A Christmas Carol (stave 1)
- Created by: elise
- Created on: 13-10-18 17:45
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- 1) The chapter begins lightheartedly as the omniscient narrator humorously discusses the fact that Jacob Marley is dead.
- 1) The chapter becomes less lighthearted when Scrooge, Marley's old business partner, is introduced.
- 1) The cheerful beginning of the novel contrasts with Scrooge's introduction and makes Scrooge seem even less appealing.
- "Tight fisted" "squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, coventous old sinner!"
- He takes everything for himself (money) hes bitter, mean and selfish.
- "Marley was dead" "Marley was as dead as a door nail" "dead"
- Foreshadows ghost of Marley and sets a dark tone
- A Christmas Carol (Marley's ghost)
- 2) Scrooge's office is very dark and cold. Hes too mean to let his clerk, Bob Cratchet, have a decent fire.
- "Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk's fire was so very much smaller"
- Scrooge doesn't have to have a small fire but he chooses to because he would rather save money than enjoy it.
- 2) Scrooge's nephew Fred arrives to wish him a Merry Christmas.
- ""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.""
- Fred and Scrooge are opposites. Scrooge lists all the negatives about Christmas and tries to spoil everyone's fun where as Fred is thinking of all the happy memories at Christmas and tries to spread the joy.
- ""a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time""
- Fred and Scrooge are opposites. Scrooge lists all the negatives about Christmas and tries to spoil everyone's fun where as Fred is thinking of all the happy memories at Christmas and tries to spread the joy.
- ""a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time""
- 2) Scrooge's nasty personality is developed by his treatment of the charity collectors, who come to his office looking for donations.
- ""Are there no prisons?"" ""And the workhouses? Are they still in operation?""
- Repeated by the ghost at the end of stave 3 to show him he should regret saying that.
- ""I wish to be left alone"" ""I don't make merry myself at Christmas, and i can't afford to make idle people merry.""
- He refuses to donate money, saying that the poor are idle.
- ""If they would rather die, they had better do it and decrease the surplus population.""
- Hes saying that if they can't handle them selves then they may as well die.
- Repeated by the ghost at the end of stave 3 to show him he should regret saying that.
- 2) Later, a boy starts to sing a Christmas carol through Scrooge's keyhole, but Scrooge scares him so much that he flees "in terror". Scrooge is then rude to Bob when he reluctantly allows home to spend Christmas day with his family instead of at work.
- ""You'll want all day tomorrow, i suppose?"" ""It's not convenient, and it's not fair.""
- ""Are there no prisons?"" ""And the workhouses? Are they still in operation?""
- ""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.""
- "Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk's fire was so very much smaller"
- 3) The weather in this chapter is "bleak" and ominous, it seems like nature "was brewing on a larger scale".This creates the impression that something big is about t happen.
- "Meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened"
- Pathetic fallacy - the fog is metaphorical. Scrooge can't see what is going on around him (his hostility towards others)
- 3) Dickens often links the weather with Scrooge's personality. Here it's cold which reflects the cold within his heart. its also foggy which could symbolise Scrooge's inability to see how arrogant he is being . The weather gets worse in this chapter as more of his unpleasant personality is revealed.
- "The cold became intense"
- It's becoming colder and colder foreshadowing the arrival of the ghost. Contrast here between the warmth of the fire at the start to now.
- The bleak conditions suggest there is something unsettling about Scrooge's behaviour.
- "The cold became intense"
- "Meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened"
- 4) Scrooge returns to his rooms which used to belong to Marley. They're dark because "darkness is cheap", they reflect Scrooge's cold and miserly personality.
- 4) as he is about to enter, his door knocker transforms into Marley's face. This is the first glimpse of the supernatural in the novel, it foreshadows the ghostly visitations that follow.
- 4) The dramatic tension rises as more strange things start to occur. Scrooge sees Marley's face in the tiles of his fire place, all the bells in the house start to ring, and he hears the clanking f chains from the cellar.
- 4) as he is about to enter, his door knocker transforms into Marley's face. This is the first glimpse of the supernatural in the novel, it foreshadows the ghostly visitations that follow.
- 5) Marley's ghost appears.
- "cash boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses"
- These items symbolise how Marley was obsessed with money, just like Scrooge.
- 5) Marley's obsession with money led to his lack of compassion and care for others.
- Marley is "doomed to wonder through the world"
- "if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death."
- Marley is telling him to change his ways while he sill can or he will end up trapped as a ghost.
- ""I wear the chain i forged in life, I made it link by link, and yard by yard; i girded it on of my own free will
- All his action in life lead him to this. He's paying for his evil doings in life.
- "if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death."
- 5) Scrooge find out that he'll have one last chance at redemption, he'll be visited by three ghosts over the next three nights.
- ""I am here tonight to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate.""
- He still has a chance to change.
- ""Without their visits, you cannot hope to shun the path i tread""
- ""I am here tonight to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate.""
- Marley is "doomed to wonder through the world"
- "cash boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses"
- 6) In this chapter Scrooge starts to experience new emotions and this is the start of his transformation
- 6)The appearance of Marley's face in his door knocker gives him a "terrible sensation" he hasn't felt since "infancy".
- 6) When he sees Marley's ghost, he has to make jokes to try to keep "down his terror" despite being "not much in the habit" of trying to be funny.
- 6)He begs for some explanation or comfort from Marley's ghost, speaking with "humility and deference". Contrast to earlier.
- 6) He tries to say "Humbug" about the warning from Marley, but he can't finish the word. This is a sign that he's already changing and loosing his negative outlook on life
- 6)He begs for some explanation or comfort from Marley's ghost, speaking with "humility and deference". Contrast to earlier.
- 6) When he sees Marley's ghost, he has to make jokes to try to keep "down his terror" despite being "not much in the habit" of trying to be funny.
- 6)The appearance of Marley's face in his door knocker gives him a "terrible sensation" he hasn't felt since "infancy".
- 2) Scrooge's office is very dark and cold. Hes too mean to let his clerk, Bob Cratchet, have a decent fire.
- 1) The chapter becomes less lighthearted when Scrooge, Marley's old business partner, is introduced.
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