christmas carol: scrooge Flashcards
how he is presented as only caring for money
described as “scraping, clutching, covetous old man”
miserable and mean- begrudges bob cratchit his christmas wages and doesnt allow him a decent fire - also shows his selfishness
belle says that scrooge sees money as an ‘idol’ and that it has ‘displaced’ her in scrooges affections.
how he is presented at the start of the novel
only cares for money
bitter -“ no wind that blew was bitterer than he”
cynical - “ whats christmas time for you but a time for paying bills without money”
isolated - “ solitary as an oyster”
presented as cold hearted and unfeeling
unsympathetic toward others and helping those in need
refuses to donate to charity because he thinks he has done enough by paying taxes to support prisons and workhouses
hes indifferent to how to the poor may feel and does not believe it is his ‘business’
dickens uses cold and icy language to describe scrooge - the assosiation with the cold emhasises his cold hearted nature
how the reader learns scrooges past has shaped him
he is shows sympathetically as a ‘lonely boy’ near a ‘feeble fire’ at his old school. we learn he has been left there because his father wont let him come home for christmas
scrooge is brought home by his sister who he was close to. this tells us that he might isolate himself from fred as he reminds him of his sister
we see scrooge distressed at the vision of belle leaving and this painful memory is made worse by belles happy family. this makes the reader fell sympathy for scrooge when he pleads in a ‘broken voice’ . this heartbreak may have been what caused him to be to closed off to prevent being hurt like that again
scrooge has to see himself the way others view him
mrs cratchit calls him an ‘ stingy hard unfeeling man’
fred - ‘comical fellow’ and ‘not so pleasant as he might be’
business men calls him ‘old scratch’ which is a nickname for the devil
the couple who owe him money call him ‘merciless’
tiny tim helps scrooge see that the poor are people too
tims situation helps scrooge feel empathy again and start to care about others
the ghost of christmas present uses tim to show scrooge how wrong his beliefs are and forces him to think about the poor as individuals
scrooge is ‘overcome with penitence and grief’ when he realises how wrong and cruel he had been and starts to accept his responsibilty of helping others
scrooges values change
he laughs at himself and syas he is “as merry as a school boy”
he learns to be charitable and buys the cratchits a turkey and makes a large donation to charity
he changes his mind about christmas - narrator says he “ knew how to keep christmas well”
the spirits teach scrooge to value family and companionships so he embraces fred and becomes a father figure to tim
by the end scrooge becomes
generous- “ill raise your salary”
happy- “regarded everyone with a delightful smile”
sociable- “wonderful party , wonderful games and wonderful unanimity”
