The Christmas Carol Analysis

Question 1

Chapter 1 Part 1 (The narrator introduces Scrooge)

Answer 1

1) The chapter begins lightheartedly as the omniscient narrator humorously discusses the fact that Jacob Marley is dead.
2) However, the chapter becomes less lighthearted when Scrooge, Marley’s old business parter, is introduced. He’s mean, greedy and “solitary as an oyster”. His “shrivelled” looks and “grated voice” match his horrible personality.
3) The cheerful beginning of the novel contrasts with Scrooge’s introduction - it makes Scrooge seem even less appealing.

Writer’s Techniques:
The narrator uses the phrase “Once upon a time” to introduce the main story. Dickens’s use of a fairy tale convention suggests that the story will have a magical element to it and that it’s likely to have a happy ending.

Question 2

Chapter 1 Part 2 (Scrooge is rude to everyone)

Answer 2

1) Scrooge’s office is dark and cold. He’s too mean to let his clerk, Bob Cratchit, have a decent fire.
2) Scrooge’s nephew Fred arrives to wish him a Merry Christmas. Fred is Scrooge’s opposite - Scrooge is cynical and negative about Christmas, but Fred thinks Christmas is “a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time”. Scrooge says that everybody who wishes others Merry Christmas is an “idiot”.
3) Scrooge’s nasty personality is developed by his treatment of the charity collectors, who come to his office looking for donations. He refuses to donate money, saying that the poor are “idle”.
4) Later, a boy starts to sing a Christmas carol through Scrooge’s keyhole, but Scrooge scares him so much that he flees “in terror”. Scrooge is the crude to Bob when he reluctantly allows him to spend Christmas Day with his family instead of at work.

Theme - Social Responsibility:
Scrooge represents selfish members of the middle and upper classes in Victorian society. He refuses to give charity, and he calls poor people “surplus population”, saying it would be better if they died.

Character - Scrooge:
Scrooge is difficult and unpleasant to everybody he comes into contact with at the start of the book. Dickens establishes Scrooge as an unsympathetic figure to make his transformation more powerful.

Question 3

Chapter 1 Part 3 (Dickens links Scrooge with the weather)

Answer 3

1) The weather in this chapter is “bleak” and ominous - it seems nature “was brewing on a large scale”. This creates the impression that something big is about to happen.
2) Dickens often links the weather with Scrooge’s personality - here it’s cold, which reflects the “cold within” Scrooge’s heart. It’s also foggy, which could symbolise Scrooge’s inability to see how ignorant he’s being. The weather gets worse during the chapter as more of Scrooge’s unpleasant personality is revealed.
3) These bleak conditions suggest that there’s something unsettling about Scrooge’s behaviour.

Question 4

Chapter 1 Part 4 (Scrooge’s house is dreary and dark)

Answer 4

1) Scrooge returns to his rooms, which used to belong to Marley. They’re dark, because “darkness is cheap” - they reflect Scrooge’s cold and miserly personality.
2) As he’s about to enter, Scrooge’s door knocker transforms into Marley’s face. This is the first glimpse of the supernatural in the novel, and it foreshadows the ghostly visitations that follow.
3) The dramatic tension rises as more strange things start to occur - Scrooge sees Marley’s face in the tiles of his fireplace, all the bells in the house start to ring, and he hears the clanking of chains from the cellar.

Question 5

Chapter 1 Part 5 (Marley’s ghost comes to haunt Scrooge)

Answer 5

1) Marley’s ghost appears, wearing a heavy chain of “cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds and heavy purses”. These items symbolise how Marley was obsessed with money - just like Scrooge.
2) Marley’s obsession with money led to his lack of compassion and car for others. As a result, Marley is “doomed to wander through the world” forever, and he refers to his fate as an “incessant torture”.
3) Marley suggests that Scrooge is worse than him - Scrooge’s chain was as heavy as Marley’s “seven Christmas Eves ago”. Dickens implies that Scrooge might be in for an even more horrible fate than Marley.
4) Scrooge finds out he’ll have one last chance at redemption - he’ll be visited by three ghosts over the course of the next three nights.

