A Christmas Carol — Quotes Flashcards
“solitary as an oyster”
When Scrooge is described as being as “solitary as an oyster”, this simile illustrates how isolated and alienated Scrooge is from society because of his greed.
“no prisons… workhouses?” -Scrooge
When the Charity men come and ask Scrooge for charity, he says is there “no prisons… workhouses?” This rhetorical question illustrates his support of the 1834 Poor Law which Dickens was criticising.
“small pudding… large family”
“Mr cratchit made the gravy hissing hot, master Peter smashed the potatoes with incredible vigour and miss Belinda sweetened up the apple sauce.
When we can see the lives of poor people like the Cratchit family we find that on Christmas day they had a “small pudding… large family”. The oxymoron “small” and “large” illustrates their poverty but in spite of the poverty they were still really happy and really jovial because they were together as a family, in contrast to Scrooge who had so much, who had “plenty” yet he was very miserable.
despite having a low income, not much food or wealth, having a son and brother who has certain needs, they are still happy together. — redemption, hope, change
The poorest in a capitalist society are quite content while the wealthiest are the unhappiest.
Everyone works together, nothing can defeat them because they are together
“God bless us…!” -Tiny Tim
We can see that in spite of his disability in spite of the challenges he faces, he’s still really really thankful because he says “God bless us…!”
“I wear the chain I forged in life”
Jacob Marley appears as a ghost to Scrooge and he tells Scrooge that he’s going to face punishment. He states that he wears the “chain I forged in life”. This metaphor is really powerful to show Dickens’ rich readers that if they don’t change their ways and if they’re not more charitable, they too will end up like Jacob Marley in the afterlife. The chain is also a symbol of your actions in life. It’s a warning that your chain, or your actions, can drag you down.
“like a child … old man”
The really powerful description of the Ghost of Christmas Past, it is described as looking “like a child” but also like an “old man”. This simile is really powerful because “like a child” represents Scrooge’s childhood so it takes him back to his childhood but also the ghost looks like an old man representing Scrooge at the time he is showing him his past.
“another idol has displaced me”.
Where Belle says “another idol has displaced me”. ‘Idol’ is a metaphor for Scrooge’s love of money which isolates him and also makes Belle, the love of his life, break up with him.
“This boy is ignorance. This girl is want.”
When the Ghost of Christmas Present (“jolly giant”) presents these two horrific looking children and says “this boy … ignorance … girl … want.” These two children represent the consequences of the actions of people like Scrooge. For example them underpaying the workers means that the workers cant look after their children and the children that they produce are like ignorance and want. They can’t go to school so become ignorant and they wear even tattered ragged clothing like the girl Want.
This boy is also a symbol for society. Society is ignorant of the struggles of the lower class, young men and young women growing up in a society where poverty, suffering and young pregnancies have become like a cycle because society ignores it. Their ignorance is because of the capitalist system that creates immense poverty, and improves lives and benefit for people like Scrooge where others struggle to make it. This ignorance creates a cycle.
“this girl is want” represents the want for basic things such as food and clothes that the ignorance of the capitalist Victorian society created in the poor.
Dickens has chosen to represent the plight of society through children in order to persuade. He is pulling on the chords of Scrooge’s heart, but also to make readers aware that there are people like Scrooge in reality, and that we need to take responsibility.
How the last ghost is described
This ghost foreshadows Scrooge discovering how he dies. This is shown through the description of his clothing, it was “shrouded” in a “deep black garment”.
“live in the Past, the Present and the Future”
At the beginning of Stave 5 when Scrooge affirms to himself that he will “live in the Past, the Present and the Future,” Dickens is illustrating that Scrooge was capable of redemption and has now changed and been given a second chance. We can see that he changes, so he represents the ideal that Dickens wants his rich audience to reach.
“Merry Christmas Uncle”
Fred illustrates the importance of Family in the quote “Merry Christmas Uncle,” and also how much he keeps on forgiving and giving his uncle second chances.
“If they would rather die, they had better do it and decrease the surplus population”
Scrooge is speaking from a point of influence by capitalism (victim of capitalism). Capitalism is the ideology that man must look after himself, and that if you’re poor it’s your fault. Therefore Scrooge treats the poor as inhuman, desensitised creatures that he has no responsibility over and this is what this quote reflects. He is saying that poor people are victims and to just get rid of them and forget them but this is ironic because Scrooge here is the victim. He leads an empty life but he is complaining about the population being too high, yet out of all the “surplus population,” he has nobody, he’s a recluse. Surely he needs more population so he can fill that void but being a capitalistic man, all he cares about it money.
“His wealth is of no use to him. He don’t do any good with it.”
We see how others view Scrooge (the protagonist of this novella), but you also see how other people view wealth. In a capitalist society, wealth is viewed predominantly for your own benefit. However, in this quote we realise that his is not the consensus. Other people believe that wealth can and should be used in different ways. They almost see his wealth as being pointless. This quote also shows how Scrooge isa victim of capitalism, but can’t see it until later on in the novella. This quote also shows the nobody likes him and that they view him as a lost cause, and that is why when he changes it is an even bigger deal.
“Hard and sharp as flint”
Objectifying Scrooge as flint, which is a very hard material. Dickens chooses the noun “flint “ to objectify Scrooge as. Flint is a very hard material, which represents that society will never actually get to find who he actually is because people can’t get inside. It is a metaphor for the walls that Scrooge has up, that the ghosts try to break down. Nobody else could break down these walls because he’s not only hard but also “sharp”. This could also suggest that whenever someone got near to Scrooge, they get hurt. One example of this could be Scrooge’s nephew Fred. Every time he gets close, Scrooge pushes back against him.
“Hard and sharp as flint”
Objectifying Scrooge as flint, which is a very hard material. Dickens chooses the noun “flint “ to objectify Scrooge as. Flint is a very hard material, which represents that society will never actually get to find who he actually is because people can’t get inside. It is a metaphor for the walls that Scrooge has up, that the ghosts try to break down. Nobody else could break down these walls because he’s not only hard but also “sharp”. This could also suggest that whenever someone got near to Scrooge, they get hurt. One example of this could be Scrooge’s nephew Fred. Every time he gets close, Scrooge pushes back against him.
