A Christmas Carol is a novella and film by Charles Dickens. It narrates a fictional story of a man named Ebenezer Scrooge who is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future in order to convince him to change his poor outlook on life and his greed. The themes of A Christmas Carol overlap with Gospel teachings, such as the dangers of greed and how the poor should be treated with generosity. The theme of greed is represented in A Christmas Carol through the main character, Scrooge.
The use of noun ‘carol’ could perhaps be seen as ironic, given that a ‘carol’ is normally a song with metered and rhymed lyrics- creating a paradox between of the unmetered and unrhymed novella, written in prose. It could be said that Dickens’ purposefully used this paradox to emphasise the novella’s religious connotations and messages- religion is so significant that not only was it featured throughout the play, but had to be featured in the title. On the other hand, it could be said this is more symbolic- Dickens’ wanted the story to be re-told repeatedly, just like a carol, to increase awareness of working class struggles in a bid for more to be done to combat
We come to learn that Scrooge changes with his attitude. One quote from the text that accurately confirms this is…“No warmth could warm, no wintry weather could chill him. ”(page 3). This excerpt from the text explains how troubled and insecure he is inside, using a metaphorical perspective. We, as the readers, can draw inferences and conclusions on how loathsome he seems.
The book Christmas Carol is somewhat comparable to the story of How the Grinch stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. The main characters of both stories never got a spirit of Christmas. Both never liked Christmas. Both also possess bad characters and are cold-hearted. The only difference between the two, besides that Mr. Scrooge is human and The Grinch is, well, one of the citizens of Whoville (I am not sure if they are human or something), The Grinch wanted to ruin Christmas intentionally that he made lots of effort to succeed in his plans while Mr. Scrooge, well, just hated Christmas.
In ‘A Christmas Carol’, Dickens presents Ignorance and Want in a metaphorical fashion, depicting them as children. This is done in such a manner as to shock and appall the reader, leading to greater emotional investment. Throughout the extract’s entirety, Ignorance and Want are depicted as children, increasing the atmosphere of pessimism that surrounds them. Dickens describes the manner in which the Ghost of Christmas Present “brought two children” – by describing Ignorance and Want as “children”, Dickens creates the impression of innocence, vulnerability, and weakness.
This is evident as Dickens manipulates time by stating “the quarter was so long” which illustrate the intensity of Scrooge’s anxieties and fears about the ghosts due to the limited amount of time to change his fate. In addition, Dicken’s use of apostrophe in “ Oh cold, cold, rigid, dreadful death” allows the reader into a deeper insight into Scrooge’s emotional state without using a direct statement from Scrooge, which evokes a sense of reassessment in the reader in regard to their own life. He had become so consumed with the daily grind of work and surviving he had missed out on the opportunity to appreciate what’s around him and other people which led him to be closed off in an austere state of alienation. A sense of self-discovery is identified as Scrooge states to “sponge away the writing on the stone” as he is desperate to change as he looks around at the people in his life and see them where they really
He is ready to take on what the Spirit has for him because he knows that is the only way he will become a better man. The Ghost of Christmas Future takes Scrooge to different moments in the future, where a rich man died and no one cares about it. The Spirit then takes Scrooge to the man’s headstone, where he sees that his name is on it and realizes that he is the cold-hearted man who no one cared about. He then says, “ ‘Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you shown me, by an altered life’ ” (Dickens 18).
In the first section of A Christmas Carol how does Dickens use the Bible and Christian beliefs to foreshadow what will happen in the rest of the book? Even the title A Christmas Carol could give the reader an idea of the morals of the story as a christmas carol can describe redemption. So far in the book Scrooge is becoming more and more vulnerable due to Marley’s haunting, ‘or that his blood was not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy, would be untrue.’ This implies to reader that Scrooge may become increasingly influenced by the terror of the ghosts that will come to visit him throughout the book.
(t)The graphic novel of the Christmas Carol displays that it is easier to read and visualize the story, proving that the graphic novel is better for students.(r) The visuals of the graphic novel help explain what the story is about, through pictures. Most students are visual learners, and the visuals of the graphic novel can give a better understanding for students. (E) On page 41, box 2 through 5, the visuals and the face expressions of Scrooge show how he was shocked and terrified to see his name on the isolated grave that the spirit was pointing at.
In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens utilizes a plethora of literary devices such as similes, metaphors, imagery, and denouement to explore the capacity for change. This reveals that changing is never impossible until you’re six-feet under. A simile is a comparison that usually uses the word “like” or “as”. Dickens’ use of similes demonstrates how Scrooge changes throughout the story and because of this, we see how changing all aspects of yourself isn’t impossible. “Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self- contained, and solitary as an oyster.”
Within A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge, is introduced the first chapter (or stave considering the time of the book’s publishing). Throughout the Stave, Scrooge is introduced as a greedy man, who is very hateful and clever. This was made apparent when Dickens chose to compare Scrooge to the cold and harshness of a snow storm. This was also shown when he, quite cleverly, told charity workers, as well as order his own nephew, to leave his workplace. His business partner’s death didn’t even faze him, so much.
However in the end of the novella the “fog” and “mist” which could be seen as Scrooge's tendency to keep people at a
A Christmas Carol is a play that takes place of a man who has lost the true meaning of Christmas. He has called Christmas a Bah-Humbug and says it is a waste of money. This man lives a lonely life with greediness. This man is called Scrooge. Some people lose the true meaning of Christmas.
The allegorical nature of A Carol leads to relatively simplistic symbolism and a linear plot. The latter is divided into five Staves, each containing a distint episode in Scrooge's spiritual education. The first Stave centers the visitation of Marley's Ghost, the middle three present of the three Christmas spirits, and the last concludes the story, showing how Scrooge has changed from an inflexible curmudgeon to a warm and joyful benefactor. Underlying the narrative and paralleling the more ostensible theme of moral redemption, lies an incisive political diatribe. Dickens takes aim at the Poor Laws then governing the underclass of Victorian England.
Scrooge has started to really understand what he has done wrong in his life and how selfish and mean he really is . The ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge his future and how the people don’t care that Scrooge dies “If there is any person in the town, who feels emotion caused by this man’s death,” said Scrooge quite agonised, “show that person to me, Spirit, I beseech you” ( Dickens 11 ). Scrooge is seeing how people treat him when he is dead but Scrooge has no clue they are talking about him. Scrooge is showed the future but Scrooge thinks he has already changed completely because he has no idea that the person the men are talking about is him. Scrooge is changing fast but he has not seen the shadows that have not happened but will happen soon "You are about to show me shadows of the things that have not happened, but will happen in the time before us," Scrooge pursued.
