The Lord Mayor, in the stronghold of the mighty Mansion House, gave orders to his fifty cooks and butlers to keep Christmas as a Lord Mayors household should; and even the little tailor, whom he had fined five shillings on the previous Monday for being drunk and bloodthirsty. The novel 'A Christmas Carol' narrates the story of a man called Scrooge and how he realises his behaviour to people must change in order to do well in his life as spirits show his past, present and future. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. Scrooge's logic is somewhat consistenthe sees money as being the sole important thing in the world, and therefore sees anyone lacking money as being unimportant. Why does the Ghost of Christmas Past show Scrooge the boarding school where he was left alone in A Christmas Carol? 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. Even the blind mens dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!. In each stave Scrooge gradually changes his attitude to become a better person. `Youll want all day to-morrow, I suppose? said Scrooge. Hes comparing Cratchits actual body temperature to Scrooges personality. His most famous saying is bah humbug. He used it as an exclamation when he wanted to express his displeasure about something. From this exchange, it sounds like Marley was at least somewhat generous. Latest answer posted December 06, 2020 at 12:31:06 PM. "Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster" No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. They often `came down handsomely, and Scrooge never did. "A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel. `We have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his surviving partner, said the gentleman, Scrooge frowned, and shook his head, and handed the credentials back, `At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge, said the gentleman, taking up a pen, `it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and Destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. There were Cains and Abels, Pharaohs daughters; Queens of Sheba, Angelic messengers descending through the air on clouds like feather-beds, Abrahams, Belshazzars, Apostles putting off to sea in butter-boats, hundreds of figures to attract his thoughts -- and yet that face of Marley, seven years dead, came like the ancient Prophets rod, and swallowed up the whole. Privacy Policy, https://bookanalysis.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol/quotes/. The Student Room and The Uni Guide are both part of The Student Room Group. The way the content is organized, LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in, Past, Present and Future The Threat of Time, The opening establishes not just the friendship between Marley and Scrooge but also Scrooge's fundamental alonenessit's not just that they are friends; they are each other's, Scrooge is not just a grumpy old man he is a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner. a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs Why doesn't Scrooge like Christmas in A Christmas Carol? Through a visit one Christmas Eve by the ghost of Marley and three subsequent spirits, Scrooge is awakened to his meanness and the impact it has on others. Instead of being hard and sharp, he is soft and light. This is one of Freds lines, and it really helps to highlight the difference in viewpoints between Fred and his uncle. Latest answer posted January 12, 2021 at 5:08:54 PM. Once more? No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Quite satisfied, he closed his door, and locked himself in; double-locked himself in, which was not his custom. I am as giddy as a drunken man. The Spirit pointed from the grave to him, and back again. At the very least, this alone would make him an outsider. The protagonist of A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is a cold-hearted and mean-spirited accountant. He used to know how to have fun. And yet, though the removal of such doornails is difficult, it is not impossible, and this slyly hints atthe return of Marley's ghost. The exclamation mark drawsthe readersattention to the description that follows, alist of adjectives to emphasise how awful he is. He believes solely in money. Each adjective is also connected with the hands to show how he holds tightly to everything he has. Scrooge stopped. The exclamation mark in "Oh! This suggests his ability to hurt others. His answer is, "Bah! PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. If the nails were hammered so their tips extended to the other side of the door, and then hammered flat against that side, they could not be extracted. At Fezziwig's party (pp. Struggling with distance learning? The passage clearly states that Scrooge is "a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone" and is "hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel struck out a generous fire." Furthermore, the passage continues to show more detail by saying that he's "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner" and . That night, on the stroke of midnight, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of Marley. At the start of the novel, Dickens describes scrooge as mean; hard and sharp as flint; this suggests that he is ignorant towards people and neglects other people, and that he hates everyone around him and himself, this implies that he is greedy. Though his nephew tries to convince him to join his family, Scrooge replies, "Nephew, keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine!" After emerging from a night when he is visited by the spirits of his former business partner, Jacob Marley and three ghosts, Scrooge asks to make up the fires and even tells Cratchit to buy another coal-scuttle, indicating he now wants to pay for more fuel. "To say that he was not startled, or that his blood was not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy, would be untrue.". He took us home and hammered us. This is an odd simile. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. (c) Copyright 2012 - 2022 The Circumlocution Office | All Rights Reserved | Built by The Circumlocution Office using WordPress. ragged men and boys were gathered: warming their hands and winking their eyes before the blaze in rapture. The hair was curiously stirred, as if by breath or hot air; and, though the eyes were wide open, they were perfectly motionless. This might have lasted half a minute, or a minute, but it seemed an hour. At this time of the rolling year, the spectre said `I suffer most. _____Why did the puppy hide when Sebastian appeared? Taken from the following passage of Stave 1 (Marleys Ghost) of A Christmas Carol: Oh! His only concern is the amount of money he can make for himself. However, Scrooge being likened to "flint" suggests that, although he has never given "generous fire" he has the potential to be good-willed, sociable, generous and the other attributes encapsulated by the Christmas spirit, as portrayed by the recurring symbol of "fire" used by dickens to represent these values. What is the theme of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens? Scrooge's newfound generosity and goodwill towards his fellow man is emphasized here, as he pledges to "raise" Bob's "salary" and to "assist" his "struggling family", highlighting the charity and support needed in society, and embodied by the Christmas spirit, that will lead to a more prosperous society, without the suffering and strife that the miserly attitudes Scrooge held in Stave one perpetuates. Marleys ghost is a terrifying figure - his huge clanking chain makes him look like an exaggeration of a typical Victorian prisoner. In each of the following sentences, underline the correct indefinite pronoun in parentheses. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Term. Scrooge is described as "solitary as an oyster". Its the only way to make a boy sharp, sir. Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, `My dear Scrooge, how are you? Let him make a tool of me afresh and again? This is evident in his early relationship with his nephew Fred. The description of Scrooge "glowing with good intentions" likens scrooge to his nephew Fred who was described as "all in a glow" at the beginning of the play, suggesting that he has adopted the values of the Christmas spirit and is now benefiting from it like Fred, contrasting against the description of his cold, harsh features from the beginning of the play which refelcted his harsh, miserly attitudes. Scrooge signed it. 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. I'll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss you affairs this very afternoon". Current Year 10 Official Thread (2022-2023). The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever. It is required of every man, the Ghost returned, `that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellowmen, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster." Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. In this way, Dickens universalizes his message. A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there. `Because, said Scrooge, `a little thing affects them. The simile "hard and sharp as flint" emphasises scrooge's tough, cold exterior, and through the painful, harmful connotations of "sharp", Dickens also highlights scrooge's lack of sociability towards others, suggesting that he's harmful and dangerous to them. The Student Room and The Uni Guide are trading names of The Student Room Group Ltd. Register Number: 04666380 (England and Wales), VAT No. (exclamatory).\ What does the quote hard and sharp as flint mean?Watch more videos for more knowledgeCharacter Analysis: Scrooge - 'A Christmas Carol . Cards. The narrator wants to make it clear that what is to come are. Oysters are confined solitarily. He has the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping,scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!" - Narrator. Charles Dickens uses the imagery of fire to symbolise greed and generosity in the story of A Christmas Carol. Mind! Find full texts with expert analysis in our extensive library. 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. `You dont believe in me, observed the Ghost. 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