Question 6

Chapter 1 Part 6 (Scrooge experiences unfamiliar emotions)

Answer 6

This chapter is the beginning of Scrooge’s transformation - he’s starting to experience new emotions:
The appearance of Marley’s face in his door knocker gives Scrooge a “terrible sensation” he hasn’t felt since “infancy”. He hasn’t been this afraid since he was a child.
When he sees Marley’s ghost, he has to make jokes to try keep “down his terror” - despite being “not much in habit” of trying to be funny. This emphasises just how frightened he is.
He begs for some explanation or comfort from Marley’s ghost, speaking with “humility and deference”. This contrasts with the way he speaks earlier in the chapter.
He tries to say “humbug” about the warning from Marley, but he can’t finish the word - this is a sign that he’s already changing and losing his negative outlook on life.

Question 7

Chapter 2 Part 1 (The Ghost of Christmas Past appears to Scrooge)

Answer 7

1) The first spirit appears as the clock strikes one- even though Scrooge has fallen asleep after two. The time is completely impossible - so the chapter feels magical.
2) The spirit tells Scrooge that it’s the spirit of Scrooge’s own past - and it claims to be there to help him.
3) Scrooge wants the spirit to put its cap on, to hide the light that shines from its head. This could suggest that Scrooge is reluctant to face up to the truth of his past actions. The spirit also implies that Scrooge’s mean and miserly attitude has helped to create the cap that suppresses its light.

Writer’s Technique:
The striking clock is repeated throughout the story, to show that time has passed, and that is a new section in the book is beginning. The clock also adds suspense to this chapter, as Scrooge is left counting down until the ghost appears.

Question 8

Chapter 2 Part 2 (Scrooge reacts emotionally to the visions)

Answer 8

1) When Scrooge sees his past, he acts completely different to how he behaves in Chapter One - when the people from his old village wish each other Merry Christmas, it fills him with “gladness”.
2) Seeing his old school has a “softening influence” on Scrooge. This contrasts with the earlier description of him as “Hard and sharp”.
3) Scrooge sobs with pity when he sees himself in a lonely schoolroom. The feeling makes him regret scaring away the carol singer in Chapter One - he’s learning how to empathise with other people.
4) However, this is a happy memory for Scrooge as well as a sad one - the young Scrooge is kept company by the characters from the books he’s reading. This shows use Scrooge’s imaginative side.

Theme - The Christmas Spirit:
This is the first point in the novel when Scrooge reacts positively to the mention of Christmas. This suggests that Christmas was once important to him.

Question 9

Chapter 2 Part 3 (Scrooge loved his sister)

Answer 9

1) In the next vision, Scrooge’s sister Fan, says that their father has changed and is “much kinder” now - Scrooge will be allowed to come home from school, and they’ll be together for Christmas.
2) The transformation of Scrooge’s father foreshadows Scrooges’ own transformation, and suggests that his change will also positively affect the people around him.
3) Scrooge reminded of his sister’s “large heart”. We learn that Fan is dead and that Fred is the son of the sister Scrooge loved. This forces Scrooge to reconsider his relationship with Fred - he feels “uneasy in his mind” about the way he’s treated him.

Writer’s Technique:
Dickens uses the five senses to make Scrooge’s past seem more vivid. For example, he mentions the “cheerful voices” and music of Fezziwig’s party, and the “thousand odours” of his old village. This contrasts with the dullness of Scrooge’s present life.

Question 10

Chapter 2 Part 4 (Fezziwig is an example of a good boss)

Answer 10

1) The spirit shows Scrooge a vision of a Christmas Eve party, thrown when Scrooge was an apprentice to Mr Fezziwig. Scrooge enjoys re-living the party again.
2) Scrooge speaks “like his former, not his latter, self” when he defends Fezziwig’s generosity to the spirit. This suggests that Scrooge didn’t used to think that money was more important than happiness - and his attitude could be changing back.
3) Scrooge begins to understand the effects of his meanness towards Bob Cratchit, and the power that he has to improve Bob’s life. Fezziwig gives Scrooge an example of the kind of boss that he could choose to be.

