Scrooge

Question 1

Describe Scrooge

Answer 1

• miserly and misanthropic
• strong aversion to Christmas
• evolves into a “good” man

Question 2

Purpose of Scrooges redemption

Answer 2

• to highlight to the reader that anyone is capable of change
• they should actively try to change their weaknesses
• Christmas is a time for compassion and charity so be kind
  = this worked as dickens used an emotional approach in celebrating Christmas due his altruistic characteristics

Question 3

Scrooge in stave 1

Answer 3

• unsympathetic and wholly unlikeable through the use of an extended metaphor here Scrooge is likened to weather
  = “a frosty rime was on his head” and “cold within him”
  = cold, hostile, unappealing character
  = archetypal villain

Question 4

Stave 2

Answer 4

• regrets not giving anything when “there was a boy singing a Christmas carol”
  = first stage of repentance and therefore development

Question 5

Describe Scrooge with a key quote

Answer 5

“ a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!”
= asyndetic listing to show the extent of his greed
= relentless verbs refer to him being miserly and selfish
= makes it difficult for the reader to empathise with him while also drawing attention to the unsympathetic narration

Question 6

Analysis “as solitary as an oyster”

Answer 6

• “solitary” highlights his isolation and presents him as hostile
• “oyster” is dark and hard on the outside but contain something beautiful on the inside
  = there is something worth saving in Scrooge
  = as the novel progresses the spirits will destroy his hard exterior to reveal his ‘pearl’ on the inside

Question 7

Describe his isolation from society

Answer 7

By ostracising Scrooge from society he can exist in a state of ignorance
= he can be totally unaware of the state of the poor and others around him
After his isolation he plays a vital part as Tiny Tim’s “second father”
= reflects the importance of engaging in wider society