A Christmas Carol

Question 1

What does Dickens use Scrooge’s character to criticise

Answer 1

The divide between those who have money and those who do not
(He is criticising the attitudes of the upper classes towards the poor)

Question 2

What is the purpose of showing Scrooge’s transformation from being a miserable, isolated person to a caring, warm hearted good one who gives money to the poor

Answer 2

That us as the reader can all be like Scrooge and give to the poor
If Scrooge (who starts off much worse than any reader) can do it, the so can we
Dickens wants to use the book to change the attitudes of the rich towards the poor

Question 3

At the beginning of the Novella, Scrooge is associated with lots of cold/ dark weather. What are the connotations of these

Answer 3

His heart is ice cold
He has a cold personality so is unpleasant to be around

Question 4

What is Scrooge a symbol of

Answer 4

Selfishness and apathy (the antithesis of the Christmas spirit)

Question 5

Finish the quote describing Scrooge in Stave 1
‘As solitary as an…’

Answer 5

Oyster

Oysters are unpleasant and slimy on the outside and are isolated in their shell just like Scrooge however they have the potential to turn into a pearl. This simile is hinting at the potential for Scrooge’s later transformation to become a much more pleasant, kind, friendly person.

The adjective ‘solitary’ emphasises Scrooge’s loneliness

Question 6

Why does the reader feel empathy for Scrooge when the Ghost of Christmas past shows his time at school when he was younger

Answer 6

We see how his father treated him very badly- he was left at school at Christmas all alone and only his sister cared about him. Therefore he was brought up with a lack of love/ care and not shown the true values of Christmas

Question 7

“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”
What theory is Dickens alluding to that he disagreed with

Answer 7

Thomas Malthus
Scrooge represents his belief about letting the poor die to help the population however Dickens objected his views and believed that there was enough food for everyone, it just needed to be shared out equally

Question 8

Adjectives to describe Scrooge at beginning of Novella

Answer 8

Tight fisted
Miser
Miserable
Isolated
Unfriendly
Lonely
Miser
Solitary
Cold
Unlikeable

Question 9

Adjectives to describe Scrooge at end of novel

Answer 9

Happy
Merry
Kind
Friendly
Understanding

Question 10

Who is Scrooge the antithesis of

Answer 10

Fred (Fred represents Christmas spirit)

Question 11

Similes Scrooge describes himself as at end of Novella

Answer 11

I am as light as a feather (no longer weighed down by money and feathers also symbolise floating- he is closer to heaven instead of hell which will please Christian readers)

Happy as an angel (contrasts to earlier simile of Scrooge as a sinner)

As merry as a schoolboy

Contrasts with ‘as solitary as an oyster’ from stave 1

Question 12

Key quotes describing Scrooge in stave 1

Answer 12

‘Squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scaling, clutching covetous old sinner!’
Long list of adjectives displays Scrooge as a character whose intention is to grab every last penny from anyone he encounters. The verbs have a semantic field of unpleasantly touching with force symbolising that Scrooge is trying to get every last value out of money that he can. They also imply that he tries to take every last bit of energy out of everyone he is around
‘Covetous cold sinner’ has biblical connotations and goes against God’s commandments

‘Solitary as an oyster’

‘Hard and sharp as flint’- hard suggests lack of warmth to others as flint is sharp and has connotations of pain. Nevertheless it can be used to light a fire and bring warmth foreshadowing how Scrooge has potential to and will later transformer into a warmer hearted person

‘Darkness is cheap and Scrooge liked it’- Scrooge is presented around the imagery of coldness and is a metaphor for the weather. Pathetic fallacy is used to represent his unpleasant cold heartiness. The adjective ‘cheap’ also shows the extent at which Scrooge cares about money

Question 13

What does Fred represent

Answer 13

What a good person should be like and how we should behave towards one another
Also represents Christmas spirit, joy and kindness

Question 14

How do Scrooge and Fred contrast

Answer 14

Antithesis of each other
Warm/ cold imagery- Fred metaphorically (and literally) warm whilst Scrooge described with imagery of bitter coldness (and is literally cold from lack of heating to save money)
Fred embodied Christmas spirit and a good Christian whilst Scrooge goes against the Christmas spirit and what a good Christian should be like

Question 15

What does Bob Cratchit represent

Answer 15

The exploited, underpaid, hardworking lower class of society
We feel empathy for him the way that he is treated by Scrooge

Question 16

Which 2 men represent good Christians

Answer 16

Fred and Bob.
They are both willing to forgive Scrooge.
Fred continuously invites Scrooge over for Christmas and Bob never complains about his underpay.
They are both very kind and loving to those around them and see Christmas as a time for family

Question 17

Word beginning with ‘A’ to describe type of novel (same as LOTF)

Answer 17

Allegorical

Question 18

Even though Scrooge seems lonely and isolated at the beginning, why don’t we feel empathy for him

Answer 18

It seems as if he has chosen to be like that
He is still cared about and shown love by other people like Fred who invited him round for Christmas, it’s his choice to reject the offer

Question 19

Which chapter does Fred invite Scrooge round for Christmas in

Answer 19

Chapter 1- Christmas Eve, he turns up to Scrooge’s offfice
At this point Scrooge is a very unlikeable, isolated character which strongly reflects how he is presented with Fred- his responses are very contrary to everything Fred says including ‘bah humbug’

