[Part 2]- Scrooge

Question 1

Easy: Briefly describe, how the pathetic fallacy changes throughout the novella

Answer 1

• In stave 1, the pathetic fallacy is ‘foggier’ ‘colder’, and ‘piercing’ and in stave 5, the weather is ‘golden’

Question 2

Fill in the gaps: _______ yet, and colder. Piercing, searching, biting cold’

Hint: consequences of his actions

Answer 2

• L= comparative adjective- ‘foggier’ creates a clear contrast of the pathetic fallacy, is Stave 1 and stave 5.
• ; perhaps the adjective ‘foggier’ reflects Scrooge’s ignorance because, he’s unable to see the consequences of his actions [he can’t see what he’s done]

Question 3

What does the fog represent, on a metaphorical level ?

Hint: gap

Answer 3

• on a metaphorical level, perhaps it suggests the fog [ignorance] creates a gap between the working class, and the middle and upper-middle class.

Question 4

‘Foggier yet, and colder. Piercing, _________, biting cold’

Hint aggressive image- why?

Answer 4

• L= ‘piercing’- adjective creates an aggressive and painful image, reflective of how Scrooge causes other people to suffer [as he inflicts pain onto them]
• his words are so sharp, that they cut through people and perhaps himself

Question 5

How does the mood of pathetic fallacy change, in Stave 5 ?

Hint: sweet- transformed

Answer 5

• through in stave 5, the mood of the pathetic fallacy changes as Scrooge is now has a more positive mood- he’s become more generous and friendly as the weather now becomes ‘golden’, ‘sweet’ and merry
• he’s transformed from a misanthropic villain, to perhaps a hero- as by choosing to change, it means Tiny Tim doesn’t die in the future

Question 6

How has Scrooge made himself suffer and inflict pain, onto himself ?

Hint: idol

Answer 6

• Scrooge makes himself suffer and be in pain, by : rejecting his family, choosing to isolate himself from a Victorian society and by worshiping a ‘golden idol’ [instead of loving Belle]

Question 7

‘solitary as an oyster’ 🦪

Hint: adjective- Scrooge’s isolation…

Answer 7

• L= adjective- ‘solitary’- reflects how isolated [and lonely] Scrooge is, which is mainly highlighted in Stave 2, as the ghost of Christmas past takes him back to when he was a schoolboy

Question 8

‘solitary as an oyster’ 🦪

Hint: not adjective- Scrooge’s shell has become…

Answer 8

• L= though the simile also reflects how like a oyster, Scrooge’s shell [exterior] has hardened [become thicker]- over time, from being a schoolboy, to the man he is now.

Question 9

• Fill in the gaps: having a lonely childhood and _______ father, has led Scrooge into having a insecure life, at a young age.
• and since he’s suffered _________, perhaps this has made him seek security, in money and reject life, as a defence mechanism.

Answer 9

• This is because, having a lonely childhood and abusive father, has led Scrooge into having a insecure life, at a young age.
• and since he’s suffered rejection, perhaps this has made him seek security, in money and reject life, as a defence mechanism.

Question 10

What would a reader feel, about Scrooge’s insecure life ?

Hint: pity- why?

Answer 10

• R= which would make a reader feel pity and sympathy for Scrooge, for how it’s affected him as an adult

Question 11

‘solitary as an oyster’ 🦪

Answer 11

• L= ; the simile perhaps foreshadows Scrooge’s transformation, as a pearl can be found inside, when an oyster is opened [also suggesting that Scrooge always had a pure and honest heart- therefore his change is genuine]

Question 12

‘solitary as an oyster’ 🦪

Answer 12

• and since he’s suffered rejection, perhaps this has made him seek security in money and reject life as a defence mechanism- but not only life, but also people as Scrooge doesn’t let any show him any love or affection.

Question 13

What is Rousseau’s blank slate theory ?

Answer 13

• Rousseau’s blank state theory, is a philosophical theory, which argues that at birth, children are born with a blank state
• and it’s what happens during their childhood, that shapes who they will eventually become, as they grow up [and are an adult]

Question 14

How can Rousseau’s blank slate theory, relate to Scrooge ?

