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Charles Dickens and his era
Charles Dickens and his era
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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. In the extract Dickens presents Scrooge’s fear by showing how it’s needed to make Scrooge realise the consequences of life being misused. This is shown in the quote:” Scrooge’s countenance fell almost as low as the Ghosts had done,” this shows that Scrooge is afraid after the ghost has informed him he will be haunted by three spirits. This is highlighted in the words:” Scrooge’s countenance fell,” meaning that even the thought of spirits coming to haunt him makes him fearful of what’s to come. It could also mean that he is not only afraid …show more content…
This is shown in the quote:” Not so much in obedience, as in surprise and fear.” When Marley tells Scrooge to stop when he reaches the window he does as he is told but not because he is respecting Marley’s command but because he is terrified of what he might witness. He is afraid of what it might mean and what it could lead to as “The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste.” Dickens uses the motif of fear to portray Scrooge’s fate if does not change. The words “restless haste,” shows how not only will he be regretful and sorrowful as Marley was but also he will never be free. The phantoms move around desperately wanting to be free in hope that they can change their ways and make up for the things that they didn’t do but it’s too late as they burdened by the weight of their regrets. This foreshadows Scrooge’s fate if he resists change. This gives the reader an understanding and warns modern day readers and the Victorians to change before it is too late. It foreshadows the truth that Scrooge is so afraid of as he stops “not so much in obedience, as in surprise and fear.” Scrooge is the result of us realising our mistakes. And that is what Dickens was trying to …show more content…
This is shown in the quote:” I should have liked to have given him something that’s all,” Dickens uses dialogue and the motif of guilt to portray Scrooges realisation. Earlier on a boy comes up to Scrooge to ask for money but Scrooge refuses. But now he regrets not giving him any money and we see a new developed philanthropic attitude. The words “that’s all,” shows how Scrooge is resistant to appearing emotional as it causes everything that he said before those words to be insignificant as he is guilty that he didn’t realise sooner but refuses to appear weak. The quote “looking about him, after drying his eyes with is cuff,” shows that he is guilty and wishes to change his ways. But in this part of the novel (stave 2) Dickens uses fear in this extract very differently and in a much more subtle way. Scrooge regrets not giving the boy money because after he himself looks to his past after the spirit shows him he realises that the boy asking for money reminds him of how he was when he was younger. The fact that he regrets his previous action shows that he is scared that the boy might turn out like him. Dickens uses Scrooge’s fear as not fear for himself but for the people he has wronged. This also makes the reader reflect on their actions. Which links back to my original point fear is needed to makes Scrooge realises the consequences of his actions but
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
Scrooge was and owner of a factory and made a whole bunch of money, but he did not care about anyone else. “Merry Christmas said his nephew, what right do have to be merry you are poor enough”. This shows that scrooge is mean to family and does not care about Christmas.
If Scrooge did not change his mean old ways, then he is only to look
Why would Ebenezer Scrooge say, "Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead. But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me." He said that because of what the spirits have told them, and that he needed to be a better man. The first spirit showed him his past. The second spirit showed him the present. Finally, the last ghost showed him a shadow of what the future could be. These are some reasons why Scrooge said what he said.
Attitude Toward the Poor in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol Dickens encourages readers to change their views by showing what scrooge is like before, during and after the ghosts have visited him. " A Christmas Carol" is about a horrid old accountant and how people react around him on Christmas Eve. He is visited by 3 ghosts and they try and change his wicked ways. Dickens knows what it is like to work in factories because, as a child. he used to work in one, putting labels on shoe polish bottles.
In Conclusion, in the 1st Stave Dickens presents Scrooge as an evil, aged, prosperous man. As you read the Staves 2, 3 and 4, Scrooge’s behaviour, thoughts and attitude changes gradually. In Stave 2 a quote to show how shrude Scrooge is 'All he could make out was that it was still very foggy and extremely cold' this shows that Scrooge is an unpleasant ‘a covetous sinner’. This has an effect upon the reader as it shows how the cold weather can hurt and be distasteful to people just like Scrooge. Scrooge is described as the weather as he is like it; he hurts the people around him. Finally, in the 4th Stave he changes and he admits it, here is a quote “Spirit!'' he cried, tight clutching at its robe, “hear me! I am not the man I was.” This shows Scrooge is pleading that he has changed. I think he has transformed because of the experience he had by the four spirits.
