Marley Flashcards
‘mankind was my buisness!’
• Dickens reveals our moral obligations, and here we see he clearly communicates his opinions surrounding duty, benevolence and compassion by suggesting we all have a social responsibility (especially as the rich) - reinforces Christian values and attitudes which should be shown towards the poor.
‘I wear the chain I forged in life’
• this visual emblem of Marley’s sins which he ‘girded’
• ‘forged’ and ‘girded’ are verbal allusions to the Industrial Revolution - Dickens is criticising how this new way of living has caused men to capitalise the poor and hoard their own wealth at the expense of others.
• ‘link by link’ - repetition here shows that the choice to make misanthropic decisions is a repetition of ‘free will’ accumulated over a life time. Marley and his ‘chain’ are a symbol of purgatory, which is a place of deep suffering after death which is neither heaven nor hell, where souls must rid themselves of their sins. Purgatory was a Christian belief - therefore this instigates fear for Victorian readers and desperately urges them to change their actions.
