How effectively does the writer, Charles Dickens, create a feeling of
antipathy in the reader towards the character, Scrooge in the opening
stave of A Christmas Carol?
Christmas has always been a happy, joyous occasion, an occasion, on
which everyone expresses feelings of goodwill and happiness. This is
probably true for everyone but Dickens’ character Scrooge. It’s now
common terminology for anyone not being in the ‘Christmas spirit’ to
be referred to as a Scrooge. This just shows how much of an impact
Dickens’s novel has had on Christmas and people.
At the start of stave 1 we hear about Scrooge’s old business partner,
Marley who had just recently died. “Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut
up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on
the very day of the funeral, and solemnised it with an undoubted
bargain.” This idea of Scrooge not going to Marley’s funeral so he
could work and make a bit more money just shows how heartless and
uncaring he can be. Anyone reading this would most likely feel some
antipathy to Dickens’s character because of his greed and love for
money at a time to show some respect.
Later in the first stave, we come across a description of Scrooge.
He’s said to be “a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone. Scrooge! A
squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old
sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck
out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an
oyster.” This heavy use of negative adjectives helps the reader
understand just how awful a person Scrooge is meant to be. The similes
used also help exaggerate just how bad he is. “Hard and sharp as
flint” can be interpreted as someone so hard to communicate with and
get to know deeply, and the sharp is probably referring to how hurtful
he can be.
Also, Scrooge is portrayed as an ugly person, with the use of pathetic
fallacy to express this, “the cold within him froze his old features,
nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek…” This effect helps
create negative feelings towards his character as it’s using the fact
he’s cold-hearted to further exaggerate his bad looks. By using this
idea, Dickens creates feelings of antipathy towards Scrooge.
Another example of the use of pathetic fallacy to create feelings of
antipathy towards Dickens’s character is “No warmth could warm, no
wintry weather could chill him.” What I think Charles Dickens means
here is that Scrooge is such a cold person and he won’t ever be
anything less than cold. The second part of the second is to show that
Dickens displays guilt as the main form of how Scrooge’s character develops into a compassionate person by the end of the novella. As Scrooge feels this quilt, it's purely based on the visions that the ghosts provide which further causes Scrooge to realise the consequences of his actions. His alienation from specific characters that he used to love such as Belle, “...has displaced me…” whom left Scrooge, due to his desire for money and wealth which grew. This desire grows with him as he is rejecting the christmas joy and spirit as he continuously states that Christmas is a “humbug,” but by stating this it provides comparison. Dickens depicts that Scrooge has become a better person because of fear but in the end he has become kinder. As the
the book A Christmas Carol. Dickens wanted the reader to understand the businesses in life. Is to respect others in life the way you want to be treaded. Scrooge was a mean man who was full of money and did not care about others.
things to feel happy about in life. If we want to live a happy life,
'I am here tonight to warn you, that you have a chance and hope of
In Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Scrooge's selfish, cold, melancholy nature is contrasted with Fred, Scrooge's light-hearted nephew. At the beginning of the novel, Fred and Scrooge are complete opposites, but, as the novel progresses, they become more and more alike. Throughout the novel, Dickens uses Fred to show Scrooge's transformation from a cold, unfeeling man to a man of warmth and compassion.
In this essay I will be talking about how Dickens presents Scrooge’s fear in A Christmas Carol. It is about how Scrooge’s change throughout the novel through various techniques Dickens uses to convey this.
Ebenezer Scrooge is the major character in the story, A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol is about how a “cold-hearted, tight fisted, selfish” money grabbing man is offered an opportunity of a life time, to change his behaviour, attitude... to have a second chance in life.
At the beginning of the novel, Dickens presents Scrooge as an outsider by describing Scrooge as physically Cold hearted and unemotional person. This is seen in the quote, "A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him.". The words ‘frosty’ and ‘wiry’ shows the uses of adjectives and metaphor. Dickens uses these figurative techniques to emphasize to the reader how Scrooge has secluded his soul against society as a result of his own actions. Dickens uses dramatic irony here effectively to symbolise how the rich who are characterized as the construct Scrooge, who is presented as a gothic and supernatural being. This is ironic as the rich in Victorian society are
Robin Sharma, a famous writer, once said, “Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.” Many people believe that change is a very big decision. It takes time and can get a little messy on the way. The truth, however, is a small decision, Like donating money for the poor in need. Unfortunately, in the play, A Christmas Carol, the main character, Scrooge, is a selfish miser. Fortunately, by the end of the play, Scrooge realizes that he was selfish and no good and changed his ways. For example, he donated to the poor.
Another way to show this is the way he talks to people, e.g. when his
small its as if it only has one coal. Being so cheap and not wanting
The true description of Scrooge first appears about quarter way through the book, before then there are only a few minor references to his character. The description begins metaphorically as it features the words “ A tight-fisted hand at the grindstone”. Its metaphorical because it is trying to portray that Scrooge is literally as tight as the hand to the grindstone. Then soon after this seven adjectives follow, “ Squeezing, Wrenching, Grasping, Scraping, Clutching, Covetous, Old sinner”. They are used effectively as each one has an individual meaning describing seven trates of Scrooges character, which begins to give the reader a visual picture of how the character may conduct himself. So far all qualities of Scrooge have been negative and so it continues. Then the writer brings in the object “flint” and states all the negative quality’s of flint then compares them to Scrooge.
Some traditional stories are so influential, they are born again in modern-day books. Such as, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Ebenezer Scrooge lives in London in the 1800’s. He is selfish and greedy. His ex-partner comes to visit him as a ghost. He warns him that he will be visited by three spirits: The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present, and The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Just like A Christmas Carol, How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss, The Grinch is mean. He tries to steal the Who’s, from the imaginary town of Whoville, Christmas spirit and happiness. Cindy Lou Who helps The Grinch become a better person. And of course, The Grinch’s dog, Max, tags along.
In this essay I am going to distinguish the personality of Scrooge also show you how he was at the beginning of the novella in the 1st Stave to how he changes at the end in the 5th Stave.
Like students, many stories that have heroes follow rules. Student usually follow rules to please their teachers and principals. Stories that have heroes also follow a very specific format, to please the reader/audience. This format is called “A Hero’s Journey”which includes the following restrictions; Status Quo, Call to Adventure, Assistance, Departure, Trials, Approach, Crisis, Treasure, Result, Return, New Life, and Resolution. However, if a student twists a rule a bit, they won’t get into much trouble. Therefore, when a story doesn’t follow the format precisely, is it still considered a hero’s story? The story at question is ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens.