importance of family acc Flashcards
Dickens develops this idea as he uses the Cratchits to demonstrate how family can bring joy far more than money ever will.
they are extremely poor like many working class Londoners were at this time. Peter is described wearing a “monstrous” shirt collar. conveys how his shirt is huge and doesn’t fit him probably because his family cannot afford to clothe him properly.
It also makes him seem small, weak and vulnerable by comparison. Despite this, it states that he “rejoiced” to find himself so “gallantly attired”. The verb “rejoiced” implies he is celebrating what little he has and is full of positivity and gratitude to be spending time with his family at Christmas. Dickens emphasizes the happiness and contentment that the family bond can bring.
Although it may seem chaotic and noisy to some readers, these dynamic verbs bring an atmosphere of enthusiasm and happiness for Christmas day. It juxtaposes the
presentation of Scrooge’s melancholy, lonely lifestyle at the start of the novel and Dickens is clearly trying to convey the idea that greed is not the path to true happiness.
Dickens skillfully uses the Cratchit family as a symbol for the way in which family provides
strength, unity and happiness even when people are faced with dire circumstances.
Ghost of Christmas present “blessed” the Cratchit household. The religious imagery of “blessed” implies that there is something special or sacred about the Cratchit house.
they have no money but their sense of family is what makes them fortunate. The verb “blessed” might also symbolise how a
sense of family and community is God’s will rather than greed.
Dickens might be
reminding his readers of the Christian ideal that family and community are sacred and should be prioritized
over the pursuit of wealth.
Dickens shows how family can transform even someone as selfish and heartless and
Scrooge
At the end of the novella Scrooge finds his happiness by reconnecting with his own family and becoming a “second father” to Tiny Tim.
This metaphor suggests Scrooge has begun to value people over money and has found a way to build strong bonds with them, even if they are not related. Scrooge takes responsibility to help look after Tiny Tim even though he is not his son.
This has a huge impact on Scrooge’s
overall wellbeing - he describes himself as “light as a feather” and “giddy as a school boy”.
Finding family has helped him find the childhood he never had which conveys Dickens’s ultimate message that family is crucial to living a contented life.
Scrooge does not have a sense of contentment because he does not have the love of a family in his life.
He permanently seems unhappy or dissatisfied as he focuses solely on money and profit. In the opening pages, Dickens subtly uses a long list of verbs to emphasise his behavior as “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching”.
His behavior is continuous and never ending. Unlike the Cratchits, he has not found contentment through family but is always craving something else that others have.
Dickens is perhaps highlighting how a sense of family and love is a deep human need and without it, there will always be a void that cannot be filled by anything else.
Dickens vividly uses Scrooge to highlight the importance of family and reveal the
tragic consequences if somebody lacks family.
In Stave Two, the Ghost of Christmas past shows Scrooge his childhood. He is described as “a solitary child, neglected by his friends”
Metaphorically, this may explain why Scrooge becomes such a selfish man as an adult – the negativity and suffering he experienced as a child caused him to grow into a cold and unloving adult that treats others cruelly.
In the Victorian era it was common for wealthy parents to have their children raised in boarding schools or by nannies. The rich saw it as shameful or embarrassing to look after their own children. Here Dickens may be criticizing this by exposing how it can damage or traumatize a child and have negative consequences for society as a whole.
