Impression Of Scrooge In A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens

SCROOGE
In this extract we are presented with a solitary gentleman named Scrooge. We see that he has an icy and criticising demeanour and his personality warns all human contact to keep its distance. But we also learn he enjoys this wants to keep it that way. This and all the other clues lead us to believe that Scrooge is an outsider, a miser and in general a mean human being that no-one likes or wants to talk to.
In the opening paragraph Dickens uses imagery to create a vivid impression of Scrooge. He is described as ‘a tight fisted hand at the grind-stone’, and this metaphor suggests that he is hard working and very focused on his work, we see this in the ‘…hand at the grind-stone…’ quote. Also though ‘tight fisted…’ show us that Scrooge isn’t willing to give or spend much money and shows he is miserly. We are also told that he is ‘hard and sharp as flint’ and this simile adds to the previous image by showing us that he is obviously very serious about things and doesn’t care what repercussions his actions cause for other people, thus reinforcing his image of miserly and taken up by his work.
A list that seems potentially endless makes us think that

the list of things wrong with scrooge doesn’t stop, thus showing us that Scrooge hasn’t just started being a miser. He has been one for many years obviously. Verbs are used as adjectives, invoking a feeling that everything he does is terrible and but also reinforcing that the only cares about taking from people.
Each sense is appealed to in turn this has the effect of bringing the reader into the scene. It helps create an atmosphere for the reader to dive into and helps them truly understand what is going on and how Scrooge is in person. It is also a good device to help hook the reader and make them want to find out more about scrooge. The reader can picture his nipped…nose’ and his ‘shrivelled… cheek’ this helps them overall get a better view of Scrooge but also reflects his personality, we see this because he is described as cold and so are his features.
One example of how dickens us temperature to emphasis scrooges personality is using the phrase ‘The cold within him froze his old features’.

This phrase shows that scrooge is a heartless person because there is a cold within him, which is usually shown in inhuman creatures or cold blooded creatures, such as lizards and snakes. Another phrase Dickens uses is ‘he iced his office in the dog… thaw it one degree at Christmas’ This metaphor makes us feel that scrooge is so cold he literally causes frost to form in his office on thaw bad days. But then Dickens backs this up by saying that he didn’t heat up a single degree during a festive time showing he is always like this. It is made worse by using the example of Christmas when everybody is happy and loving he is

not.
We see in this part of the text we see that people are actively avoiding Scrooge. This, not only causes others fear or disgust, but also makes them physically have to stop what they are doing just to avoid Scrooge we see this in the quote ‘Even the blind men’s dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts’. This shows that Scrooge is so evil and hated that even dogs know exactly what he is like and try to avoid him, much as humans do.
The fact that the dialogue we are presented with is one that never actually happens or has happened is interesting because it shows that the greeting that normal people usually bestow upon others were never used on Scrooge. Thus intensifying Scrooge’s image for us by removing him from even being portrayed as a social creature. As well as this, the dogs would say, “No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!” By saying this the dogs are comparing people with no eyes, blind people, people who are seen as disabled and maybe helpless to Scrooge who would seem the opposite in his position of wealth. But in this case they are showing us that they think people should rather have no eyes than to have eyes like his, evil ones.

Also, this situation is one that people may assume that Scrooge does not like or at least the reader would not like. But ‘what did Scrooge care! It was the very thing he liked. …, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call “nuts” to Scrooge.’ Show that Scrooge almost relishes in it! To take it further ‘nuts to Scrooge’ is basically saying that you should keep away from him and not interact with him. This is worse than we think because it is the knowing ones that are saying this. So, even the people that seems to know a lot or everything are advising to stay away from him. Though it could also be taken in the context of Scrooge enjoying it and it being very acceptable to him.