Death (theme) Flashcards
How is it used
1) as a catalyst to provoke Scrooge to change
2) used as a vehicle to show how characters impacted others
3) didactic purposes
Paragraph 1 (start)
1) “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were all my business” - Jacob Marley.
Highlights how Marley regrets not going more to help others during his lifetime. His selfish focus on “business” haunts him after death. Act as a catalyst
2) “In life, my spirit never rose beyond the limits of our money-changing holes! Now I am doomed to wander without rest or peace, incessant torture and remorse!”
The exclamatory phrase “money-changing holes!” Reflects how Marleys Miserly nature left him with nothing but “torture” after his death. The idea of “without peace” foreshadows what will happen to Scrooge if he continues his ways.
3) “I wear the chain I forged in life”, “I made it link by link and yard by yard” this creates the idea that Scrooge and Marleys fate would be the same, reflects how Scrooge needs to change in order to not meet the same fate.
Paragraph 2 (middle)
- “He frightened everyone away from him when he was alive, to profit is when he was dead! Ha, ha, ha!”
Death is used as a catalyst for change through the use of onomatopoeia in “Ha, ha, ha!” Showing joy associated with Scrooges death. Used to encourage reformation for Scrooge and prevent disrespect after his passing.
- “Not a man, a woman, or a child to say he was kind… gnawing rats beneath the hearthstone”
use of the asyndetic listing style in “man, a woman, or a child” emphasises to what extent no one had sympathy for Scrooge’s death, no one found him “kind” this demonstrates his lack of benevolence any miserly/niggardly nature has caused this fate. Reflects how Scrooge needs to change.
- “Spirit of Tiny Tim, thy childish essence was from God” biblical imagery used in “god” to make his death appear ritualistic compared to Scrooge. This comparison portrays how death is used as a vehicle to portray whether a person had a positive or negative impact on others.
Paragraph 3 (end)
1) “If he had been, he’d have had somebody to look after him when he was struck with Death, instead of lying gasping out his last there, alone by himself”
verbs like “gasping” and “struck” are both harsh and dysphemistic showing a lack of care and sympathy for his character. “Alone by himself” reflects how his misanthropic nature has caused for people to dislike him, leaving him all alone and acts as a catalyst to change.
2) “Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father”
this quote shows how Scrooges transformation allowed tiny Tim who was ill and at risk of dying to live. Reference to Tiny Tim’s death not occurring as was shown to Scrooge in the proleptic style of writing of him seeing shadows in the future. Idea of Tiny Tim’s death helped Scrooge to reform.
