Importance of Christmas Flashcards
Dickens represents community.
Christmas brings people together and help them survive in different circumstances.
In Stave Three, the Ghost of Christmas
Present takes Scrooge on a tour of struggling, isolated communities and shows Scrooge the strength that community and Christmas spirit brings them.
THE ISOLATED COMMUNITIES IN STAVE THREE: “a bleak and desert moor”/ “every man hummed a Christmas tune, or had a Christmas thought.”
Juxtaposition – “bleak” and “desert” – connotations of a isolation hopeless, inhospitable environment.
The people – “hummed a Christmas tune”- suggests positivity, resilience, optimism.
A time for kindness, generosity
It’s a time to think about those who are less fortunate. “God bless us everyone!”
His famous exclamative is the last line
in the book which suggests it contains
important ideas to the novella as a
whole.
Here, Christmas makes Tiny Tim feel gratitude for what he has despite being impoverished and ill. He too seems enthusiastic and full of vitality compared to Scrooge.
Tiny Tim also thinks of others before himself through the pronouns “us” and “everyone” – he is generous in spirit and community minded. Tiny Tim is perhaps the most vulnerable character in the novella but even he still embraces Christmas.
Christmas break start in class divide
Metaphor – “fellow passengers to the grave” Christmas over comes the class barriers between people and it is a time when they recognise their common humanity. The noun “passengers” implies a journey to death that is shared regardless of wealth
Juxtaposition – “another race of creatures bound on other journeys” – this is a metaphor for the extreme division of the Victorian era. People looked at those beneath them in the class system almost like aliens or animals. They dehumanised them to such an extreme
degree they stopped viewing them as human.
a timer for forgiveness
“founder of the feast’
god like
blindly forgiving to those that perputrate suffering.
“second” father to tiny tim. christmas has brought scrooge back to the childhood he never had. allows him to develop strong bonds despite not being related. he values spiritual wealth in family rather than materialism.
When people can transformation
“I will honour Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.”
Christmas plays a pivotal role in Scrooge’s
transformation. His promise to “honour” it suggests he will respect it and its values which is essential for his change.
“I am light as a feather!” “I am as happy as an
angel!” “I am merry as a school boy!” “I am as giddy as a drunken man!”
Similes – embracing Christmas provides Scrooge with, Freedom/liberation from greed, Joy, Rebirth/rediscovered innocence, New opportunity.
Represents Christian values
THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: “Jolly giant” “sparkling eye” “unconstrained demeanour.”
Arguably, the Ghost of Christmas Present is an allegory for the Christmas spirit of kindness and generosity. He is a thoughtful, responsible spirit who cares for the poor.
He is described with a semantic field of joy and vitality – he seems full of enthusiasm for life as a result of his kind/community minded persona.
The adjective “unconstrained” implies he is also liberated and free from materialistic ideals that have weighed down Scrooge and Marley. Christmas has liberated his spirit.
A time of gratitude
Provides joy, happiness and strength to people
Metaphor – “men and women…open their shut up hearts freely” – Christmas is a time when people express their feelings and treat each other with love, kindness and warmth. Perhaps they forget the greed and pressures they think about for the rest of the year.
FEZZIWIG’S CHRISTMAS PARTY: “In came the housemaid, the baker, the cook, the milkman…”Asyndetic list of attendees
Throughout this section, Dickens deliberately crafts a lively, joyful atmosphere that brings out Scrooge’s own happiness – this demonstrates the power of Christmas to bring happiness through community.
The different attendees at the party demonstrate how it can break down the class barriers and social divides: Fezziwig invites all
people to his party regardless of whether they are rich or poor.
Fezziwig’s party symbolises the power of Christmas to bring people together and reinforce communities.
