Christmas Carol Key Quotes Flashcards
Analyse quote: ‘If they would rather die they had better do it and decrease the surplus population’
-poor people who don’t want to go to workhouses should just hurry up and die
-referencing to Thomas Malthus who argued that at some point there is too many people for society to support
-being very harsh however you may wonder that there are people in the audience who looked at poverty around them and secretly agreed with what he said
-Scrooge is a proponent of workhouses and does not understand that everybody in society has a responsibility towards each other
Analyse quote ‘ the boy is ignorance the girl is want’ ‘most of all beware this boy for on his brow I see that written which is doom’
-highlights the two biggest ills in society = ignorance of the problem and the fact that so many children were in need of even the most basic necessities
-turns there presence into a more apocalyptic warning
-ignorance is erases unless people wake up to and understand what is happening humanity will be doomed
- we must educate poor otherwise they are a burden to society
-also represent child labour symbolise what’s happening to poor
Analyse quote- ‘I wear the chain I forged in life’
-Shows ongoing drudgery of acting out consequences of being a miser
-‘ chain’ used as a symbol for consequences of selfishness, he’s a prisoner, tied down and forced to walk the earth
-what you do in life shapes how long you chain is, every chain link is all of the sins committed when you were alive
Analyse quote : ‘Darkness is cheap and Scrooge liked it ‘
-he’s presented as a miserly character even his money does not even bring him happiness
-dark which reflects the darkness in his character, creates a gothic atmosphere which was a popular genre in Victorian age which would have been fitting for a ghost story
Analyse quote - mr and Mrs fezziwig ‘shaking hands with every person individually’
-treat everyone the same no matter their status
-uses them to represent what employees should be like
-‘individually’ shows the humanity with which they treat everyone
-opposite (antithesis) of Scrooge as an employer
-respect, generous
Analyse quote ‘dressed poorly in a twice turned gown but brave in ribbons’
-family make the best of things to celebrate despite their poverty
-‘brave’ suggests cratchits approach to life is noble and admirable, not being defined by poverty
Analyse quote ‘ jolly giant’ ‘Holly, mistletoe and ivy’ ‘plenty’s horn’
-could be represented as Santa, all about generosity, and Christmas spirit
-green plants could be symbolic of new beginnings and redemption
-plenty’s horn symbolic of abundance and nourishment alluding to fact ghost will spread good will
Analysis of quote ‘an antique scabbard but no swords was in it’
-there is no time for conflict at Christmas, appearing as symbol of peace
-the fact that the scabbard is there shows conflict may have existed but should be removed and forgotten
-presents Christmas as time for love and happiness
‘Long and wound about him like a tail’ ‘cashboxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers’
-‘tail’ it’s become part of his body it’s inescapable, weight of responsibility of actions in his life but also suggestive of a snake which is symbolic of the devil
-ideas about purgatory and hell would have been recognisable to the Christian reader, would have made allegory more frightening
-all money financial things represent greed
‘From the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light’ ‘a great extinguisher for a cap’
-illuminating the past , different memories
-‘light’ is associated with purity innocence and childness
-however once the light burns out it’s gone for ever showing the importance of reliving memories but also that the childhood memories will stay with you and shape you forever
-light represents Christmas spirit
Analyse quote : “The phantom slowly, gravely, silently approached “
intimidating, total control, sinister
Phantom doesn’t speak because it is time for Scrooge to learn for himself
Ghost resembles Grim Reaper and humans fear of death
