A Christmas Carol - 10 Quotes

Question 1

‘if they would rather die, they had better do it and decrease the surplus population’

Answer 1

stave 1, scrooge:
* speaking from capitalism influence - views poor as inhumane, as being poor is their fault = no fault
* irony - scrooge views poor ppl as victims, but scrooge is victim = empty life, has no one in his life out of the ‘surplus’ pop

Question 2

‘I wear the chain I forged in life’

Answer 2

stave 1, marley:
* ‘chain’ = good & bad actions, warning of actions weighing someone down
* carries burden of what happened in life into afterlife

Question 3

‘His wealth is of no use to him. He don’t do any good with it.’

Answer 3

stave 3, fred:
* how other ppl view wealth = not everyone thinks of it as smth for personal benefit
* should & can be used in other ways = his wealth is pointless
* shows scroohe is victim of his own wealth
* hope - scrooge seems like a lost cause = his change is massive

Question 4

‘This boy is ignorance. This girl is want.’

Answer 4

stave 4, ghost of christmas present:
* ‘boy’ = ignorance of society & upper classes to struggles of lower class & young ppl in poverty
* ‘girl’ = want of basic necessities, suffers bc of ignorance, girl represents their vulnerability
* children - makes reader feel idea of innocence & helplessness of poverty

Question 5

‘Hard and sharp as flint.’

Answer 5

stave 1, describing scrooge:
* ‘hard’ = lack of warmth, empathy, compassion
* ‘sharp’ = pain, no mercy to others
* ‘flint’ = used to create fire, potential to become a warmer and better person
* trapped inside walls he made

Question 6

‘I am as light as feather,’

Answer 6

stave 5, scrooge:
* free from the burden of greed
* change from previous attidtudes
* repetition - convincing himself of what he has become
* or like a realisation
* exclamatory - excitment