Question 11

Chapter 2 Part 4 (The reader sees that Scrooge has a sad past)

Answer 11

1) The following vision shows Scrooge “in the prime of life”, but he doesn’t look it - his face shows ‘signs of care and avarice”. Becoming obsessed with money has physically aged him.
2) His fiancee, Belle, is breaking off their engagement because Scrooge has “change”. She sees that his love of money is becoming more powerful than his “nobler aspirations”
3) Belle knows Scrooge well - she guesses that his coldness comes from his “fear” if the world. Belle clearly loved Scrooge deeply - this helps the reader see that Scrooge wasn’t always unlovable and hints that he can change.

Character - Scrooge:
Scrooge fears poverty - he says there’s nothing “so hard as poverty”. It’s fear that drives him to greed and selfishness.

Question 12

Chapter 2 Part 6 (Belle’s family represent the life Scrooge could have had)

Answer 12

1) Scrooge sees Belle’s daughter, and regrets never having had children. It makes him sad, and his sight grows “very dim”.
2) Belle’s husband describes seeing Scrooge in his office, “Quite alone in the world”. This depiction of a lonely Scrooge contrasts with the happiness of Belle’s family.
3) Scrooge is upset by these scenes - he begs the spirt in a “broken voice” to end the visions. It’s now clear that Scrooge does care about family and love - but the choices he’s made have left him lonely instead.
4) Scrooge tries to get the spirit to put its cap on again - but this time he tries to force it onto its head. He’s trying to shut out the truth of his past again - it’s painful for him to remember it.

Theme - Family:
Scrooge mourns the loss of the family he never had. Dickens shows that a family can bring comfort and joy.

Question 13

Chapter 3 Part 1 (Scrooge’s room is transformed)

Answer 13

1) The clock strikes once again, to indicate that a new section of the story is about to begin.
2) Scrooge finds the Ghost of Christmas Present in the room next to his bedroom. The room is filled with lots of Christmas decor, including holly, mistletoe, ivy, a blazing fire and all kinds of food.
3) There’s a huge abundance of food in the room, and in the shops that the spirit and Scrooge visit. Dickens is emphasising that there’s plenty of food for everyone, and that no-one should go hungry at Christmas.

Writer’s Technique:
Dickens describes the Christmas decorations with great detail. The level of detail helps the reader to visualise the scene.

Question 14

Chapter 3 Part 2 (The ghost teaches Scrooge the spirit of Christmas)

Answer 14

1) In the chapter, the spirit shows Scrooge people celebrating Christmas in lots of different places. Even those who are poor, sick, or separated from their families are cheerful and good-humoured. Dickens emphasises that Christmas is a special time of year, from which even the most disadvantaged people can benefit.
2) The ghost sprinkles drips of “incense” from his torch over homes hospitals, jails and almshouses (charitable housing for the poor and elderly), and over anyone who begins to argue. When this happens, their “good humour” is “restored directly”.
3) The ghost shows Scrooge that Christmas can help to bring people together and improve people’s moods.

Theme - The Christmas Spirit:
The Ghost of Christmas Present shows that Christmas has transforming effect on people, encouraging them to do acts of goodwill and charity.

Question 15

Chapter 3 Part 3 (The Cratchits show the importance of family)

Answer 15

1) Scrooge and the ghost visit Bob Cratchit’s house, and the Ghost of Christmas Present blesses his house.
2) The Cratchits’ Christmas celebration is full of happiness. As their Christmas Day draws to a close, the Cratchits are “happy, grateful, pleased with one another, and contented with the time”. Their lack of money doesn’t matter as long as they have each other.
3) Tiny Tim is present as an innocent victim of the Cratchits’ poverty - he’s unwell, and the Cratchits are unable to make him better.
4) Bob sits close to Tim as if he “dreaded that he might be taken from him”. This gives the reader an idea of how badly Bob will take Tim’s death, which the spirit warns will happen by the next Christmas if “these shadows remain unaltered by the Future”.

