Scrooge Flashcards
(14 cards)
How is Scrooge presented at the start of the novella?
He is cold-hearted, greedy, selfish and isolated
How does Scrooge treat his nephew Fred in Stave 1?
He mockingly says Fred has no right to be ‘merry’ because he is poor
He mocks Fred for getting married because of love
He refuses to say ‘Merry Christmas’ to Fred
How does Scrooge treat the two charity workers in Stave 1?
He sarcastically asks if ‘the Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour’
He says that the poor should die ‘and decrease the surplus population’
How does Scrooge treat Bob Cratchit in Stave 1?
He grudgingly lets Cratchit have Christmas Day off, warning him to arrive especially early on Boxing Day
How does Scrooge react to the ghost of Marley?
At first he refuses to believe the signs of haunting (the door knocker, the ringing bell, the sound of chains dragging on the stairs), saying ‘I won’t believe it!’
He is then sarcastic towards Marley, saying, ‘There’s more of gravy than of grave about you’
However, Marley gives ‘a frightful cry’ and Scrooge asks for ‘Mercy’
What does Scrooge learn from Marley’s ghost?
He learns that he is already carrying invisible chains which symbolise his greed and wickedness
He learns that he will be visited by three spirits, which sets out the rest of the plot
Afterwards, he tries to say ‘Humbug!’ but cannot, which shows he has lost confidence, the first step towards change
After he awakes, he is ‘perplexed’ and ‘bothered […] exceedingly’, but has not yet learned his lesson
How does Scrooge react to the Ghost of Christmas Past?
He finds the spirit ‘strange’ but he is not afraid of it
He feels a ‘special desire’ to place the spirit’s cap on its head, extinguishing its light, which shows Scrooge’s reluctance to confront his past
He is polite, speaking ‘reverently’
What does Scrooge learn from the Ghost of Christmas Past?
He starts to regret his past behaviour (e.g. he wishes he had given something to the boy singing a Christmas carol outside his door; he wishes he could apologise to Cratchit)
Scrooge describes the joy created by Fezziwig as a ‘fortune’, showing that he is beginning to change his attitudes
He is tortured by regret that he did not marry Belle and have children
He then extinguishes the spirit because confronting his past is too painful for him to bear
How does Scrooge react to the Ghost of Christmas Present?
He approaches the spirit ‘timidly’ and treats him ‘reverently’ and ‘submissively’, showing that he has lost his arrogance
He asks the spirit to teach him a lesson so he can ‘profit by it’
What does Scrooge learn from the Ghost of Christmas Present?
He asks if Tiny Tim will live, showing that he is beginning to feel compassion for the poor and weak
He is ‘overcome with penitence and grief’ at his earlier words about ‘decreasing the surplus population’
He realises that other people (especially Mrs Cratchit) do not like him
How does Scrooge react to the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come?
It fills him with ‘solemn dread’
He tells the spirit he hopes ‘to live to be another man from what I was’
He commands the spirit to ‘Lead on!’, showing that Scrooge is now taking charge of his own transformation
What does Scrooge learn from the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come?
He is ‘trembling’ as he approaches his own grave and realises the consequences of not changing
He feels ‘agony’ and promises he ‘will not shut out the lessons’ of the three spirits
He holds up his hands ‘in a last prayer’, showing his final repentence
How does Scrooge feel when he wakes after the final spirit?
He is ‘glowing with his good intentions’
He gives ‘a splendid laugh, a most illustrious laugh’
What does Scrooge represent?
At the start he represents the greed and selfishness within Victorian society
He also represents disdain towards the poor and the charity of Christmas
However, by the end he represents the possibility of change and redemption
