Dickens' Presentation of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol
The novel 'A Christmas Carol', by Charles Dickens was written in 1843
and reflects poverty in Victorian times where poverty and ill health
was very common. The book was published a week before Christmas and
was presented in a small gold and crimson book - the perfect Christmas
gift. Dickens wishes to use the character of scrooge to make the
reader see that being selfish and cold hearted gets you nowhere and
encourages everybody to be generous and loving. The novel is about a
cold and mean hearted man called Ebenezer Scrooge who runs a business.
Scrooge is very tight fisted and one Christmas is visited by the ghost
of his dead business partner, Jacob Marley. The spirit shows him how
he is now, and how he will become as he grows older. There are 4
ghosts that show him his past, present and future. When visited by the
spirits, he is given a chance to change. He turns from a mean old man
to a generous one, to the delight of his family and new found friends.
Dickens uses many devices to introduce Scrooge's character, such as
similes, metaphors and comparisons to the weather. The presentation
that Dickens gave of Scrooge was so clear that "Scrooge" is still used
in language today, having the meaning of someone who is tight with
money, cold hearted and who hates Christmas. I will be examining these
points in my essay.
Victorian London was a very difficult time to live in. If you were
poor, then you had virtually no hope of becoming someone of any
wealth. Rich people didn't care for the poor and needy, and kept
themselves to themselves. Poverty was a big issue in Victorian times
and ...
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...ou can change for the better and
make people happy. Dickens' presentation of Scrooge is a very good one
because it shows you how seeing a different side of things, no matter
how big or small, can make you a completely changed person. People in
this day and age can relate to the settings of this novel also, as
poverty and ill health is around today too. It encourages people to
give to the homeless and be aware of people not as fortunate as
themselves. The character of Scrooge and the way he changes is a moral
lesson for the reader. People can be quite mean with money, but if an
illness such as cancer touches a family member of that of a friend,
they tend to give to cancer charities more. Overall Scrooge is a
character that everybody remembers because he is a very realistic one,
and people see parts of themselves in him.
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.
point that he is trying to make is that he is so mean that his
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 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
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.
it. At the end we find him that he had changed his old corrupted moral
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.
life is like a road where there’s all these signs and ruts, but there are all these turns to take you to a new place but few ever have the right car or enough gas to get there, but most never put the effort. Thus, making change rare and valuable to the point where certain things are the usually the only cause of transformation.These being a personal conflict between the characters and themselves or family where their emotions are battling it out, to the point where they resource to a new way or basic change. Then there’s also change where you feel helpless of what you're doing and can’t control it so you make an alternation of the rut you're stuck in to assure you that you are in control. finally, there's probably the most common one a visit