Supernatural Essay Plan Flashcards
(5 cards)
Thesis Statements
• Dickens uses the supernatural as a religious construct symbolising the omniscience of God and Christianity
• as an emblem of the power of personal choice, revealing to Scrooge his own personal truths in order to criticise the moral conscience of Victorian upper class
• model the metamorphosis society has the power to undertake
Paragraph 1 - Marley in Stave 1
• ‘doomed to wander through the world’
• verb ‘doomed’ - concept of societal doom is initially introduced here - verb reinforces the consequences in Christian religion, a greater consequence which awaits the rich than the poor in life
• alliteration of ‘w’ - used to describe the state of purgatory, mimics the sound of woeful crying which highlights the eternal power and relentless torture of purgatory
• literary-wide allusion, used by OW in CG
• revered concept in Christianity - this symbolic image is a severe warning to the rich of moral judgement which awaits
‘wrought in steel’ ‘cashboxes, keys, padlocks’
• semantic field which epitomises the Industrial Revolution - Dickens communicates this as the root of capitalism and sin
• opposes moral standing of Christianity - supernatural is used to highlight truth of a lack of religious integrity in society
Paragraph 3 - Stave 2, A Ghost of Christmas Past
• ‘I don’t wish to see it’ - verb has connotations with aspiration, ironic as it reinforces the rich see ignorance as a comfort which nurtures capitalism, and therefore actively reject the truth of societies’ failures, eg the Poor Law of 1834
• ‘seized the extinguisher cap’ - metaphor for the concealing of Jesus’ light and teachings, hope he offers to the poor
• Dickens directly blames the rich for the erosion of Christian values - Ghost is a symbol of Jesus’ light and truth
• ‘could not hide the light’ - reminds reader of the omniscience of Jesus - can see all winds, warning that judgement will come
• light is a metaphor for Scrooge’s personal truth of being, all moral sins via misanthropy and avarice
Paragraph 4 - Ghost of Christmas Present (models metamorphosis Scrooge/society has the power to undertake)
‘Come in! Come in, and know me better, man’
• repetition is authoritative but friendly - conveys that the ghost wants to form an amicable relationship with Scrooge - symbolises that god shows agape and generosity to all - models that we should show unconditional love, dismissing Poor Law
“ ‘know me better’ - foreshadows that after the meeting, Scrooge will be more aligned with his Christian values (his redemption)
• ‘man’ - address is unspecific because Dickens wants all of mankind to form an amicable relationship with God - must do this by following values of philanthropy/benevolence
• ‘free’ ‘open hand’ ‘unconstrained demeanour’ - represent alternate pathways Scrooge may take, symbolises ignorance as a choice
• Dickens has created a semantic field of liberality, which contrasts Marley’s ‘chains’ and amplifies the significance of giving freely on a person’s fate - opposes Malthus
Paragraph 5 - Stave 4, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
• ‘slowly, gravely, silently’
• adverb is significant because ghost cannot speak - to change for the better is a personal choice
• Ghost is a metaphor of the relationship between death and moral potential - morality (God) cannot speak, must make good choices based on true integrity and empathy
• ‘feared the silent shape’ - reflects hypocritical nature of society claiming to love God, while rejecting and fearing His consequence
• ‘it would have been difficult to detach its figure from the night’ - metaphor which portrays doom to be inseparable from moral sins - they are not mutually exclusive, warning that a lack of social responsibility means doom is inevitable