Answer 14

• Because of Scrooge’s loneliness, of when he was a schoolboy [and a child]- he has now grown up to be, ‘as solitary as an oyster’

Question 15

‘Hard and sharp as flint’

Answer 15

• L= imagery of weapons, emphasises and highlights, how a Victorian society fears Scrooge because even dogs, can sense how unkind and ungenerous Scrooge is.
• This is because, he causes not only others’ pain, but also himself- which is reflected through the adjective ‘hard’

Question 16

What alternative interpretations, link to the quote: Hard and sharp as flint’ ?

Answer 16

• I= alternatively, if it’s struck flint can produce fire, so perhaps this imagery also suggests Scrooge has the potential to change- foreshadowing his transformation in Stave 5.
• moreover, fire is also a symbol of emotional warm [and being generous], since it’s affiliated to Fred [the foil to Scrooge].

Question 17

‘Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend and sole mourner’

Answer 17

• L- repetition- the repetition of sole, suggests that Marley was a solitary loner; it also emphasises [and intensifies] how Marley was alone and solitary.
• This is reinforced by the semantic field of solitude and loneliness, to reflect how like Scrooge, Marley was also a cynical and misanthrope

Question 18

‘I wear the chain I forged in life’

Answer 18

• L- metaphor- this [immediately] instills a notion of judgment, to a Victorian reader.
• This is because, [Jacob] Marley has been condemned to walk the Earth, since he hasn’t helped his fellow man in life therefore, he has to be punished and judged in some way- and this is a form of eternal torture
• this is a form of eternal torture, as Marley has to wonder the Earth for eternity, and see the positive actions he could have done, but didn’t

Question 19

How is Marley damned to walk the earth, a form of torture ?

Answer 19

• Marley being damned to walk the Earth for eternity is a form of eternal torture because, he has to wonder the Earth for eternity, and see the positive actions he could have done, but didn’t]

Question 20

What reader response, relates to the quote: I wear the chain I forged in life’

Answer 20

• R- ; for a Victorian reader, this would be frightening for them because, they might reflect on their own sins.
• R= Though to an extent, it would also be thrilling to a Victorian reader aswell. This is because, they liked being terrified due to the popularity of gothic fiction.

Question 21

Why does Dickens’ use a ghost, to teach Scrooge a moral lesson ?

Answer 21

• Dickens’ uses a ghost to teach Scrooge a moral lesson because, it would have been thrilling and sensational for Victorian readers.
• This is because, sensation novels and gothic horror were very popular in the Victorian era.
• and since the novella was serialised, the trope of ghosts would have kept readers buying the next stave in the series

Question 22

Why else does Dickens’ use a ghost, to teach Scrooge a moral lesson ?

Answer 22

• C= ; Dickens’ also uses a ghost to teach his moral lesson not only to Scrooge, but also to his middle and upper-middle class [Victorian] readers [whom the novella was targeted for, as most of the working class were illiterate.
• and furthermore, Dickens’ reinforces his moral lesson throughout the novella: because Jesus died, mankind can also repent their sins and be saved from them- therefore his Victorian readers, should do the same [repent]

Question 23

‘misanthropic ice’ ❄️

Answer 23

• L- misanthropic- adjective means ‘having or showing a dislike of other people’, which clearly reflects Scrooge’s character

Question 24

‘misanthropic ice’ ❄️

Answer 24

• ; by using personification, to describe the ice as being misanthropic, it also furthers the notion of Scrooge’s character, as an archetypal villain.
• This is because he is so emotionally cold, that a ‘water-plug’ turns to ice.

Question 25

What alternative interpretations relate to the quote: ‘misanthropic ice’ ? ❄️

Answer 25

• I= ; it could also suggest that Scrooge is so ‘frozen’ in his old ways, similar to how water freezes to ice.

Question 26

What deeper meaning relates to the quote: misanthropic ice’ ? ❄️

Answer 26

• D= on a symbolical level, perhaps it reflects how the middle and upper-middle class [ruling classes] are also misanthropic aswell, just like the ‘misanthropic ice’

Question 27

What other alternative interpretations link to the quote: misanthropic ice’ ?❄️

Answer 27

• I= Alternatively, as ice is able to melt to water again perhaps it foreshadows and suggests that Scrooge has the potential to change from ‘misanthropic ice’, to the kind and loving ‘baby’ he once was