Supernatural Flashcards
‘It was a strange figure – like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man.’
STAVE 2
The Ghost of Christmas Past resembles both man and child as it is taking Scrooge an ‘old man’ back to his childhood.
‘The chain….. [was made of] of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel.’
‘I wear the chain I forged in life’ (Marley’s ghost)
**STAVE 1 **
Marley’s ghost shows Scrooge that in Victorian England, if you **sinned in life **you would carry the burden of that in the afterlife. A Victorian reader would be fearful of this so thus, Marley’s ‘chain’ - symbol of all his financial greed and sins - would act as a deterrent for the wealthy to continue being capitalist.
“Remove me!” Scrooge exclaimed, “I cannot bear it!”
STAVE 2
Shows how affected Scrooge is so deeply traumatised by his childhood he cannot bear to watch it - even as a much older man. This is the moment that the reader begins to feel sympathy for Scrooge - a crucial moment structurally in which we begin to** invest in his transformation**
The Ghost of Christmas Present was
‘free as its genial face, its sparkling eye, its open hand, its cheery voice, its unconstrained demeanour, and its joyful air.’
**STAVE 3 **
The semantic field here surrounding joy shows how Dickens wants Scrooge to recognise the importance of Christmas and the joy and happiness it can bring if he only accepted it.
‘It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form.’
STAVE 4
His attire and clothing is meant to be symbolic of funerals as that is what **he takes Scrooge to see. **
‘its mysterious presence filled him with a solemn dread’
STAVE 4
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is solemn and terrifying and this is because he is meant to be a threaten Scrooge that he has to transform.
