Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Scrooge
Cratchits
Three Spirits
Title
Allegory
Poverty and Wealth
Scrooge
Stave 1
'Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous
fire'
'secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster'
'Bah!...Humbug!'
'many would rather die' (charity man) .... 'they had better do it, and
decrease the surplus population'
'without their visits...you cannot help to shun the path I tread' - Scrooge is
beyond help from humans
Stave 2
'would you soon put out, with worldly hands, the light I give'
Scrooge 'wept to see his poor forgotten self as he had used to be'
'His heart and soul were in the scene'
'The happiness he gives, is quite as great as if it costs a fortune'
'Haunt me no longer!'
Stave 3
'I went forth last night on compulsion...To-night if you have aught to teach
me, let me profit by it' - he wants to learn now
'say he will be spared'
'thanked them in an inaudible speech'
'he tried to say they were fine children'
Stave 4
Stave 5
transformation
-he feels sympathy toward T.T. and wants to help him live - '[tiny tim] did
NOT die...he was a second father'
wrapped in a 'chain'
-warns Scrooge of what will happen to him if he does not take 'mankind' as
his 'business'
Marley's Ghost 'You will be haunted...by three spirits'
-Warns Scrooge of what is to come/how he will go about his
transformation, as human actions have no affect on him
Stave Two:
'a strange figure - like a child', but also like an 'old man'
-could have the innocence of a child and spirituality but the wisdom and
knowledge of an old man
'held a branch of fresh holly'
-holly is a symbol of Christmas as a whole. Connotations of hope and that
there is still life in winter
there is a 'jet of light' from its forehead
-this is the Ghost of Christmas past, so the light represents the memory
-the light fades in and out at parts - just as in memory some parts are
clearer than others
-he is illuminating Scrooge's past and highlighting different parts
Scrooge 'demanded' a lot of answers
-tells him to put his cap on
'would you soon put out, with worldly hands, the light I give?'
-his light is not from this world - from the next world/God/heaven
-His light represents the memory, he recalls different events to Scrooge
-he readily rejects the Spirits light, without even being aware of it subconscious decision - so used rejecting human sympathy
Shows Scrooge his childhood/old school, and Scrooge starts to feel
sympathetic towards his younger self - he opens up his emotions, as if the
ghost has started to prise open Scrooge's oyster.
-'I should have liked to have given him something'
This opening allows him to feel regret for ignoring the boy singing carols at
his door
The ghost takes him to Fezziwig's Ball - which reminds Scrooge of the
times when he was happy, and Old Scrooge forgets himself and joins in
with enjoys the moment
-he (re)learns what it means to be happy
- the ghost questions Scrooge's happiness saying its only a 'small
Stave 3
A 'Jolly Giant' - have Scrooge's room a 'surprising transformation' 'hanging with living green' and 'fire in the chimney'
-reflects Scrooge's transformation - B Cratchit found it very surprising
-dramatic contrast to his dull, cold and lifeless room before
-this represents the abundance of Christmas
-represents the way Scrooge could be living if he wasn't a miser
-important to spread food around and be charitable
Scrooge entered 'timidly', 'hung his head' and 'reverently' did as he was
told
-shows he has been humbled since the last ghost, where he asked many
questions and was quite impolite
The spirit sprinkles happiness, mostly on the poor, showing that the poor
are more deserving of happiness than the rich - emphasizes the way that
money doesn't bring happiness
-shows the importance of bringing joy to other people's lives
Takes him to see the Cratchits
-shows the reader and Scrooge an example of the deserving poor - gives a
face to the poverty - 'They were not a handsome family...but they
were happy, grateful, pleased with one another'
-make the most of what they have - accept role in society
-enables him to develop his sense of empathy - Stave 2 empathised for
himself, now Tiny Tim 'he bore a little crutch...his limbs supported
by an iron frame' - oversentimental, emotive language
Visit a miner's family
-'But they know me. See!' - even people in remote places celebrate places
-Scrooge, who lives in one of the largest cities in the world, has no excuse
to not believe in Christmas
Visits Fred and his friends - Scrooge is happy and joins in with games, even
though he can't be seen
-teaches him how to have relationships with other people, gives him the
desire to be with people - like Bob Cratchit
The ghost shows Scrooge a boy and girl; Ignorance and Want
'Scrooge started back appalled' - can't hide his shock
'They are Man's' - human responsibility - been so neglected that they
have had to been taken in the ghost
'Have they no refuge or resource?' 'Are there no prisons...no workhouses?'