Theme - Social Responsibility:
The spirit has a particular sympathy for the poor. Its desire to help those that need it most reinforces Dickens’s message.

Theme - Social Responsibility:
In Chapter One, Scrooge believes that the poor and the destitute belong in workhouses or prisons - but the Cratchits show him that they deserve better.

Question 16

Chapter 3 Part 4 (Scrooge has to face up to his former opinions)

Answer 16

1) Scrooge is upset to find out that Tiny Tim is destined to die. The spirit reminds Scrooge that until now, he didn’t care about the plight of the poor - he described them as “surplus population”.
2) The spirit says that Scrooge’s life may be “more worthless” than that of Tiny Tim and others like him. The forces him to be humble and not have such a high opinion of himself compared to others (especially the poor).
3) Scrooge’s concern for Tim teaches him that poor are real people - not just a problem to be dealt with. He begins to understand the value of charity towards the poor.

Question 17

Chapter 3 Part 5 (Scrooge sees himself through other people’s eyes)

Answer 17

1) As well as the Cratchits’ dinner, the ghost also takes Scrooge to see Fred’s Christmas party. Both parites are full of merriment, but at both gatherings Scrooge is the source of resentment or ridicule.
2) Although Bob Cratchit generously insists that his family drink to the health of his boss, Scrooge is thought of as the “Ogre” of the family, who causes a “dark shadow” to pass over the party.
3) Fred and his family and friends laugh “heartily” about Scrooge’s actions - they don’t take him seriously. However, Fred says he feels sorry for Scrooge - he see that Scrooge’s behaviour is only hurting himself.
4) Fred’s family toast Scrooge too, which makes Scrooge feel “light of heart”. Fred calls him “Uncle Scrooge” - this is a reminder for Scrooge that he can still be part of a family.

Question 18

Chapter 3 Part 6 (Ignorance and Want link to poverty)

Answer 18

1) Just before the spirit leaves, Scrooge sees two “meagre, ragged” children hidden in the spirit’s robes. The spirit calls the children Ignorance and Want. They’re disturbing to look at - “menacing” and “horrible”.
2) Ignorance and Want are symbols of the problems caused by poverty in Victorian society. The spirit says it’s the fault of mankind that Ignorance and Want exist.
3) The ghost warns Scrooge to beware of Ignorance and Want - he claims that ignoring the problem will eventually lead to society’s “Doom”.
4) Scrooge desperately asks whether there’s anything that will help Ignorance and Want. The spirit, by reminding Scrooge if his own words (“Are there no prisons?… Are there no workhouses?”), implies that the attitude of heartless people like Scrooge means that there isn’t any help available.

Theme - Social Responsibility:
The spirit warns Scrooge about the danger of ignorance in particular. Dickens believed that ignorance was one of the big causes of poverty, and that education was important in helping people to escape it.

Question 19

Chapter 4 Part 1 (The third spirit is much more sinister)

Answer 19

1) The last ghost appears. It’s completely silent, and its appearance terrifies Scrooge, who’s filled with a “horror and “solemn dread”.
2) Scrooge is afraid of the spirit, but knows that he’s going to learn something from it, so he’s humble - he bends down on his knees in front of it, and says he’ll go with it “with a thankful heart”.
3) Scrooge hopes to see himself in the future, having changed his life and become “another man”. Scrooge seems to have rejected his old ways, and he believes that the future he’ll see will show a more positive picture.

