A christmas carol: April assessment.

Question 1

Characters in chronological order

Answer 1

Scrooge, Charity workers, Fred, Bob, young Scrooge, little fan, belle, the cratchits, tiny tim, scrooge

Question 2

Scrooge

Answer 2

• “decrease the surplus population”
• Scrooge is victim of estab
• scrooge has been manipulated by malthusian philosophy held by high society, and is a metaphor for the middle class which has been manipulated to act as a messenger for the establishment, creating a fractured society.
• application of this is the business jargon ‘surplus’ showing he sees people who prove of no value to him (the poor) as an expendable object. has a fixed ideal of a society

Question 3

charity workers

Answer 3

“are there no prisons?”

• Scrooge is a misanthropic character at the beginning of the play.
• there is a failure to seperate the poor from criminals, showing scrooge to be painstakingly naive
• ‘prisons’ idea that scrooge wishes for a physical barrier in order to fit his regimented societal ideals
• representative of how poor were constantly living under threat for something they cannot help.

Question 4

Fred

Answer 4

“though it had never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket”

• fred is a philanthroic puritan as he distances himself from gold or silver. fact he deems that a necessity represents the power wealth has over your character in victorian society.
• ‘put’ represents lack of government investment in the poor in society which is metaphorically represnted by fred
• Dickens is saying xmas is not for profit

Question 5

Bob

Answer 5

“the clerk in the tank involuntarily applauded”

• dickens conveys the realities of the fractures social divisions creates
• as soon as someone of his social class enters the room, he acts upon impulse, despite never behaving such away infront of middle class scrooge.
• ‘clerk’ is omission of bobs name, showing how scrooge sees no human value in his existance as a poor person.

Question 6

young scrooge

Answer 6

“a lonely boy was reading near a feeble fire”

-somewhat shows scrooge’s journey to be priviledged. here he is in the same position as many poor people but his social status has allowed hi to be propelled to priviledge.

Question 7

belle

Answer 7

“another idol has displaced me”

• lack of specific details, using ambiguous terms suggests a removal of identity/association from scrooge
• ‘displaced’ is a chemistry term, showing how this wasn’t even a choice for scrooge, money was always the stronger force

Question 8

the cratchits

Answer 8

“a small pudding for a large family”

• juxtaposition between small and large reflects the imbalance between the nature of bobs work compared to the salary he gets payed by scrooge
• contextually, this could be seen as a socialist argument from scrooge, as it seems he is disgusted at the current capitalist, unfair system.

Question 9

tiny tim

Answer 9

“i see a vacant seat”

• forces scrooge into an impulsive sense of nostalgia concerning little fan’s death, making him lament her death
• ‘vacant’ is a business jargon, money related term. still this sense that scrooge’s transformation isn’t fully complete and expereiences still have to be put into terms of wealth for him to truely understand the pain
• reveals the ugly reality of a malthusian school of thought

Question 10

Scrooge

Answer 10

“i’m going to raise your salary”

• fact that its being raised is a contrast to everything that was previously small about bob’s life. symbol of scrooge’s appreciation for the fact that bob has lived a reduced life
• ‘salary’ reps bob’s worth as a person scrooge now sees past the walls of victorian misconception.
• message from dickens that despite this redemption, the fight for a bettr world must co tinue as the rich still have the power over the poor, contextually.