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Time in 'A Christmas Carol' - Coggle Diagram
Time in 'A Christmas Carol'
When the GOC Past shows Scrooge his younger self.
'At one of these a lonely boy was reading near a feeble fire; and Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he had used to be.'
Scrooge reflects on what he used to be and sees how he has changed over time.
Scrooge (unlike his past self) has people around him so he has no excuse but to stop being so isolated.
'feeble fire' - alludes to how Scrooge was feeling at the time, Scrooge felt weak and hopeless, he had no one.
Marley
dickens makes sure to highlight the fact that marley was dead at the start of the novella. this is important because his ghost is used as a potential warning sign for scrooges fate if he doesnt change.
dickens brings death to the fore, an ironic beginning, considering that death marks the end of life and thus the end to one's story.
“Marley was dead: to begin with”
Scrooge's journey
Throughout the novella Scrooge finds redemption and goes through a period of self reflection.
The Ghosts are used to present different times of Scrooge's
Christmas Time
Scrooge's View
'a poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty-fifth of december' - Scrooge (Stave 1)
Scrooge fails to see Christmas as a time of year which brings happiness, he only looks at the world through the eyes of his pockets.
Scrooge views Christmas as a waste of time and money, which puts Scrooge in his happiest.
Doesn't give money to some charity collectors.
'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 his heart.'
Christmas brings him negative emotions, seeing people happy only reminds him of his lonely self.
Fred's View
'There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say'
Fred is trying to prove to Scrooge that Christmas is about joy, something you don't always materialistically profit from.
Fred is trying to "open Scrooge's eyes" but he remains set in stone with his own opinions.
'Humbug' 'Oh Humbug'
Reinforces Scrooge's need for the Ghost's influence.
'The year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave . . .'
Fred views Christmas as a time where people come together without a regard of their backgrounds, Fred has a progressive attitude compared to Scrooge.
Ignorance and Want
'This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both and all their degree, but most of all beware this boy , for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless te writing can be erased. Deny it!'
These children are seen 'clutching' to the GOC Present's coat, symbolising those in poverty holding on to the now, trying hard to survive.
Represent those under poverty and the attitudes towards them.
These children are introduced by the GOC Present, which may have been intentionally done to establish the fact that there are always people suffering under poverty, it's happening as you speak.
These characters are portrayed as children (people who haven't experienced life for a very long time) to suggest the idea that anyone under poverty still has a life ahead of them that they deserve to live.
the cratchits
the cratchits know they only have little time with tiny tim. his whole future could change if scrooge would be willing to help - but he is not. however after christmas eve night with the ghosts, scrooge has his redemption and helps out tiny tim and the cratchits.
“tell me Tiny Tim will live” – the fact Scrooge asks this shows how much of an impact Tiny Tim has on him. Of all the visions that Scrooge sees, Tiny Tim has the biggest effect on him.
AO5 (Historical Context)