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A Christmas Carol: The Ghosts - Coggle Diagram
A Christmas Carol: The Ghosts
Marley/the door knocker
The arrival of Jacob Marley's ghost is introduced with lots of onomatopeaic language, such as bells ringing and chains clanking, to suggest that what he has to say is very important
Marley's ghost plants the initial seeds of Scrooge's change in person
Dickens establishes the idea that Marley is paying for his sins. His image is one of restriction and confinement, suggesting the negative consequences of greed in the afterlife
Marley's suffering startles Scrooge into realising that the money he cherishes in his life will provide him no solace after he has died, encouraging him to stop hoarding and put it to use
During Marley's visit, Dickens uses a semantic field of exhaustion, using words such as 'weary' and 'labourous' to highlight Marley's inability and difficulty to cope with this suffering, succeeding in making Scrooge both curious and uncomfortable
We know that Marley has been successful in initiating Scrooge's transformation because Dickens tells us that Scrooge could feel the 'chilling influence of its death cold ideas', whereas before Marley's visit, 'external heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge'
The purpose of Marley's character is to show the consequences of greed and accumulative capitalism in the Victorian Era, by showing how it leads to isolation in both life and death
The chain Marley wears is a metaphor for for the punishment he suffers from his selfishness in life. By listing the monetary objects the chain is made of, Dickens suggests to Scrooge that the material wealth and objects he values in life will come back to plague him after his death
The ghost of Christmas past
The ghost of Christmas past focuses on using memories as a catalyst for change, forcing Scrooge to confront the life he could have had if he hadn't become so obsessed with wealth
The ghost shows Scrooge Belle's children, who 'might have been the spring-time in the haggard winter of his life'. The juxtaposition highlights the importance of family in humanising an individual
The ghost is described as being 'like a child, yet not so like a child as like an old man', suggesting that no matter your age, you can still change your ways
At the end of his visit with this ghost, Scrooge asks to leave, saying 'I cannot bear it', indicating that he is beginning to realise his greed has prevented him from enjoying the benefits of being included within society
This ghost shows the reader how Scrooge's tragic past has shaped how he is now, to encourage sympathy for him, and this causes the reader to hope he changes
The ghost wears 'fresh green holly', a symbol of winter, but carries 'summer flowers', a symbol of summer. This juxtaposition illustrates the impossability of the ghost's presence and reinforces the supernatural theme.
The relationship between Scrooge and the this ghost changes throughout the encounter. Initially, Scrooge challenges the authority of the ghost and claims that 'a night of unbroken rest' would have been more beneficial. However by the end of the encounter, Scrooge is pained by what he sees, and releases his frustration in a physical struggle with the ghost. This overall indicates Scrooge's journey of change has begun.
The ghost of Christmas present
The role of the ghost of Christmas present is to offer a more optimistic message, by highlighting the importance of family and community at Christmas time, over material wealth
The ghost is described as being a 'jolly giant', suggesting the scale of the impact he will have on Scrooge. He is the physical allegory of Christmas: sociable and warm and with a love for shining light on others.
His torch symbolises the light of truth he wants Scrooge to stop shying away from, and also the Christmas spirit of happiness
Dickens uses this ghost to highlight is belief that Christmas is a time for benevolence, to show Scrooge what he is missing out on by refusing to celebrate
The ghost shows the children of Ignorance, and suggests that if they are left to their own devices, they will devastate the poor and overcome society. They are represented by children rather than adults which implies children are more impacted by poverty than adults, and evokes pathos from both Scrooge (after seeing Tiny Tim), and the reader
The ghost is surrounded by piles of food to imply that there is plenty of food to go around the world if the rich were willing to share. This contradicts the Malthusian economic views Dickens hated, to help win over Scrooge
The ghost of Christmas yet to come
While all ghosts impact Scrooge in a way, it could be argued that this ghost does it the most, as it gives Scrooge the final decisive push towards his character transformation
The atmosphere of stave 4 changes straight away: Dickens wants the reader to see the terminal message Scrooge is about to receive, contrasting the friendliness of the previous 2 ghosts
The trio of adverbs 'slowly, gravely, silently' builds tension as Scrooge waits for the ghost to appear,
It is clear that Scrooge has learned lessons from the previous ghosts, as he bends 'down upon his knee' in front of this ghost, suggesting a submittal to the ghost.
There is a semantic field of the unknown when describing this ghost, using words such as 'gloom', 'mystery' and 'shrouded'. This are effective in unsetting and disorientating Scrooge, to make him more susceptable to a character transformation
It could be argued that the climax of the whole novel is when the ghost of Christmas yet to come shows Scrooge his 'neglected grave'. It marks the moment Scrooge realises he is the dead man being discussed in stave 4, which brings his fear to a maximum. Dickens deliberately withheld this to the end of the encounter to increase its impact on Scrooge.
The adjective 'neglected' heightens the pathos for Scrooge and the desolation of his death if he doesn't change