Question 20

Chapter 4 Part 2 (Scrooge see the consequences of a lonely life)

Answer 20

1) Scrooge sees the reaction of some merchants to the death of an unknown man. They’re not upset by the death and are utterly uncaring. One of the men says he’ll go to the funeral - but only for a free lunch.
2) The ghost then shows Scrooge a group of people who are trying to sell the man’s belongings. They claim that if he wanted to keep them after his death, he should’ve been less “wicked” in life - then wouldn’t have died alone, and someone would’ve been there to look after his belongings.
3) The spirit shows Scrooge the man’s body in a lonely room “plundered and bereft; unwatched, unwept, uncared for”, and he sees the final consequences of leading a selfish life. However, Scrooge doesn’t lift the cover over the man’s face to see who he is.
4) Scrooge wants to see someone who cares about the man’s death, so the ghost shows his a young couple who owe the man money, and who feel “delight” about his death. They’re good people, and they don’t like rejoicing over a death - but he was such a “merciless” creditor that his death has given them hope.
5) Dickens builds suspense by hinting that Scrooge is the dead man - Scrooge is missing from his usual spots, such as his office, and the dead man seems to be as hated as Scrooge. However, Scrooge doesn’t realise the dead man is him - he thinks the ghost is showing someone similar to him, to teach his a lesson.

Writer’s Techniques:
The thieves are uncaring - they’re more interested in “profit” than the dead man. They mirror Scrooge’s own obsession with wealth.

Writer’s Techniques:
This is an example of dramatic irony, which makes the chapter more thrilling. The reader knows something that Scrooge doesn’t so they have to wait for Scrooge to come to the same conclusion.

Question 21

Chapter 4 Part 3 (Tiny Tim’s death is a contrast to Scrooge’s)

Answer 21

1) The spirit takes Scrooge to the Cratchit house after Scrooge asks to see “some tenderness connect with a death” - he’s sick of nobody mourning the dead man.
2) Tiny Tim has died, and the Cratchit house is “quiet”. The family talk sadly until Bob breaks down crying and has to leave the room. This contrasts with the uncaring reactions we see in response to Scrooge’s own death.
3) Tim will be buried somewhere “green”, but the graveyard where Scrooge is buried is “worthy” of the “wretched man” who’s buried there - it’s “overrun” by “weeds” and “choked up” with lots of graves.
4) Tim and Scrooge’s burial places reflect the affection of the people they leave behind.

Question 22

Chapter 4 Part 4 (Seeing the future convinces Scrooge to change)

Answer 22

1) The future that the spirit shows to Scrooge is a frightening one - Scrooge doesn’t want to die alone and unloved.
2) The ghost isn’t completely unfriendly - its “kind hand” trembles when Scrooge gets more upset. This reminds us that its purpose in showing Scrooge his fate is to help him.
3) Scrooge doesn’t know for sure if he can change the future, and the gravestones in the graveyard already has his name on it, which would seem to suggest his future is already set. He’s willing to try anyway though - he’s desperate to try to avoid his current fate, but he also genuinely want to become a better man.

Theme - Redemption:
Scrooge is so scared by the visions of the future because he thinks they mean he’s “past all hope”. Dickens suggests that it’s never too late to change.

Question 23

Chapter 4 Part 5 (The dramatic tension comes to a peak)

Answer 23

1) Scrooge is determined to change his future but the phantom vanishes without reassuring him.
2) Scrooge gets more and more agitated towards the end of the chapter - he tries desperately to force the ghost to tell him what will happen, but the ghost says nothing.
3) As the drama builds, and Scrooge is holding his hands up “in a last prayer”, the action suddenly stops, and the spirit changes into a bedpost. This puts a sudden end to the dramatic tension in the chapter, and leaves the reader wondering what’s going to happen next.

Writer’s Techniques:
The chapter ends on a cliff-hanger - we don’t know for certain if Scrooge will be able to change his future and save himself. This adds tension to the story.

Question 24

Chapter 5 Part 1 (Scrooge is a new man)

Answer 24

1) Scrooge finds himself back in his own bed. He repeats his promise to “live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!” - he’s still committed to changing.
2) This chapter is a new beginning for Scrooge. He says he’s “quite a baby” - as if he has been reborn into a new life.
3) Scrooge finds out that it’s still Christmas Day - so he has a chance to spend Christmas the way it should be spent.
4) Dickens uses smilies to present Scrooge’s happiness and relief in a vivid way: he’s “as light as a feather,” “as happy as an angel”, “as merry as a school-boy”, and “as giddy as a drunken man”.
5) The weather changes again to match Scrooge’s temperament - there’s “golden sunlight”, and it’s “clear”, “bright”, and “jovial” outside. This also adds to the joyful mood of the chapter - the reader can sense that the ending will be happy because of the changed setting.