- repeats Scrooge's to him
-shows how much Scrooge has changed
Stave 4
'a solemn Phantom, draped and hooded...like a mist'
-first mentioned in the 3rd stave, which is earlier than expected - could
represent the way that Scrooge's death could come earlier than he
expects if he doesn't change
-contrast previous spirit who was large and happy
-sinister mood, connotations of death
- 'shrouded in a deep black garment...concealed its head, is face, its form'
-unknown, creates fear. Scrooge is afraid of the ghosts silence
-represents Scrooges uncertain future - mystery
'Scrooge bent down upon his knee'
-even more respectful of this ghost - out of fear, also has learnt the power
of the spirits
'I am prepare to bear your company...with a thankful heart'
Scrooge wants to learn - embracing the spirit
Phantom takes Scrooge to listen to a number of conversations, in the
exchange square, at a pawn shop
-Scrooge doesn't realise its relevance to him, doesn't understand why
phantom has shown him these places
'He frightened everyone away from him when he was alive, to profit
us when he was dead!'
-'The case of this unhappy man might be my own' - doesn't realise it is his
future, but recognises that this could be his fate
When the ghost shows him the body/house of the dead man 'If there is any
person in the town who feels emotion caused by this man's death,...show that
person to me, Spirit, I beseech you!
-only people who were happy were a couple who were renting from him and
couldn't afford to pay
Redemption
Marley's ghost gave Scrooge chance for redemption - 'you have yet a
chance'
Christmas Past - Scrooge is reminded of his history, e.g. how happy he
used to be and the love he felt for Belle and Fanny
- Mirrors how a carol reminds us of the Christian Past - Jesus' birth
Christmas Present - sprinkles joy from his torch - easy to do. Shows how it
is easy to do good and how important it is (a little can bring a lot of
happiness). Importance of redemption
Christmas Future - Scrooge's final step in completing redemption 'the kind
hand shook' - Scrooge honours Christmas
Shows the reader how there's a chance for everyone, no matter how bad it
seems - the 'good news' of the Carol
Dickens' message - can bring happiness to the poor by understanding the
true message of Christmas
Structure of 'staves'
Communal theme
Music throughout the novel, for example in Stave2 at Fezziwig's ball and
Stave 3 when ghost of christmas present shows a scene with family
singing - 'it had been a very old song when he was a boy' - tradition,
importance of music
-importance of music in society, togetherness
this message is applicable to everyone - just like the message in a carol is
universal
Time
Allegory
Scrooge
-represents the greedy and selfish rich
Fred
-represents the cheerfulness at Christmas - the way it should be celebrated
The Cratchits
-represent the deversing poor, give a face to the poor
'involuntarily applauded'
'thread-bare clothes darned up and brushed'
'nobody said or thought it was at all a small pudding for a large family'
Tiny Tim's grave in a 'green' place - contrasts Scrooge's grave 'overrun by
grass and weeds'
Christmas Past
-represents memory
Christmas Present
-Christmas spirit, abundance, joy
Even though he is full of abundance with his thrown of food, he only wears
a simple robe - and he uses his abundance to aid others - 'he sprinkled
incense on their dinners'
Christmas Future
-represents death,
'What's Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money'?
-what Scrooge sees the meaning of Christmas to be
'a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time' what Fred thinks
Christmas is
'men and women seem by one consent to open their shut up hearts
freely'
A young boy sings a carol to Scrooge 'God bless you merry gentlemen'
'In they all came, one after another' - Fezziwig's ball, everyone's there
'The joy, and gratitude, and ecstacy!' - at Belle's, children receiving their
presents
'thread-bare clothes darned up and brushed, to look seasonable'
'it had been a very old song when he was a boy' - passing on the
Christmas Spirit to the rest of the family
'he encouraged them in their merriment, and passed the bottle, joyously' At Fred'
Poverty
Scrooge's attitude to the poor
-his attitude towards the poor is used to shock the reader, and used to
encourage the reader into having a better attitude towards the poor
Scrooge represents capitalists who exploited the poor and made money
from them
-represents their nasty/greedy nature
'are there no prisons...union workhouses...treadmill...poor laws... glad to
hear it'
-the rich want the poor who are unable to work out of their way rather
than having to deal with them and removing the poverty
'I can't afford to make idle people merry'
-doesn't understand how hard they work
-doesn't want to spend his money on anyone else, as well on himself
Scrooge calls the poor the 'surplus population'
-extra, unwanted, unnecessary people - he sees them as waste
Carol boy - 'scant young nose...hungry cold'
- Scrooge shuts him off, doesnt accept the poor
Fezziwig's Ball
Cratchit's House
-give a face to the poverty
-an example of the deserving poor
'youth should have filled them....a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of
age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them to shreds'
-society hasn't given them what they deserve
-they should have been like any other child, however have been neglected
by society
-old age and shrivelled hands have connotations of death
'he tried to say they were fine children' - he can't hide that he was
'appalled' at I+W
-Scrooge reflects society - they try to ignore the poverty and pretend it's
not there
'They are man's'
-man's responsibility, to look after and care for
-they are mortal, human beings are not meant to be cared for by spirits
The name 'Ignorance and Want'
'most of all, beware of this boy' (ignorance)
-can't just address what the poor want (e.g. money and food) have to look
at the ignorance behind it
-ignorance represents lack of education and the way it brings poverty (at
the time, only men educated...)