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Themes of A Christmas Carol - Coggle Diagram
Themes of A Christmas Carol
Family (and isolation)
Value of family
Scrooge chosen isolation over family (make more money - left him lonely and disliked by others)
Source of comfort, strength and joy
Ghost of Christmas Present - 'running out into the snow', 'cheerful company'
Dickens emphasises there is 'nothing of high mark' about the Cratchits but their family love strengthens them and makes them happy
Happiness
Fred's family - 'laughed as heartily as he'
Belle's playful family - full of 'joy, and gratiude, and ecstasy'
At first S. doesn't see the point
Dismisses Fred's invitation every year - doesn't see virtue in family
Says love is the 'one thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry Christmas
Financial burden - wonders how Bob Cratchit can feel 'merry' when he has to support his family on a low wage
Reaction to Ghost of Christmas Present's hundred brothers 'a tremendous family to provide for'
S. was a 'solitary child, neglected by his friends'
He weeps when he sees himself 'alone again' - S. had to create companionship for himself out of characters in books to replace his absent family
S's fixation on money is due to his loneliness
Stave 4 - S sees result isolation brings him (and selfishness) - contrast of TT death and the tears shed for him
S. becomes a 'second father' to TT and embraces his relationship with Fred
The Christmas Spirit
Time when people 'open their shut-up hearts freely' and show generosity, charity, kindness and goodwill to others
Fred fully embraces the spirit of Christmas 'kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time' - brings out best in people
Ghost of Christmas Present personifies values associated with Christmas 'cheery voice', 'joyful air'
Charity collectors - try to provide some 'Christian cheer' at time when poverty is made obvious
Fred believes it's a time when all of humanity should unite and help each other
Fezziwig demonstrates generosity and kindness of spirit
Christmas spirit both a secular and religious side
S. is transformed by Christmas spirit - first reaction was 'Humbug' and is changed to say he will 'honour Christmas - makes a large donation and buys a Turkey for the Cratchits
Dickens suggests Christmas spirit should be kept all year round
Ghost of Christmas Past carries winter holly but wears a dress 'trimmed with summer flowers'
Presence of I+W - reminder that the problems still exist at all times
Redemption
Seems impossible at the beginning that S will change - negatively portrayed as a misanthropist
Last ghost S's attitude has softened and his is concerned that he is 'past all hope'
Dickens arguing that even the worst people in society can find redemption
Although S is redeemed by the end of the novella there are hints that it is motivated by selfishness (after seeing his own death)
Reader sees Scrooge's past relationships (Fan and Belle)
Shows he is capable of compassion
Change in S's father foreshadows his redemption - 'so much kinder than he used to be' - Fan
Dickens' views on Christianity - practical kindness and willingness to help (S. didn't just go to church and pray)
At end S is 'glowing with good intentions' - reborn 'I'm quite a baby'
S's transformation is out of his own free will - more powerful
Feels pity for his lonely boyhood and regrets treatment of carol singer
Remembers fun he had as Fezziwig's apprentice and empathises with his clerk, Bob
Learns from Fred
S. witnesses the love between Cratchits - 'an interest I had never felt before' when he asks if Tiny Tim will live
Poverty and Social Responsibility
At first S is apathetic about plight of the poor - if they would rather die 'they had better do it' and 'decrease the surplus population' - and he exploits people e.g. Bob
Belle explains that S. lives in fear of poverty - S 'there is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty' - S's attitude to poor seems even worse and more selfish
I+W - 'horrible monsters' - society's neglect to the poor - 'they are Man's'
Descriptions of food 'pot-bellied baskets of chestnuts' - food is abundant for those that can afford it but the graveyard is 'fat' with bodies which is ironic - money worthless in death
GoCP - ignorance will lead to the 'Doom' of society and the wealthy must take responsibility for the poor
Marley - his true 'business' was the 'common welfare' of mankind
Crachits show living in poverty - 'brave in ribbons' and eat a 'goose'
Glimpses of the seedier side of poverty where the streets are 'foul and narrow' (Joe's shop)
Cratchits poor but appreciate what they have but S in contrast is financially weathly but poor in companionship - 'his wealth is of no use to him'
In Stave 2 - S. greed with money and Belle had been 'displaced' by a 'golden idol'
Time
Running out for TT and S is S does not change his ways
Used to show how events in our past can influence our behaviour
Dickens suggesting the time we spend with family and people is the most precious
Supernatural
Gothic genre popular at the time
Aids the structure of the novella
Ghosts are catalysts for change in Scrooge
Provide dramatic tension and urgency for change
Allows Dickens to move around in time and location - show S all aspects of time and place
Stave 1 - S sees the air 'filled with phantoms'
I+W symbolic of the effects of poverty in society but supernatural objects/people