Ebenezer scrooge Flashcards
‘bah! Humbug!’
‘Humbug’ ->trick or deceit, how Scrooge views Christmas/Christmas spirit – as a falsehood. he is suspicious and negative towards anything to do with generosity or community spirit.
exclamatory sentences- rude; ‘bah!’- exclamation of disgust. highlights how he is a man of limited communication; he is not a man to enjoy a cheerful conversation. His dismissive rudeness contrasts with the cheerful greeting ‘merry Christmas!’
‘very small fire’ ‘one coal’
Dickens uses fire/warmth symbol throughout the novella to reflect characters and explore the theme of generosity. Here, Scrooge’s ‘small fire’ reflects his miserly character, with the intensifier ‘very’ emphasising just how meagre (small) the literal fire is and so how limited the generosity is in Scrooge’s personality.
Context: One of Dickens’ purposes in writing the novella was to raise awareness in his readership of the dreadful working conditions in which the poor suffered. Through the cold, miserable environment of the counting-house, Dickens shows how it is important for employers to be responsible for their employees.
‘solitary as an oyster’
Scrooge- isolated, simile ‘solitary as an oyster’.
Establishes him as a lonely man who is cut off from society. Oysters are found at the bottom of cold seas and are closed up, protecting their valuable pearls. This illustrates Scrooge’s meanness and miserliness as he greedily protects his wealth at the cost of human relationships.
Alternatively, the simile could represent Scrooge as someone with a hidden pearl inside of him- inner goodness or beauty that, opened, revealed.
‘decrease the surplus population’
Scrooge states that the poor should not be helped; if they die, then they will simply ‘decrease the surplus population’ which is seen as a good outcome.
This callous (unfeeling) attitude shows Scrooge’s lack of humanity towards the suffering poor. He is not interested in helping them and sees them only as a burden whose deaths will be beneficial to society as there will be fewer people consuming society’s resources.
‘Why, it’s Ali Baba!’ Scrooge exclaimed in ecstasy’
Scrooge sees his childhood self reading a story from the Arabian Nights and the character, Ali Baba, from the story, coming alive for the lonely boy. Dickens allows the reader here to feel pity for the neglected young Scrooge and to understand how circumstances shaped him, as indeed our own childhood experiences shape us all.
Scrooge is beginning to change. The verb ‘exclaimed’ shows how animated (lively) he is and the noun ‘ecstasy’ captures his joy of reading. He is seeing happiness in something other than money.
Context: As a child, Dickens himself greatly enjoyed the Arabian Nights stories and, like the young Scrooge, his childhood years were also difficult; he was sent to work in a factory while his father was imprisoned for debt. Through the delight and comfort given by Ali Baba to the young Scrooge, Dickens shows us pleasure in literature and possibly the value of education, especially relevant in the 1840s when most poor people could not read.
No, no… oh no… say he will be spared’
Scrooge’s agony over the predicted death of Tiny Tim shows how much he is changing.
There is a sharp contrast with his deep concern over a poor boy and the dismissive attitude to the ‘surplus population’ at the start of the novella. Scrooge is learning compassion; he is connecting with humanity again.
Context: Dickens’ aim in writing the novella was to show how the Christmas Spirit can change an individual, and also society, for the better. Scrooge’s transformation shows the reader how it is possible to change.
‘I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy’
At the end, Scrooge’s transformation is complete as he states how differently he feels.
The repetitive sentence structure of similes highlights his newfound positivity. There is a sense of Christian goodness with the comparison to an angel and genuine joy in the comparison to a school-boy.
Scrooge proceeds to correct the mistakes he made in Stave One by giving money to charity and improving Bob’s Christmas; Dickens uses a mirrored structure to show the change in Scrooge.