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
In the beginning of the play in spite of being selfish Scrooge is also cheap, cold-hearted, and cruel. Scrooge behaves in this manner to his nephew, Fred. One way of proving this is when Fred said “Merry Christmas.” Scrooge replied salty saying “Humbug Christmas is just a time for spending and wasting money.” Not only he treats Fred badly but many more people. For instance take one of his quotes towards the Gentleman Visitor, “Are there no Jails for the poor, are there no
In the play, Mr. Scrooge is a greedy man who thinks Christmas is “Bah Humbug!” (Dickens 3). His family has always wanted him to join them for a Christmas feast, but Mr. Scrooge has never wanted anything to do with Christmas. Marley, Mr. Scrooge’s old business partner, didn’t want Mr. Scrooge to end up like him with chains of greed attached to him when he died, so he sent Mr. Scrooge three spirits: Christmas Past, Present, and Future.
“hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse.” “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!” (Dickens, Stave 4, Page 84) Finally, Scrooge changed for good.
In this Stave, Dickens shows the importance of kindness by showing Scrooge’s absence of it and the effects of his harmful indifference. Scrooge is taken into his own past and shown memories of when he was young. The Ghost shows him scenes of when he was small and alone on Christmas. This memory makes him regret his harshness towards a young caroler that had come to his door the previous day. He sees that he lacked kindness and wishes he gave something to the caroler. His indifference towards the caroler insured that Scrooge would remain alone. The Ghost also reminds Scrooge of his beloved sister, Fannie who had died and left only her son. “’Always a delicate creature, whom a breath might have withered,’ said the Ghost. ‘But she had a large heart!’ ‘So she had,’ cried Scrooge. ‘You’re right. I will not gainsay it, Spirit. God forbid!’ ‘She died a woman,’ said the Ghost, ‘and had, as I think, children.’ ‘One child,’ Scrooge returned. ‘True,’ said the Ghost. ‘Your nephew!’ Scrooge seemed uneasy in his mind; and answered briefly, ‘Yes.’” (pg. 33-34). Scrooge’s only connection to his kind and gentle sister is his nephew, who also shares Fannie’s sweet nature. Scrooge is then filled with regret because of his callous treatment and lack of relationship with his nephew, who only wanted to be kind and spread the joy of the season. Scrooge’s sheer indifference and lack of kindness towards his nephew prevented
Charles Dickens’s powerful novel encompasses the notion that generosity involves more than just the giving of money, it requires the giving of one's goodwill and compassion, this required for Scrooge’s own redemption as well as attempting to insinuate within the reader a reflection of their own values and behaviours. Dickens’s novella also acts to warn Scrooge and the audience of the ramifications of their actions if they do not take this into consideration, that generosity always involves more than just the giving of money, it requires the giving of one's goodwill and compassion.
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.
It’s December of 1801 and the whole town is decorating, dancing, singing, and laughing as they get ready for a near holiday: Christmas. All but one pessimistic, obdurate cripple of a man. His name is Ebenezer Scrooge, an undermined old male swathed in dark clothing. He is typically found strolling the streets on Victorian London with poor posture, eyes locked on the cracked sidewalk beneath the soles of his shoes. Slumping along, carolers cease to sing near him and nobody speaks when in his presence. Scrooge is a prejudging business man who hurries to be left alone and disregards cheer. He is obdurate and blind to the consequences of his actions. Sudden wealth brings a snobbiness when his business partner dies, and as a result, his one true love divorces him, sending him into a state of hatred and regret. With this evidence to back it up, Scrooge can be perceived as a negative, crippling man with little tolerance to change. However, things are bound to change with the visitation of the wraiths: the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, an inevitable change that be...
The novel introduces Scrooge as a man of greed. This is shown in the first stave when Scrooge's clerk Bob Cratchit can barely keep warm by such a small fire "that it looked like one coal." Because of Scrooge's greed, he insists on storing up on his wealth by burning less coal, despite it's lack of warmth. Furthermore, one can notice Scrooge's greed as he refuses to give any donation from his surplus wealth to the poor and destitute that the collectors were raising money for. Scrooge's selfish response to the collectors was, " 'I wish to be left alone...I don't make merry myself at Christmas, and I can't afford to make idle people merry..."