A Christmas Carol- Stave 1

Stave 1

"Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend and sole mourner."

  • The repetition of the word "sole" emphasises they only had each other
  • This shows the protagonist (Scrooge) and Marley's relationship, primarily business
  • This makes the reader think about what character you would have to be to be this lonely
  • Marley had a lonely isolated life

"A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!"

  • List of adjectives/ verbs in present continuous tense to highlight Scrooge never stops being like this
  • All the verbs shows Scrooge is greedy
  • "covetous old sinner!" this was at a time where christian rituals are very important, sinner shows lack of religion

"Hard and sharp as flint,"

  • This metaphor is Dickens telling the reader Scrooge has potential to be a good person
  • Flint is used to make a spark, showing Scrooge can't make warmth
  • However has the potential to make warmth

"solitary as an oyster."

  • This simile shows the isolation of Scrooge
  • An oyster is hard on the outside soft on the inside
  • Scrooge is being compared to an oyster, he is being compared to hard things
  • An oyster finds it hard to open up
  • An oyster has the potential to grow a pearl

"No warmth could warm, nor wintry weather chill him."

  • Scrooge is represented as an embodiment of winter
  • Scrooge is harsh, cold, unforgiving
  • Dickens uses this to show Scrooge is not influenced by society or the World as he is so influenced
  • There is no emotion or warmth in his character

"who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters."

  • Shows the clerks working conditions are very poor, cold and small
  • The word "cell" is evocative of a prison
  • The word "dismal" gives the thought of gloomy, sombre atmosphere
  • The clerk is made to do repeated, boring actions

"Scrooge has a very small fire, but the clerk's fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one cole"

  • Highlights Scrooge's lack of generosity
  • Treats Bob like a slave, lack of care
  • Bob's biggest fear is losing his job, the threat his family will end up in the workhouse

"that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkles, and his breath smoked again."

  • Fred is a massive contrast from Scrooge
  • The word "glow" shows Fred excludes warmth and happiness, goodness radiates out of him
  • Scrooge's misery does not come from his family

"every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through through his heart."

  • Dickens uses strong language to illustrate this strong image
  • emphasising an exaggerated hatred of Christmas
  • Massive contrast from Stave 5

" a kind, forgiving, charitable,pleasant time;"

  • list of positive adjectives about Christmas
  • This is a depiction of Christmas spirit
  • Fred is an epitome of Christmas spirit
  • Dickens uses Fred to present the joys of the season
  • In Victorian era Christmas traditions were being revived amongst the middle-class, this is reflected in Fred

"Are there no prisons?" ... "And the union workhouses?" ... "The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour,then?"

  • These taunting questions come back to haunt Scrooge later on
  • The purpose of these questions is to alert the Victorian audience to the suffering of the poor and evoke their empathy
  • This highlights Scrooge's lack of generosity, he wants to keep his money, he is negative and greedy
  • The poor is represented throughout this novella through Bob Crachit
  • This shows Scrooge's casual cruelty
  • The charity workers hate the workhouses, as they have poor conditions
  • When writing there was a great social change the 1840s known as the 'Hungry Forties' many families forced starvation
  • Workhouses were intentionally designed to be harsh
  • The common attitude was if you were poor you were lazy and it was your fault

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