Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. "Nothing" said scrooge "nothing. Discipline was harsh and. Whatever the book. Be here all the earlier next morning. `Are they still in operation?, `They are. Once upon a time -- of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve -- old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. Copyright The Student Room 2023 all rights reserved. Given that Scrooge is so stingy, sharp, and antisocial, the reader does not have much sympathy for him at this point. Let it also be borne in mind that Scrooge had not bestowed one thought on Marley, since his last mention of his seven years dead partner that afternoon. Scrooge and he were partners for I dont know how many years. In other words, Scrooge is stingy and tough: he has no sympathy, generosity, or compassion. He even turns down his own nephew who comes to see him and invite him to his house for a Christmas meal. `He died seven years ago, this very night.. "Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster" This gives the perception of Scrooge being a very cold character, a word also associated with being mean. Struggling with distance learning? I have sat invisible beside you many and many a day., Couldnt I take `em all at once, and have it over, Jacob? hinted Scrooge. Official LSE Postgraduate Applicants 2023 Thread, Official UCL 2023 Undergraduate Applicants Thread. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping,scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!" Consequently, everybody who comes into contact with Scrooge avoids him. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved, "Secret, And Self-contained, And Solitary As An Oyster". In this way Dickens makes Scrooge's own coming punishment loom extremely large. a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Bovey, Lee-James "A Christmas Carol Quotes " Book Analysis, https://bookanalysis.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol/quotes/. The truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of distracting his own attention, and keeping down his terror; for the spectres voice disturbed. And yet the way he denies the truth with joke-making, shows his fear. The bells ceased as they had begun, together. Part of the lesson that Scrooge must learn is that life is short but regrets are long and haunting, and have an affect even after death. But alongside this caricature of Scrooge, through the wailings of the multitude he also paints a picture of a spirit realm thats full to bursting with chained-up repentors. You are fettered, said Scrooge, trembling. His stash of money could afford him a rich, luxurious Christmas but he avoids these traditions. Much good it has ever done you!, There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say, But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round. and youll keep your Christmas by losing your situation! I lived rough, that you should live smooth. If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlets Father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot -- say Saint Pauls Churchyard for instance -- literally to astonish his sons weak mind. Scrooge knew he was dead? Historical Context It was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. Scrooge is an outsider because that is the way he likes it. Youre rich enough., Scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. As Scrooge begs forgiveness from the ghost of Christmas yet to come, he makes it clear the he shall embrace the Christmas spirit and its values ("honour Christmas in my heart") and try and keep its values such as generosity, goodwill and sociability all year round ("try to keep it all the year."). PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one lifes opportunity misused! It swung so softly in the outset that it scarcely made a sound; but soon it rang out loudly, and so did every bell in the house. Oyster shells are calcified, hard and irregular in shape. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. Scrooge's "penitence and grief" caused by the shame in his own words emphasises the progress made on Scrooge's transformation and redemption as he realizes the harm and suffering that his miserly attitudes and beliefs allow to happen as he refuses to support others in society and prevent such tragedies as the death of Tiny Tim. It was not angry or ferocious, but looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look: with ghostly spectacles turned up on its ghostly forehead. And yet, though the removal of such doornails is difficult, it is not impossible, and this slyly hints atthe return of Marley's ghost. (meaning rubbish or nonsense) suggesting that scrooge is dismissive of Christmas and the values that come with it, and the animalistic onomatopoeia of "bah!" A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! This is one of Freds lines, and it really helps to highlight the difference in viewpoints between Fred and his uncle. He took us home and hammered us. Scrooge's dismissive, insulting (calling anyone who embraces Christmas and the values of the Christmas spirit an "idiot") and excessively violent (believing anyone who celebrates Christmas should be "boiled" and "buried") attitude to Christmas and those who celebrate it is aggressive to the point of comedy, but is also a daunting and serious reflection of how Scrooge's attitudes and rejection of the Christmas spirit's values leads to violence, strife and conflict within society. A great many very young girls grown into bold women before they had well ceased to be children. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. `Christmas a humbug, uncle! said Scrooges nephew. a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Early in the chapter, the narrator says, "Oh! A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there. The cold became intense. But you were always a good man of business, Jacob, faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself. Fred is the opposite of Scrooge in appearance and spirit. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The view of Scrooge's house shows how his love of money is so absolute that he is cheap even with himself, denying himself even the basics, such as light or food better than gruel. Note how Scrooge here condemns such fools to death, when over the next few nights it will be he who learns that he is condemned to a terrible death. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Yet such was I! Once more? Scrooge was not much in the habit of cracking jokes, nor did he feel, in his heart, by any means waggish then. https://www.youtube. And I know I know my dears, that when we recollect how patient and how mild he was; although he was a little, little child, we shall not quarrel easily among ourselves and forget poor Tiny Tim in doing it. Scrooge signed it. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! As the day passes, the fog and cold become more severe. The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense without, that although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms. - Narrator. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. Describe the two children who emerge from the second spirit's robe in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. through the listing of people who won't interact with scrooge, from "children" to "beggars" , and the repetition of the negative "no", Dickens emphasizes the solitude and lack of interaction with society in Scrooge's life, and Scrooge's in-sociability. clause. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and . To say that Scrooge could be made neither warm nor cold by any outside influence again paints him as an outcast. In the present, Scrooge witnesses scenes of fires at Christmas time that bring happiness, many associated with the theme of eating food at this festive time, such as the brightness of the roaring fires in kitchens, parlours, and all sorts of rooms, was wonderful and the flickering of the blaze showed preparations for a cosy dinner, He sees scenes associated with the coming together of family at this time of year, such as that of a miner and his family who are a cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights, A doornail was a kind of nail or stud that was often used in Dickens's time tobothaesthetically adorn, The simile first appeared in Shakespeare's. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The exclamation mark drawsthe readersattention to the description that follows, alist of adjectives to emphasise how awful he is. "Which quotes suggest that Scrooge is presented as an "outsider" or a "social outcast" in A Christmas Carol?" For characters like Fred and Bob Cratchit, Christmas represents the Christian ideal of goodness and moral prosperity, but Scrooge is at his. Instant PDF downloads. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. eNotes Editorial, 17 Oct. 2017, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/which-quotes-suggest-that-scrooge-is-presented-as-568005. `You dont mean that, I am sure?, `I do, said Scrooge. Is an accounting and finance degree worth it? Second, he is uncharitable . As Scrooge looked fixedly at this phenomenon, it was a knocker again. Which, you see, were a drawback on my learning. not to know, that ages of incessant labour, by immortal creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity before the good of which it is susceptible is all developed. Whatever the genre. The happiness he gives is quite as great as if it costs a fortune. "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". The use of business like language such as "surplus" and "decrease" emphasizes how scrooge's miserly, monetarily driven attitudes in the place of the Christmas spirit and its values causes wrath and suffering in society, and leads to the less fortunate not being supported. The Student Room and The Uni Guide are trading names of The Student Room Group Ltd. Register Number: 04666380 (England and Wales), VAT No. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. 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