Christmas Carol Flashcards
What are the key words
Dehumanisation
Redemption
Exploitation
Avariciousness
Mouthpiece
Moral rebirth
Parsimonious
Allegorical Novell
Destitute
Social inequality
Context for Christmas
Charles dickens
Religion
Industrial Revolution
Poor law
Thomas Malthus
Dickens intentions
Allegorical novella with a didactic purpose about virulent consequences of avoriceness and frugality in society. He critiques the upper classes for their apathy toward the poor and their complicity in dehumanising laws and social constructs
Ghosts are vehicles for conveying his condemnation of ignorance and callousness prevalent among the upper classes. The ghosts are dickens mouthpiece deliving message of societal reform
Squeezing wrenching grasping clutching covetous old dinner
Asyndetic listing: words ongoing Scrooge is unrepentant “sinner”
7 adjective 7 deadly sins
Symbolises how the rich are more inclined towards moral transgression than the poor
“Squeezing” “wrenching”
Shows Scrooge struggles to see the detrimental consequences of his frugality
Asyndetic listing
7 negative adjective
Connote a struggle
“Quite a baby merry as a school boy
Infantile language indicates his rebirth as both a baby and schoolboy commote innocence and youth. How repenting his sins has regained his youth fullness
Scrooge has been reborn ultimate rebirth
Christian ideas of rebirth
Rebirth and connection of god connected to Jesus Christ rebirth- Scrooge holds promos of salvation for the poor
Jesus-father
Scrooge-paternal father of tiny Tim
Infantile language
Character comparison
Christianity
I wear the chains I forged in life I made it link by link
Chains are interonecting just like markets pain and suffering
Market is warning Scrooge of covetousness is interconnected to anguish
Chain is restriction and entrapment. Marley “dragging “ the chain is a conceit for the consequences of being parsimonious
Covetousness
Desire for wealth
Perpetuating
Spreading
Mankind was my business
Economical language: dickens first mouthpiece critiquing society obsession wealth and relentless pursuit of profit
Foreshadows the grim fate awaiting Scrooge if he fails to learn from the eternal punishment of Marley- “cheap funeral”
“Marketing the corpse”
Syntax: indicating the hierarchy’s order of values that Scrooge and by extension should value
Economical
Foreshadow
Syntax
Syntax
Order of words
It was a strange figure like a child yet not so like a child as like an old man
Juxtaposition between child and old man
Metaphorical for Scrooge
Appears as an “old sinner” yet is actually vulnerable and isolated akin to how he was as a child this underpins the interconnectedness of time emphasising inevatebly shapes the present and influences the future
Revising Scrooge child hood ghosts aim to catalyse a regression in him prompting a return to his former compassionate self and setting him on the path to redemption
Context about age and time: the mixture of both youth and age was a fascination with the Victorian era - motif of time
Bright clear jet of white
Purest light
Past
Motif of light: permeates through the novella light evokes images of hope and radiance symbolising how the ghost is a beacon of enlightenment tasked with illuminating scrooges path towards moral awakening and transformation
Purest: celestial image of heaven and purity from sin. His aim is to resurface Scrooge memories in order to purify him from previous sins
Foreshadows Scrooge spiritual poverty and journey towards transformation while emphasising forgiveness
Motif of light
Celestial image
Foreshadows
Glowing torch in shape not unlike plenty’s horn
Present
Symbolism of plenty’s horn: cornucopia symbolises nourishment and abundance
Enphasises there is lots of resources to be shared and societal neglect is unjustifiable scathing of Malthusian
Malthusian disregard plight of poor and destitute. Ghost shows there is ample wealth to alleviate suffering
Motif of light: symbolises symbolic illumination Scrooge will undergo
If he be like to die he better do it to decrease the surplus population
Present
Repetition: Scrooge quote from stave one emphasises his callousness against plight. Malthusian ideology. Inevitable out come of “surplus population”
Highlights ignorance of these views
Ghost is mouthpiece for inhumanity and apathetic perspectives
Plosive: litter the quote harshness accentuates the callousness of bourgeoisie views of destitute rich cause exploitation of children
“Shrouded in deep black garment”
Future
Symbol of death: reminiscent of the grim reaper ambiance of finality and forboding. Reminding Scrooge of the urgency of repent
Image on black: dark ominous image created by back juxtaposes the motif of light. Scrooges ironically solitary death is imminent. Scrooge longed for “solitary” the ghost is showing him the consequences of his selfishness
Ghost is used as catalyst for Scrooge transformation
