Stave 1 Flashcards
Marley was dead to begin with.
It is an abrupt opening sentence that emphasises the importance of Death as well as Marley’s character
And Scrooge’s name was good upon ‘ Change
‘Change references the London Stock a exchange and it highlights how good and powerful a businessman he is. It also implies that Scrooge saw the burial as little more than another business deal
Dead as a doornail
Simile. A popular phrase of the time. The constant reassurance of Marley’s death makes the reader doubt he is
I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade.
First of the many references to the industrial Revolution
Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did.
Dickens starts to make us doubt the soundness of the statement
An excellent man of business
He’s a stern miser with no feelings and was very cheap with the funeral viewing it as a business deal and nothing more
Scrooge never painted out Old Marley’s name.
This could be for 2 reasons. Either, deep down Scrooge valued Marley as a friend or he is too cheap to paint over the sign
He answered to both names
Scrooge and Marley where so alike they were essentially interchangeable hinting that is Scrooge doesn’t change he is going to meet the same fate as Marley
A tight-fisted hand at the grind-stone,
Like a grind-stone, he is rough and coarse with people. Another reference to the industrial Revolution
Hard and sharp as flint
Scrooge is sharp and damaging like flint but flint produces fire suggests he has a potential to emit warmth
Solitary as an oyster
Scrooge is hidden within his shell and keeps himself isolated. However, like a pearl in an oyster, he has treasure hidden deep within
Foul weather didn’t know where to have him.
Scrooge was bitter and cold that bad weather had no effect on him anymore
No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!
The evil eye is a biblical idea that is believed to cause misfortune or injury
Once upon a time – of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve – old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house.
Dickens uses the traditional fairy tale opening but for a story set in the Victorian times. It’s a modern day fairy tails. It hints at the supernatural, fantastical elements of the story
It was cold, bleak, biting weather:
Pathetic fallacy
Candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices
The fire / Christmas Spirit has not yet reached Scrooge
the houses opposite were mere phantoms.
Foreshadows the phantoms that will come soon
Who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters
Shows how tight-fisted Scrooge is as he gives his clerk the bare minimum. It shows Cratchit’s desperation as he puts up with these dreadful conditions to earn a little wage. Cell suggests comparisons to a prison showing Scrooge views Cratchit as little more than a criminal
Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk’s fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal.
It highlights the wealth divide as Scrooge has a much greater coal supply than Cratchit
Clerk put on his white comforter
The white comforter juxtaposes the bleak surroundings suggests the clerk is a good person. White has associations of hope, purity and peace
‘Bah!’ said Scrooge, ‘Humbug!’
A humbug is a fraud or trickster so he is suggesting Christmas is a fraud
He had so heated himself
Scrooge himself is juxtaposing the semantic field surrounding him of cold and misery showing the effect Fred has on him
He was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.
Fred’s description is positive unlike Scrooge’s. Smoked again is another reference to the Industrial Revolution and it contrasts Scrooge’s icy imagery
What reason have you to be merry? You’re poor enough.
Scrooge indicates only money can bring happiness yet ironically Scrooge is very rich but truly unhappy
A time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer;
He holds a cynical tone about Christmas and mocks those who disagree with him
Boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart
Violent imagery which suggests the anger and hate Scrooge holds for the holiday. Antithesis of Fred
There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say
Shows the difference between Scrooge’s capitalist views and Fred’s socialist views
The clerk in the Tank involuntarily applauded.
By going against his boss, Cratchit showed brief resistance against Scrooge and his miserly ways but only brief as he needs the job
Growled Scrooge
Animalistic imagery showing his violent nature
His nephew left the room without an angry word, notwithstanding
Scrooge’s nephew is too generous and helpful to with ill on his uncle especially because of the festive occasion
I’ll retire to Bedlam
Refers to Bethlehem Royal hospital, the oldest mental health institution in Europe at that point
Portly gentleman
They were obviously wealthy as they could afford vast amounts of food yet they are also generous as they are trying to help those poorer unlike Scrooge
And the Union workhouses’ demanded Scrooge. Are they still in operation?’
Workhouses were public institutions were the homeless and poor received board and lodging in exchange for free labour. They were exploitative to the poor and had horrible conditions essentially unliveable
Both very busy
Highlights the amount of people who are suffering in extreme poverty and the fact the workhouses are full shows us how desperate people were even though the workhouses had horrible conditions
When Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices
Foreshadowing to the Ghost of Christmas Present (Abundance) and Want in Stave 3
Many would rather die
Shows how bad the conditions were and how ignorant the fish were to their plight
Meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened
Pathetic fallacy
Gruff old bell was always peeping silly down at Scrooge
Personification. Means God himself is watching and judging Scrooge. Victorian society was extremely religious
The owner of one scant young nose, gnawed and mumbled by the hungry cold
Personification of the cold. Implies the child has been disfigured by poverty as it eats away at the fragile lives of young, unprivileged children
For he boasted no great-coat
Bob is unable to afford one due to how little his job pays
It must have run there when it was a young house, playing at hide-and-seek with other houses, and forgotten the way out again
Personification of the home. Compared it to a lost child suggesting Scrooge himself is lost
The other rooms being all let out as offices
Shows how obsessed with money he is that he rents the extra rooms as offices instead of giving it too the poor for housing
Let it also be borne in mind that Scrooge had not bestowed one thought on Marley, since his last mention of his seven years’ dead partner that afternoon.
Dickens is reinforcing the idea that the knocker is completely normal making the dead begin to doubt so. Another buildup of suspense. Knocker were only features on richer houses
Not a knocker, but Marley’s face
First appearance of Marley’s ghost
A terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy
The terrible sensation is fear which he hasn’t felt in a while.
The sound resounded through the house like thunder
The sound is unnamed which creates unease and tension.
But I mean to say you might have got a hearse up that staircase
It emphasises the social injustice between the rich and poor
Darkness is cheap
Reflects his cold and miserly personality