Theme - Redemption:
In Chapter Five, Scrooge puts everything he’s learnt into practice - his redemption is complete, and now he’s a better man.

Question 25

Chapter 5 Part 2 (There are parallels with Chapter One)

Answer 25

1) Scrooge’s attitude has completely changed from the beginning of the novel - he’s cheerful, friendly and generous towards everyone he meets.
2) To show this, Dickens takes elements from the first chapter, and reintroduces them, but with a twist. The novel has a circular structure - this helps the reader compare how Scrooge has become a better man:
C1 - The office fire is weak and small.
C5 - Scrooge lets Bob buy more coal for the fire.
C1 - Scrooge resents having to pay Bob over Christmas.
C5 - Scrooge gives Bob a pay rise.
C1 - Scrooge’s dialogue is curt and bad-tempered.
C5 - Scrooge speaks cheerfully and energetically.
C1 - Scrooge is a miser who hoards his money.
C5 -Scrooge pledges a generous donation to charity.
C1 - Scrooge rejects Fred’s Christmas invitation.
C5 - Scrooge joins Fred for the family party.
C1 - Scrooge refuses to wish anyone ‘Merry Christmas’.
C5 - Scrooge wishes everybody ‘Merry Christmas’.
3) The final chapter allows for Scrooge to prove how he’s transformed, by righting the wrongs of his former self.

Question 26

Chapter 5 Part 3 (Money isn’t the most important thing to Scrooge anymore)

Answer 26

1) Scrooge meets one of the charity collectors in the street, and donates a large amount of money to their cause. He says that it’s “very kind” of them to do the work they do.
2) Scrooge offers to help the Cratchit family in this chapter - he sees that it’s his responsibility to help people who are worse off than him.
3) Dickens uses the transformation of Scrooge to help his readers to understand the importance of helping the poor. Scrooge is now more interested in helping other people, and he realises that he can do this by being generous with his money.

Theme - Social Responsibility:
At the beginning of the story, Scrooge represents the uncaring rich people of Victorian society. By the end, he represents how Dickens feels the well-off should act towards the poor.

Question 27

Chapter 5 Part 4 (Scrooge learns to honour Christmas)

Answer 27

1) Scrooge says that Christmas should be “praised” for his transformation - his understanding of the Christmas spirit is one of the things that has made him change.
2) Scrooge walks down the street with a “delighted smile”. This makes the people he passes greet him with a cheery “merry Christmas to you!” Scrooge is already spreading the Christmas spirit to others, as the Ghost of Christmas Present taught him.
3) Scrooge buys a huge turkey for Bob Cratchit, so that he and his family can celebrate Christmas more lavishly.
Scrooge is selfless - he doesn’t asks for thanks from the charity collector, and he sends the turkey to Bob anonymously. He’s being charitable because it’s the right thing to do, not because he wants any credit for it.

Theme - The Christmas Spirit:
In this chapter, Scrooge applies everything he’s learnt from the ghosts about the Christmas spirit - he celebrates the day with love, generosity and kindness.

Question 28

Chapter 5 Part 5 (He gets a family again)

Answer 28

1) Scrooge goes to Fred’s house for Christmas. Despite his previous bad behaviour, Scrooge is welcomed. Fred shakes his hand enthusiastically, and they celebrate Christmas with “wonderful unanimity”.
2) Dickens uses the acceptance of Fred and his family to illustrate that family love is unconditional, and can be the source of “won-der-ful happiness!”
3) Scrooge also gains another family - he becomes a “second father” to Tiny Tim. In Chapter Two, Scrooge was upset that he never became a father- helping Tiny Tim and the Cratchits has allowed him to achieve that dream.

Theme - Family Scrooge has become a part of two families. He’s realised that having a family is important to him.