fan Flashcards
fan’s characterisation
-represents love, youth and optimism
-used as an embodiment of christmas spirit
-fan’s character allows the reader to learn more about the protagonist and his journey to become who he is now
-fan’s character is used by dickens to humanise scrooge, as this is the first time readers see positive and genuine emotion from his character
-from a structural perspective this is significant
-the reader is introduced to fan during scrooge’s first visit with the spirits, this contrasts to the negative and cold descriptions of the unsympathetic narrator at the start of the text
-the reader is given the opportunity to empathise with him
-as it also reminds scrooge that there was a time in his life when he was affectionate and carefree
-this gives him the hope that he can return to that state
‘father is so much kinder than he used to be, that home’s like heaven’
emotive language: ‘so much kinder…’
↳ shows that scrooge didnt really have a good home life as his father might have been aggresive or violent
↳ reader feels sympathetic towards scrooge
↳ scrooge had no love or affection in his early life and therefore had no idea of how to shows love or affection to others, explains why he is now misanthropic, this is done so that the readers understand why scrooge is how he is and support his development, by supporting his development the readers inadvertently support scrooge’s transformation into becoming philanthropic and see this as an ideal way to act
↳ fan had to beg for scrooge to come home, and scrooges father hadn’t even personally come to collect scrooge, showing that he still doesn’t accept him
‘a delicate creature…she had a large heart’
themes displayed through fan
family:
-dickens uses fan to further the idea that family should be an important focus within society, as an individual’s family can have a massive effect on their character and well-being
-by including this as such a strong theme within a novella centred around christmas, dickens establishes a connection between the two ideas
-this theme introduces the notion that family should be central to the festive time
fan & scrooge
-by choosing to include the character of fanny during scrooge’s time with xmas past, dickens allows the reader to sympathise with Scrooge and so form an attachment with the protagonist
-this causes them to remain interested in the narrative
-when the spirit reminds Scrooge that although she has passed away, she left behind a child, he begins to feel “uneasy”, highlighting to the reader that he is beginning to reflect on his actions
