Fred Flashcards
“A Merry Christmas uncle! god save you!” cried a cheerful voice.
This is Fred’s first line in the Novella in Stave one, breaking the tone established so far by dickens through the description of scrooge of misery, suffering, solitude and miserliness, and establishing himself as a foil to scrooge and a firm holder of the “Christmas” spirit.
“a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable pleasant time”
Fred surmises the beneficial aspects of the Christmas spirit here.
“Therefore uncle, although it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe it has done me good, and will do me good, and I say god bless it!”
Fred, in contrast to Scrooge, cares less for monetary values of “gold or silver” and instead cares more for the “good” it can do in spirit and character, emphasising the importance and true value of the Christmas spirit and its attributes in contrast to money and material wealth.
“Merry Christmas! what right do you have to be merry? what reason have you to be merry? you’re poor enough.”
“Come then” returned the nephew gaily “what right have you to be dismal? what reason have you to be morose? You’re rich enough.”
As a foil to Scrooge, Dickens uses Fred to undermine Scrooge’s attitudes and his logic here, emphasising the flaws in Scrooge’s attitudes and ideologies, and setting them up to be broken down and attacked throughout the rest of the novella due to their flaws and the harm to society they cause.
“he had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge’s, that he was all in a glow, his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled and his breath smoked again”
Dickens description of Fred’s physical appearance as “ruddy and handsome”, contrasting against Scrooges harsh, monstrous appearance, and him having “heated himself” in contrast to Scrooge “carrying his own low temperature everywhere about with him” emphasises the harsh unpleasantness of Scrooge’s miserly attitudes and beliefs in contrast to Fred’s Christmas spirit, as well as the strife and suffering that Scrooge’s attitudes cause in society in contrast to Fred’s
“his nephew left the room without an angry word, notwithstanding. He stopped at the outer door to bestow the greeting of the season on the clerk”
In contrast to Scrooge’s aggression throughout their interaction, Fred leaves “without an angry word”, emphasising the peace and harmony that the Christmas spirit and its values create.
“I mean to give him the same chance every year, whether he likes it or not, for I pity him.”
Fred is persistent and strong in his holding of the Christmas spirit and he pities Scrooge for his solitary and isolated existence in the absence of the Christmas spirit, so shows scrooge, support, generosity and goodwill by, despite Scrooge’s aggressive and unsociable characterisation, offering him salvation through reconnection with the rest of society every year, and becoming part of the unified, family- like society that Dickens envisions, never shutting the door on scrooge or further isolating him.
“Bob told them of the extraordinary kindness of Mr. Scrooge’s nephew”
“For he is the pleasantest-spoken gentleman you ever heard, I told him. “I am heartily sorry for it. Mr Cratchit”, he said ,”and heartily sorry for your good wife”.
Dickens portrays Fred as, in contrast to Bob Cratchit’s employer scrooge, supportive and generous towards Bob, feeling pain with the Cratchit family for Tiny Tim’s death. Through this, Dickens suggests that the values of the christmas spirit that Fred encompasses, such as good will and generosity, creates a more unified, family-like, supportive society, and whereas Scrooge’s neglect leads to the death of Tiny Tim, Fred’s interaction leads to some amount of comfort for the Cratchit family rather than suffering.
“Let him in! It is a mercy he didn’t shake his arm off. He was at home in five minutes.”
During Scrooge’s redemption in Stave five, rather than rejecting scrooge for his past miserly, unpleasant, ill willed attitudes and actions, Fred instead welcomes Scrooge with open arms and makes him “at home” as Scrooge unifies and reconnects with the rest of society, emphasising the importance of supporting and being forgiving and good willed towards your fellow man in order to reach a peaceful, harmonious and prosperous society.
