A Christmas Carol - Materialism & Wealth

Question 1

‘Cashboxes, Keys, Padlocks’

Answer 1

stave 1, describing marley’s ghost:
* semantic field - chained back by all the misuses of wealth (‘cashboxes’ vibes with wealth)
* marley is now trapped in purgatory
* moral lessons for readers - misuse of wealth can cause the downfall of a person

Question 2

scrooge knows fezziwig has the power to make them ‘happy’

Answer 2

stave 2, scrooge describing fezziwig
* fezziwig - presented as someone who uses money in an exemplary way, example to readers of being wealthy and moral
* happy vs money - scrooge understands happiness is what it is important and what they do w/ money, not the amount of money
* warehouses still have a sense of ‘pleasure’

Question 3

‘misery within them… interfere, for good, in human matters… had lost the power forever.’

Answer 3

stave 1, marley describin the other ghosts:
* emphasises that physical & material comforts are unimportant
* spirtual values - more important, e.g. kindness, is better for everyone including the person doing it, more essential for moral and religious reasons

Question 4

‘own heart laughed’

Answer 4

stave 5, describing scrooge:
* repetition of ‘good’ - narrator describing scrooge after he donates to charity –> readers directly see the immediate effect –> emphasis on what happense when ur kind
* scrooge becomes happy - honouring spirtual values makes people content and satisfied –> reinforces idea that emotional values are important in the end –> develop into a better person

Question 5

‘eager’, ‘greedy’, ‘gain’

Answer 5

describing scrooge:
* belle leaves him = recognises no longer noble
* direct consequence of scrooge’s fixation with wealth
* highlights unfavorable effects of wealth