Scrooge Flashcards
Words to describe scrooge
Anti-hero, far from traditional hero
Doesn’t embody christian values, sinful, immoral, fails to adhere to christian teachings
Egocentric
Belligerent, hostile and combative
Obstinate, deflective unreceptive
Parsimonious nature, stingy, miserly, avaricious
Callus, ignorant, cold, capitalist mindset
Strive to offend and demoralise others
Missanthropic
“Solitary and an oyster” (stave 1)
The adjective solitary is meant for Dickens to allude that Scrooge is isolated and misanthropic
Through the simile, Dickens implies how Scrooge has a hardened, callous exterior like oysters which could be seen as a facade or a coping mechanism
Coping mechanism to prevent him from being hurt
The cold exterior is a corollary from the trauma he bas experienced, trauma having a formative impact, shut himself from the world
Foreshadows his redemption, ousters have capacity to open up, Dickens uses this simile to emphasise that Scrooge is vulnerable
And oyster can open up, and may have a pearl inside which is soft and beautiful, which is meant to emphasise that scrooge does have good in him
A03: shows how dickens believes how everyone has good within them, everyone can change
“Covetous old sinner” (stave 1)
“Sinner” noun is meant to underpin how Scrooge fails to adhere to christian teachings
He is being immoral and through the noun, dickens suggests that scrooge is ob the path towards eternal damnation
Dickens is indicating that readers and scrooge should repent, and atone as they might be on the same path as scrooge
“Covetous” adjective, materialistic mindset, jealous, wants more money
This word is then further proving how sinful Scrooge is as he is described as something that is written as bad in the ten commandments, very prominent to Christian victorian era
“Decrease the surplus population” (stave 1)
This quote is meant to represent the views of the victorian upper class. They believed that the poor were not actual humans and believed they were useless and used to agree with Malthusian theory where they believed the poor were taking up too many resources considering they were “not humans”
The adjective surplus is meant to demonstrate how scrooge found them unnecessary, and how they are a financial burden
He only saw them in a monetary view, he believes they shouldn’t exists as they have nothing he can gain. Meant to show his devoid of a moral compass
“Darkness is cheap and Scrooge liked it” (stave 1)
This is meant to clearly present scrooge as a miser.
This develops the idea that Scrooge is unsympathetic, and does not share his wealth. Scrooge does not amass wealth to live of luxury, but just for tue sake of it
He lives witg relative discomfort
Light would have a cost, so he would rather be in the dark than comforting himself after seeing Marley on his doorknob.
For him, comfort seems to be secured in a knowledge that he is wealthy
As a miser, he is symptomatic of everything that was wrong in victorian Britain, wealth disparity was rife and those much more well off generally did little to help those in need
“A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still” (stave 2)
This quote is meant to link with the quote “solitary as an oyster”
We see Scrooge’s life when he was younger and we can clearly see how he is distant from peers and any warmth of human kindness rarely comforts him
We see him emotionally starved which makes us pity him
It makes the reader humanise Scrooge due to his lonely childhood, as it could explain his later rejection of human company
Makes us as readers see that he isn’t an one-dimensional grumpy character
“Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the spirit and was overcome with penitence and grief” (stave 3)
This is his reaction to when the ghost of the present repeats what Scrooge says in the first stave “decrease the surplus population”
Scrooge is revealed to be ashamed by adjective “penitence”
This quote clearly demonstrates that Scrooge is abashed of his earlier thoughts and actions
The poor has have now been humanised for him
“Have they no refuge or resource” (stave 3)
Quotation pairs very well with his quote in stave 1 “are there no prisons or workhouses”
Meant to show his development and character change as this quote totally contrasts and goes against his comment in stave 1
He wants to support them rather than punish them
“It is unlikely to be a very cheap funeral… for upon my life i dont know anybody to go for it” (stave 4)
Meant to show how he is unloved
Meant to be similar to Marleys funeral as both of their funerals were cheap
Hpwever, Marley’s was cheap due to Scrooge being tight with miney perhaps suggesting that someone who should have cared, did not
This finacisl stinginess will probably not happen to Scrooge as Fred will most likelyly br in charge of the funeral
Instead, his funeral will be cheap due to the shared budinessmen attitude, no one cares to go unless they receive something as well
Meant to represent the capitalist and miserly attitude that the victorian upper class would have had, where they make it clear that they inly care if it is transactional. Dickens wanted them to realise how wrong this attitude
“Scrooge listened to this dialogue in horror” (stave 4)
Shows his reaction to the way he acted
His entire adult life is revolved around the accumulation of wealth, even when it is being in the detriment of other people, so he is shocked by these people profiting over belongings of dead people
He is shocked by the unsympathetic and money-grabbing attitudes of the thieves
Makes Scrooge realise how very similar he was to the thieves, this is a last point that make him completely change his transformation
“I’ll raise your salary and endeavour to assist your struggling family” (stave 5)
Contrasts the way he thought about bob before
Meant to represent his transformation
He has gone from complaining about people like bob being useless to trying to help and provide him with money
Shows how much he has changed
And has started to adhere to christian teachngs
Scrooge overview
Dickens uses character of scrooge as vehicle
To chastise the ignorance of the rich to the plight of the poor
Whilst also placing focus an individual’s capacity to change, should they wish to take responsibility for their actions
Scrooge incrementally transforms from a miserly individual to a progressively more reflective character either the assistance of tue ghost who act as catalyst in his journey of redemption.
He also highlights the formative impact of childhood experience through Scrooge’s callous facade and hard demeanour
By the close of the novella, he is transformed into an altogether more altruistic character who seeks to re-inter-grate himself into society by helping others.
Dickens also uses Scrooge to address the issue of poverty in the mid victorian era,
with the hope of changing his reader’s attitude towards the poor from complacency and indifference to compassion and altruism
Quotes for first paragraph
Stave 1
“Covetous old sinner”
“Solitary as an oyster”
“Decrease the surplus population”
“Darkness is cheap and Scrooge liked it”
Quotes for second paragraph
Stave 2 and 3
“A solitary boy, neglected by his friends, is left there still”
“Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the spirit and was overcome with penitence and grief”
“Have they no refuge or resource”
Quotes for last para
Stave 4 and 5
“It is unlikely to be a very cheap funeral…for upon my life i don’t know anybody to go for it”
“Scrooge listened to this dialogue in horror”
“I’ll raise your salary and endeavour to assist your struggling family”
