A Christmas Carol Essay Example For Students

A Christmas Carol Essay This essay will analyse and report on how the character Scrooge changes throughout the Victorian novel A Christmas Carol. Each Stave will be analysed, thus showing how he changes throughout the novella. At the start of the story, the impression created of Scrooge is very negative. He is portrayed as a cold and twisted character, who puts the wrong principals, such as money, before those that are more important, such as family and friends. Early in the book, Ebenezer represents the direct opposite of the Christmas spirit. He is shown to be extremely miserly, with very little regard or respect for the poor. He is a misanthrope. By the end, however, he is very different. Instead of being tight fisted with his money, he instead appears to have very little concern for it at all, seemingly thrusting it at anyone who will accept it. Most crucially however he is able to have respect for others, instead of just himself. Charles Dickens wanted readers of his book to think about the conditions people of the lower classes lived in, and how despite this they are happy and content. He wanted to give them awareness that money is irrelevant if happiness isnt created with it. Stave one is mostly about getting the reader to become aware of Scrooges attitude and history. It portrays Scrooge as a cold and unpleasant character. This point is well made when Dickens writes The cold within him froze his old features, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, stiffened his gait, and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. The first part of this quotation provides an indication of how cold and confronting his appearance is, and how this is reflected in his personality. The language used is simple, which helps to emphasise the extent of his coldness, and the phrasing used, such as the coldness stiffening his gait shows his age. Gait is a reference to how he moves, so in saying that it is stiff, Charles Dickens is stating that his movements are becoming slow and awkward with his age. This could possibly symbolise that it has become awkward for him to socialise and connect with other human beings, as it has become awkward for him to move. In the first Stave, Scrooges attitude to giving is extremely bad. This is well shown by the two gentlemen, who are refused by Scrooge when they offer him the chance to donate to the poor. Scrooge tells them that I dont make merry myself at Christmas, and I cant afford to make idle people merry. With this quotation Dickens showed that Scrooge is unable to see from other peoples points of views. Despite the Gentlemens emotional plea, he is unable to realise how badly people are suffering, or he is simply too cold to care. When he calls the poor people idle, he is implying that they are poor because they are lazy and do not work. This is incorrect, as in Victorian times if you were from a poor background it was nearly impossible to build up any sort of wealth. The fact that Scrooge refuses to give to poor when given the chance also shows that he was not a dedicated Christian. In Victorian times even poor Christians would try to give to the poor, especially at Christmas time. Scrooge, who would have been in the upper middle class, refused to give to charity, and this shows how miserly and uncharitable he really was. In Stave one, Scrooges treatment of Bob Cratchit is very cruel and negative, which is reflected in his personality. This is highlighted when Scrooge answers his clerks question about having Christmas day off with, If I was to stop half a Crown for it, youd think yourself ill used, Ill be bound? And yet, you dont think me ill used when I pay a days wages for no work. Drama Coursework Assignment EssayThe ghost wore a sabbard and sheath with no sword, emphasising the peace between people during Christmas as people feel full of Christmas cheer and happiness. Also everyone is included in Christmas as there is no discrimination to who can participate and so a sword to drive people away is not needed. The ghost bore a glowing torch and held it up, high up, to shed its light on Scrooge, which means the giant tries to enlighten Scrooge. The torch is a magical one, that sprinkles Christmas Spirit on the people that allow it to enter. It makes people cheerful and thankful. The torch and its sprinkle represent compassion, kidness, hope, happiness and joy. The giant is a protector as under its robe it hides two small children that are Ignorance and Want. The ghost, as it represents Christmas, only lives for the Christmas season and so dissapears after Christmas day. The last ghost to visit Scrooge is the ghost of Christmas yet to come. This ghost is almost the opposite of the last two ghosts; they symbolise in some way hope, this ghost shows a grim future ahead. All of its body is hidden under a black garment, to represent the mystery of the future. It would have been difficult to separate it from the darkness by which it was surrounded, also emphesises the darkness of the ghost, and the uncertainty of where you will end up in the future. All that is visble of the ghost is its hand that points onward, symbolising how life goes on into the unknown. The ghost is silent, grave and slow, symbolic of death which is the only certainty in peoples lifes.