Question 20

True or false, as the novella progresses, Scrooge learns that it’s love and compassion not money that brings people happiness

Answer 20

True
Including the places and memories he sees with the ghost

Question 21

True or false, Dickens manipulates time within ACC

Answer 21

True- all 3 spirits + Marley visit on the same night (Christmas Eve) despite Marley telling Scrooge that the ghosts will visit on 3 successive nights.
Scrooge then has Christmas Day to redeem himself

Question 22

What are the 2 children called that The Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge

Answer 22

Ignorance and Want

Question 23

True or false, revealing Ignorance and Want goes in line with the tone of what we have previously just read in the novella (being shown the happy Christmas scene at Fred’s by the Ghost of Christmas present)

Answer 23

False
It is a jarring change in tone as Ignorance and Want are described very unpleasantly, including being wretched and frightful which is completely out of sync with the earlier celebrations

Question 24

True or false, Ignorance and Want have been dehumanised by poverty

Answer 24

True
They’re described as ‘wolfish’ ‘yellow’ ‘meagre’ ‘ragged’ ‘scowling’

Question 25

True or false, the description of Ignorance and Want (which is quite unpleasant) is aimed to shock the reader

Answer 25

True

Question 26

True or false, ignorance leads to want (like the 2 children with the Ghost of Christmas present)

Answer 26

True
Education is a tool to break the cycle of poverty but if poor people can’t get education then they will forever remain unpleasant

Question 27

3 ways Dickens displays theme of social injustice

Answer 27

Scrooge refusing to give money to poor
Ignorance and Want
Thieves dividing up and selling Scrooge’s belongings at the end

Question 28

What is stereotypical upper class perception on the poor at the beginning of the Novella represented by Scrooge

Answer 28

They should either be in workhouses, prison or dead and are poor due to being lazy
(However we later see that this isn’t true and Scrooge’s lack of good pay to Bob Cratchit is responsible for their family being poor)

Question 29

Peter and Martha both work to make money to support their family (the Cratchits) What is this an example of

Answer 29

Child labour

Question 30

True or false, Scrooge has the resources needed to improve the lives of the Cratchits however it’s up to him whether he decides to do so

Answer 30

True
(The lives of the poorer people are dependent on the compassion of those better off- it is dependent on the kindness of society as to whether Tiny Tim can get enough money to be properly looked after in order to live)

Question 31

True or false, through Ignorance and Want Dickens shows that children who are born into poverty and denied access to education have no chance of improving their situation and are stuck in poverty all their lives

Answer 31

True
It is generosity and education that will break the cycle of poverty- the only option is turning to crime in desperation

Question 32

What was significant about the Poor Law 1834 (context)

Answer 32

Removed government support for people with little money
The only option was workhouses which had horrendous conditions

Question 33

True or false, Dickens believed in Malthusianism

Answer 33

False- he strongly opposed it
(The Malthusianism theory believed that poverty was caused by an excess of people and the only way to reduce it was by reducing the population e.g letting the poor starve to death)

Question 34

What year was A Christmas Carol published

Answer 34

1843

Question 35

Name for era that A Christmas Carol was set and published in and Dickens lived through

Answer 35

Victorian era

Question 36

What is the name for the type of prison that Dicken’s father was put into

Answer 36

Debtors’ prison

Question 37

What is used to symbolise Marley’s greed during his life

Answer 37

The description of him wearing heavy chains with ‘cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds and heavy purses wrought in steel’
He is weighed down by his bad deeds as all the items are related to money and business

Question 38

Complete the quote of Marley’s Ghost when he visits Scrooge in Stave 1. ‘I wear…’

Answer 38

…the chain I forged in life
(It has caused hike suffering in hell and he is warning Scrooge to change his ways)
(Dickens is also referencing Catholic belief of Purgatory where the ‘evil’ dead go and there is great suffering before they can be purified and go to heaven- Marley hasn’t been accepted into heaven because his deeds are too awful so instead he has to suffer and ‘wander the world’

Question 39

Where was Dicken’s father sent to when he was 12 and why (context)

Answer 39

A debtor’s prison for failing to pay off his debt meaning that Dickens had to work in child labour in hellish conditions at a young age

Question 40

A Christmas Carlo context

Answer 40

Dicken’s father was sent to a debtor’s prison therefore Dickens had to work in child labour at a blacking factory aged only 12 years old- the conditions were absolutely horrendous
Dickens experienced poverty first hand and lived close to the workhouse so saw the immense suffering
Dickens wrote ‘A Christmas Carol’ at the end of the Industrial Revolution where there was cramped housing and overpopulation (people moved from countryside to cities to find jobs as the industries stopped becoming heavily based off agriculture)
Written in post Industrial Revolution society
Thomas Malthus had the view that poverty was the cause of overpopulation so we must let the poor die (Dickens was against this)
1834 Poor law
Many thought that the poor were lazy and did not deserve any money donations/ charity
Ragged schools were set up to provide basic education for poor- Dickens supported this because he thought that the best way to solve poverty was to educate the poor