Scrooge whilst changing Flashcards
Scrooge wept to see his poor forgotten self as he had used to be.
What?
This is the first time that Scrooge is shown to experience emotion. The words ‘poor’ and ‘forgotten’ and enlightening, as they speak of Scrooge’s internal fears. Scrooge has always been wary of being poor, hence his hatred of the poor, and he is concerned that he will be forgotten (perhaps because he was somewhat abandoned as a child). This latter fear is later proven true, when the final ghost shows him his un-kept grave.
The happiness he gives is quite as great as if it had cost a fortune
What?
Scrooge is describing Fezziwig’s party, which didn’t cost a lot of money by any standards, but it did bring an awful lot of joy. This is the first time Scrooge realises that there is not a direct correlation between financial cost and pleasure - and that, maybe, he can afford to make both himself and other people merry at Christmas.
“I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master passion, Gain, engrosses you.”
What?
This quote said by Belle to Scrooge highlights that Scrooge used to be moral, but that greed changed him. It is suggested however, that this change needn’t be permanent.
This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom.
What?
The ghost of Christmas present says this to Scrooge. Dickens uses the characters to show that unless ignorance is recognised/removed from, humanity is doomed.
Upon the stone of the neglected grave… EBENEZER SCROOGE
What?
This directly relates to when Scrooge first sees himself in the school room, where he was a “neglected” child. Scrooge was raised as a neglected child, and, as a result, he neglects the world; and as a result of that he becomes a neglected man and his grave is, in turn, neglected. In this version of his life, Scrooge never broke the pattern of behaviour. However, if he can leave behind his past, break the cycle and stop ignoring the world then there is every chance he can avoid becoming that which he most fears.
