A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol

1. Scrooge

2. Marley

   • Interchangeable character with scrooge 'Is it Mr Marley or Mr Scrooge I have the pleasure of speaking to?'
     • Business was most important to him in life alike to Scrooge
       • 'Mankind was my business'
         • Suggests that he was using his business selfishly and was sacrificing other people and their livelihoods all for money
         • Could also suggest towards the way that rich people disassociated themselves from others claiming that it's not their responsibility however it was the rich's responsibility to help the poor
           • 'Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me'
             • Talks about the regret he feels for being so selfish and not helping others, as he is so alike to Scrooge it suggests that Scrooge will also feel regret for his selfish actions if he does not change
               • 'I should like to have given him something' Scrooge regrets not giving charity just as Marley foreshadowed
     • 'I wear the chain i forged in life'
       • Due to their similarities, implies that Scrooge will be in a similar state which is why Marley has come to warn him of his chain and to stop before he leads the same fate as Marley
       • 'Made of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds and heavy purses'
         • All of the money he made in life has done nothing but weigh him down, he has all his money however cannot use it and is of no worth to him - being caring and compassionate has better long-lasting effects after death than money as after death, money is worthless
         • 'Heavy purses' could refer to the money he has stole and ripped people off with, the pockets of those too poor to pay he has stolen from them
         • (Scrooge observed it closely) - Scrooge's attention is easily caught by money and emphasises the importance of money to Scrooge and how it stands out most to him
   • suggested to be in purgatory, paying for his sins which is why he has returned to warn Scrooge
     • 'cried piteously at being unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant'
       • They are forced to replay what they have done to hurt people throughout their life, torturing them for their sins and reminding them of the causes of this fate
         • They are being tortured until they have made up for their sins and they can be purged from them
     • The idea of purgatory is that you will be tortured in each of the seven circles of purgatory depending on the sins you have committed until you can be purged of your sins unless you have committed all 7 sins and then you will go to hell
       • Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Pride
   • It is important that Marley comes first and the manner he shows himself to Scrooge
     • 'Saw in the knocker... Marley's face'
       • It is significant that he appears on a knocker
         • A brass door knocker would be expensive and only the rich would be able to afford such a knocker
         • The knockers are on the front of doors, Marley stands in the way of Scrooge entering his house; Must stop Scrooge outside the comfort of his own home, not used to being affeted externally, can't get to his omfort zone.. by himself,
     • 'like a bad lobster in a dark cellar'
       • Only rich people could afford lobster
       • Marley looks pale and death-like alike to a dead lobster
       • Lobsters can only mate when the female lobster sheds her shell - Scrooge can only begin to make a change once he has been shed of his metaphorical shell being his defence mechanism and it's Marley's job as the only person who Scrooge will listen to to help knock down these defences and allow him to change
       • this is also a reference to the way scrooge is trying to pass his visions of Marley off as something dodgy he ate earlier 'bad lobster'

3. Bob Cratchit

   • 'Think of that! Bob had but fifteen "Bob" a week'
     • Bob is a slang term for shilling which suggests that he is very poor and his name carries the same misfortune
     • Pun on his name - it's almost laughable how little Bob receives in wages
   • Foreshadows Scrooge's new generosity that is yet to come for Bob Cratchit
     • 'Extinguished the last frail spark forever'
       • Suggests that he is given little warmth from Scrooge and is the last of the little warmth he is allowed
       • Could suggest that his applauding of his Nephew's speech is the last piece of joy he is allowed to express in work and that for poor people in work, all manerism must be forma;l and should not disagree with their boss, a reason to why at the time wages were low because there was no minimum wage nor democracy in work
       • Could also foreshadow the fact that there will never be again a frail spark as after Christmas eve night, Scrooged will be changed into a more generous person
   • His family are hish pride and joy, the most important part of his life
     • 'Tiny Tim upon his shoulder'
       • He holds Tiny Tim high above his head so that everyone can see him as he is proud to have him
       • Despite the usual victorian attitude towards the disabled, Tiny Tim is not a burden on the family nor Bob Cratchit as he carries him around rather than being ashamed of him
         • 'voice was tremulour'
           • He knows that Tiny Tim is not likely to survive and it hurts him knowing this as he is so important to him
     • 'Regarded it as her greatest success'
       • Doesn't even think about the size of the pudding nor the fact that they have so little
         • Praises her for the pudding and views what he has as plentiful as he has all his family with him it is his family which prioritises over money and wealth
   • Bob's positive attitude towards life is supposed to represent the attitude of the poor as a whole in the Victorian era, despite their misfortune value family above everthing and due to their lack of money, holidays such as christmas are a good time to celebrate what they have - keeps their hopes high
     • 'I'll give you Mr.Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast'
       • Despite the little Scrooge does for Bob and the harsh attitude he is treated, Bob portrays the Christian values Dickens hopes victorian society will employ of forgiveness and a grateful attitude for what they have
         • This attitude contrasts that of the two children Ignorance and Want later in the stave which is the dirty and incorrect view that the rich should have when viewing poverty as a whole
           • Not all of the poor are always asking for more however the rich believe that the poor are just ignorant to others and believe they should get money without working and that they always want more however this is the opposite as this is the attitude of the rich.

4. The Cratchit family

5. The ghost of Christmas Past

   • Represents Jesus christ as the first of the holy trinity
   • Scrooge's childhood represents the problem in society and that neglect and this current attitude will lead to more Scrooges
   • Made to sympathise with Scrooge and feel sorry for him so that the reader can understand that it's the environment that Scrooge grew up in that caused him to be like this and that it must change

6. The ghost of Christmas present

7. The ghost of Christmas Yet to Come