Carol, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Jacob Marleys demise is possibly part of what shaped Scrooge into the person that he is. "the phantom slowly, gravely, silently approached", A description of the ghost of Christmas future; he is the darkest of the spirits, a reminder to scrooge of his terrible fate if he fails to learn his lesson. A merry Christmas to everybody! Dickens uses these characters to challenge popular preconceptions that the wealthy had about the poor - preconceptions which led to support for the poor law and the workhouses. For each of the following sentences, identify the subject of the verb in parentheses. Describes Fred, who is a symbol of Christmas spirit. Whatever the genre. These morally repugnant, ugly people are simply treating Scrooge the way he treated others and he is horrified. Flint is a type of ground that makes it difficult for life to grow kind of like how scrooges character allows no imaginations to grow. It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand. The idea that they shake hands with each person 'individually' shows the humanity with which they treat everyone - they do not see the poor as 'creatures' He did it all and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father., He knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the Knowledge.. Dickens was openly opposed to this view and challenges it throughout the novella. They are mans. In defending Fezziwig, he is taught a lesson and makes him think about how he treats his clerk, leading to his second moment of regret in which he'd like to 'say a word to two' to Bob. The boy is ignorance. The Ghost of Christmas Present greets Scrooge from on top of a pile of luxurious Christmas fare. In this case, Ebeneezer and Fezziwig are both business owners with employees, but where they diverge is in their treatment of others and in their outlook on life. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Version 1 December 2016 . ), phrases like holding a candle for someone mean to remember them, while candles are used in c. Scrooge finishes the stave by putting out the candle, which shows him symbolically putting down his past leaving behind the resentment he has harboured at having lost his childhood to neglect. He has learned his lesson and been transformed from darkness into light - which is reflected in the world around him. Draw an arrow from each underlined word to the word it modifies. Tail has connotations of the devil- reinforcing evil image. patience and hope fro them. The Total Abstinence Principle was a phrase used for teetotallers (people who refrained from drinking). He always did!". 'A Christmas Carol' is a widely studied book filled with memorable quotes. How does the speaker begin and end "Incident"? What I think is really clever is that the story is framed so that when we see the ghost of Christmas past, seeing the things that shaped Scrooge into the man he is at the beginning of the play starts to let us feel sympathy for him so that when he is offered a second chance as a reader, we are glad he gets to redeem himself. When you analyse poverty in A Christmas Carol, you may want to reference the setting as well as using direct quotes from characters. Did the Anglo-Saxon period last between 449 and 1066? Scrooge realises that his love with money is the reason he pushed everyone away. It is uncared for just as he was uncared for, gasping out his last alone. Who suffers? One interesting feature of this stave relates to the fact that two people die in it: Scrooge and Tiny Tim: the richest and the poorest people in the book. Lord bless me!" It is really in this Stave that Dickens brings to life the Christmas that we all know and love today: the food, the presents, the games, the snow, and good feeling, the parties and generosity. Dickens uses the scene to allow the reader to feel sorry for the child 'Scrooge' whose loneliness was not by choice - although the adult Scrooge's is. "Reeked with crime, and filth, and misery". Dr Aidan, PhD, brings you the second video. Hallo there! In many ways, it is the child who can most tug on Scrooges heartstrings. Key quotes from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The tone is impatient as he does so. So while he did not invent these particular traditions many people credit him with popularizing them. This scene is very clever as well because not only does seeing the Fezziwigs party give Scrooges character the chance to see how much power he wields and how that influence could be used but it also offers us the opportunity to see some of the aspects that shaped Scrooge into the person that he was. With in-depth analysis, this video aims. The verb sparkled has magical and positive connotations, shows Fred is the antithesis of scrooge. The use of the word 'alone' is repeated showing again that selfishness will lead to a life of loneliness. The key theme for Dickens is that money does not lead to happiness, Greed is the single factor that is responsible for the breakup of Scrooge's marriage, 'Another idol has displaced me a golden one', Stave 2: 'The happiness he gives, is quite as great as if it cost a fortune', The Cratchit family are used as a depiction of a family in poverty, More than any other time in history there was a huge divide between classes, the lower classes lived in deperate poverty and were in want while the upper classes enjoyed a life of luxury, Stave 1: 'Many thousands are in want of common necessities, sir and many hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts', Scrooge's staff selling off his old goods, Victorian aristocracy were very keen to remain ignorant about the sufferings of the poor. The workers will be repairing the building. This is evident in his early relationship with his nephew Fred. "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. It would have done you good to see how green a place it is.". () A famous geographer Thomas Malthus came up with the theory that the poor were just surplus population and thus should be left to their own devices - even if this meant letting them die. He listens for the church bell but when it comes, it strikes twelve. The Fezziwigs throw a party and treat everyone the same - no matter their status. Compare the different settings in "Grape Sherbet" Describe each setting using details from the poem. Stave 4 - in the rag 'n' bone man's shop Copyright2007 - 2023 Revision World Networks Ltd. Though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it! This is another quote where Dickens draws on the semantic field of the cold weather. This quote from Fred shows him having opposing views to his uncle scrooge, Fred tries to make Scrooge someone who enjoys christmas however it is not him that makes scrooge appreciate it. It also explains why he becomes hard and sharp like a flint, later on. Shows Bob's place of work, and shows scrooges harsh treatment on him. Dickens was familiar with the terrible working conditions of the poor and campaigned for education of children. Fred is unrelenting in his attempts to change his uncles way of thinking. Themes= time/Christmas/generosity and forgiveness. The metaphor shows the are poor but make the best of a bad situation, always smiling and showing they are grateful for what little they have. Scrooge. QUOTES THAT SHOW POVERTY IN A CHRISTMAS CAROL, Macbeth quotes, Key quotes from Macbeth, Macb, 2019 GCSE AQA Triple Higher Biology Paper 2 (, Paper 2 Chemistry Topics 6-10 TRIPLE AQA GCSE, Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar Grade 8, Grammar Exercise Workbook, myPerspectives: English Language Arts, California (Grade 9, Volume 1), myPerspectives: American Literature, California Volume 2, Holt McDougal Literature: American Literature Grade 11, Texas Edition. The repetition of the word 'little' reinforces to the reader how young and innocent and undeserving of death was Tiny Tim. Scrooges changing attitude is never better highlighted than in his initial responses to the three ghosts.