Mood Of A Christmas Carol Essay

How does Dickens convey mood and atmosphere in ‘A Christmas Carol’?

‘A Christmas Carol’ is a novella by Charles Dickens which has a moral about the spirit of giving and being kind to one another and raising awareness of poverty in the 1800’s. The main character is a grumpy man who only cares about money, called Ebenezer Scrooge; he has no Christmas spirit and is very selfish. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by a series of ghosts: his old business partner who died, Jacob Marley, The ghost of Christmas past, present and yet to come. It was written in 1843, when Britain had the Industrial Revolution, which means the city was very polluted, Dickens describes some of the situations throughout the novella to make the reader feel guilt for everyone

living in those conditions, “ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air”. The mood and atmosphere changes throughout the staves, this could represent Scrooges’ emotions at the time and the emotions of the people around him.

In the extract, Scrooge is in his counting house on Christmas Eve. The atmosphere is miserable and dark, like Scrooges’ personality, there’s not much life in the streets which is the opposite of what the streets were supposed to be like in the 19th century- everyone was close together and the streets were crowded. “Fog and darkness thickened”, the use of the word “thickened” creates tension and makes it sound worse. Dickens may have created tension at the moment as a warning of the horror Scrooge will experience back at his house with Marley and the rest of spirits that are coming. This quote could also be raising awareness about the pollution the city had to the reader and for the more wealthy people as they were the ones who could do something about it and were causing it from the factories.

Although it’s dark and miserable, there is still a “great fire”. Throughout the novella there’s at least one flame of light apart from in stave four, ”Scrooge had a very small fire but the clerk’s fire was so much smaller that it looked like one coal(…)a bright clear jet of light(…)a mighty blaze went roaring up the chimney” Dickens could be representing the fire as Christmas spirit, although at the start Scrooge doesn’t have any, he wasn’t the one who lit it, “Some labourers were repairing the gas-pipes, and had lighted a great fire in a brazier.” This shows although people are working, they still can have Christmas spirit and not focus on just money.

In stave three Dickens presents the mood and atmosphere as being happy and alive.

It starts off with the second of three spirits: The spirit of present. Unlike the other spirits, he is very welcoming and the mood is warming and jolly, “Bright gleaming berries glistened. The crisp leaves of holly, mistletoe, and ivy reflected back the light, as if so many little mirrors had been scattered there; and such a mighty blaze went roaring up the chimney, as that dull petrification of a heath had never known in Scrooges time, or Marley’s, or for many and many a winter season had gone (…) there sat a jolly giant, glorious to see; who bore a glowing torch (…) Come in! And know me better, man” Stave three is like the middle of stave two at Fezziwig’s party. The Christmas spirit is full, everyone is having a good time and the Fezziwig’s are welcoming and warm-hearted, like the spirit of present, “Fuel was heaped upon the fire; and the warehouse was as snug, and warm, and dry, and bright a ballroom, as you would desire to see upon a winter’s might (…) shaking hands with every person individually as he or she went out, wished him or her a Merry Christmas.” This could of been shown to Scrooge to make him realise and notice the people all through his life that have been happy and had Christmas spirit. Dickens also could have included this to show the wealthy people that you don’t have to be ignorant and selfish and you could be welcoming to the poverty. Dickens believed and wanted the

wealthy to be generous to the poor. The Fezziwig’s party in Scrooges past could represent the future Dickens wants: the wealthy welcoming everyone and the mood to always be happy.

The atmosphere in stave three is a contrast of stave four, especially in the Cratchits household. The Cratchit family represent the typical family in the 1800’s- poor but hardworking. Dickens family, when he was a child, is like the Cratchits as Dickens father went into financial debt resulting in them becoming poor and him having to work at a young age. Martha, one of the daughters of the Cratchits had to work as well, this shows that in those days, there wasn’t one breadwinner of the family. The Cratchits in stave three were full of Christmas spirit, “At last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the hearth swept, and the fire made up (…) apples and oranges were put upon the table, and a shovel-full of chestnuts on the fire. Then all the Cratchit family drew round the hearth, in what Bob Cratchit called a circle, meaning half a one; and at Bob Cratchit’s elbow stood the family display of glass.” This makes the Cratchits Christmas seem warm, even though it may not be as they were poor and couldn’t afford to have much heat. This relates back to stave one when Bob Cratchit couldn’t afford to have any more warmth as Scrooge kept all the coal to himself.

Stave four is the complete contrast of stave three- depressing. It starts off with “the Phantom slowly, gravely, silently approaching,” this creates suspense for the reader and horror. It then describes the spirit as being “in a deep black garment” this could symbolise death so Scrooge knows and is being warned that the future will have a lot of deaths. This could also mean the horror waiting as black represents horror and that Scrooge should be fearing the future. We know straight away that there’s not going to be any happiness and Christmas spirit as the setting is described as “the darkness by which it was surrounded.” The word darkness could represent the future and how it will be a very miserable, dark place and will affect everyone, not just Scrooge. It also could be representing the mood of everyone, because of Scrooge. The Cratchits aren’t having a good time and the atmosphere is described in a completely opposite way from stave three, although they are both in the same place, “Quiet. Very quiet. The noisy little Cratchits were as still as statues in one corner”. The use of short sentences at the start creates tension to the reader. We already know from the one sentence that there’s going to be something not right and sad as the Cratchits are always lively and happy so to see them silent shows that the mood is depressing as when someone are unhappy, they are normally quite quiet and don’t want to speak. The spirit of yet to come is trying to get the point across to Scrooge that if he doesn’t change, this is what the future will be like.

In conclusion, the mood and atmosphere changes throughout the staves.

In stave one it is quite dark and miserable, like stave four. This shows the future will be the same as his life now but the people around him will be affected by his mood and emotions. Stave two is very jolly, showing Scrooges past was happy and he once was a happy person. The music was loud and a lot of people were smiling and having a good time which is a contrast of stave four in the Cratchits household but when Scrooge dies, everyone is happy and is excited to get a profit and hope, “We may sleep tonight with light hearts, Caroline!” Stave three is like stave two, everyone is having a good time, this shows Scrooge hasn’t changed the people around him, emotions. The spirit of present is showing that if he changes now, he won’t change everyone’s mood and the atmosphere for good. The atmosphere overall goes from being miserable at first, to happiness and full of Christmas spirit, back to sadness. This shows the past was a happy place and to remind Scrooge he can become happy again if he is reminded what made him

happy.