Revision notes- A Christmas Carol

Theme of Redemption
 Scrooge redeems himself from a miserable character who doesn’t even want to give money to
the poor in the quote: "The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour" said Scrooge.’ Towards
the end of the novella, Scrooge then goes to give a young boy money on Christmas day to
collect a turkey for him and his family. This shows how he has changed.
 Also, Scrooge begins to redeem himself after the ghosts come to visit him and he realises how
much of an impact it has had; this is shown when Scrooge starts to cry when he sees his past
life. This makes Scrooge wonder what he has done and he does what it takes to make sure that
it doesn’t happen.
 The phrase ‘"I'll send it to Bob Cratchit's!" whispered Scrooge, rubbing his hands, and splitting
with a laugh.’ shows redemption because in the beginning he wouldn't give the coal box to keep
Bob warm in the winter.
 ‘It's twice the size of Tiny Tim. ’ this shows that he knows about the family and cares about them;
he knows that it will feed all of the family.

 Scrooge redeems himself during the Christmas period as before the ghost’s visit he feels like
Christmas is just a time of year to lose money but after he thinks of Christmas of an amazing
time of year to celebrate family and love. This is also shown when he walks past the carollers
and he stares at them until they stop singing but on Christmas day he redeems himself by
starting to sing with them. This shows change in Scrooge as he wants to redeem himself from
all the sins he has created.

 In Scrooge we see a man who is transformed from a greedy, selfish miser into a generous and
good-natured character by the end.

 He is shown the error of his ways by the ghosts that visit him and is redeemed by his own
willingness to change. The moral message of the novella is that all human beings have the
opportunity to behave in kinder ways towards each other.

 When the last of the ghosts has left and Scrooge finally awakes on Christmas day, we are shown
a new man. “His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.” Scrooge becomes
generous and full of life. We see him welcomed into the homes of his family and friends and
readers are delighted by his transformation.
 The Ghost of Christmas Present uses his own cruel words against him.

 He sees what he is missing in the family scenes of celebration.

 The quote “are there no prisons” effectively shows the audience how Scrooge dehumanises the
poor in stave 1, refusing to give any money. Scrooge follows this with “decrease the surplus
population” furthermore telling us that he feels superior to the less fortunate.
Theme of Christmas
 Scrooge is described as a “jolly giant”, the ghost of Christmas present’s size symbolizes the
scale of his generosity. The fact that he is so big is metaphorical as it represents the size and
scale of his generosity which attends Christmas.
 Dickens uses pathetic fallacy to present the ghost. The room he appears in is “hung with living
green…gleaming berries glistened”. The fire is described as a “mighty blaze”.

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 By comparing the ghost to light and heat, he conveys energy and his warm- hearted nature. He
also has lots of food surrounding him which reinforces his generous spirit.

 The ghost’s initial appearance and dialogue reveals aspects of his character and Dicken’s idea
about Christmas.

 His “sparkling eye” suggests the vitality (energy) and merriment which characterizes the
Christmas period.

 The ghost also carries with him a “rusty scabbard”, conveying that Christmas is a time for peace.
The adjective ‘rusty’ is used as it suggests that it hasn’t been used during the festive period.

 The phrase: “disdaining artifice” (which means to discourage shows of fakeness) tells the reader
that Christmas is a time for genuine shows of joy and pleasure.

 Upon the spirit meeting Scrooge, his first lines are “come in and know me better man!” His
dialogue is presented in a positive tone and conveys the warm heartedness of the ghost. The
use of the exclamation mark emphasizes his large amounts of energy, and even when he meets
a miserable old man, his attitude does not change.
 The ghost of Christmas present also represents empathy enabling scrooge to not only see the
Cratchits, but to feel the hardships and sorrow of their daily lives. Dickens motive here is to tell
the reader that Christmas is a time for sharing riches with the people around them. He is also
conveying that a feast is a wonderful thing but only if you have loved ones around with you to
share it with.

 “Oh what a wonderful pudding! Bob Cratchit regarded it as her greatest success”. The
superlative ‘greatest’ shows how they support one another and are grateful for the Christmas
dinner.

 Christmas time is an exciting time for the Cratchits, that in stave 2, even the potatoes in the pot
“knocked loudly…to be let out”. This quote captures the joy and energy of the Cratchit family
during Christmas. The personification of the potatoes can be compared to the children running
around the house.

 “And now two smaller Cratchits, boy and girl, came tearing in, screaming that outside the baker’s
they had smelt the goose, and known it for their own; and basking in luxurious thoughts of sage
and onion, these young Cratchits danced around the table”. This describes the atmosphere in
the Cratchit household when it is Christmas time and the immense joy it brings to the family.

 Dickens has created the character of Fred to display his own views on Christmas. Through Fred,
Dickens puts across his views on what Christmas is all about: fun, family and charity. In stave
1, Dickens states that Fred: “heated himself with rapid walking”. The description of Fred's
physical warmth acts a metaphor for his warmth of spirit.

 “His face was ruddy and handsome, his eyes sparkled…” The adjective ‘ruddy’ means that his
face is red. The colour red has connotations of warmth and Christmas as it can be seen as a
festive colour. The verb ‘sparkled’ tells us the great amount of energy he has. The word has
also been used when describing the Ghost of Christmas Present: “His sparkly eye”. This tells
us how Fred, like the ghost of Christmas Present, is generous and represents how people should
behave when it is Christmas

 Fred goes on to describe Christmas as a “Kind, forgiving, charitable time” when people “open
up their shut hearts”. Clearly he sees the Christmas period as a time for unification and an
enlargement of the human spirit.

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 Fred talks about seeing people at Christmas as: “Fellow passengers to the grave, and not
another race of creatures bound on other journeys”.

 The term ‘creatures’ implies that for the other 11 months of the year, people see their fellow men
as unhuman or something beneath them; however, Christmas allows people to spend time
together.
Theme of poverty
 “Small pudding in a large family.” This quote successfully shows poverty as using the word
“small” to describe the pudding but it’s a large family so each person will only have a small
portion of the pudding. The family only once very Christmas has a pudding but nearly every year
they have it, you could imagine it always being small.

 “Many of the poor would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the
surplus population." This quote is when the two charity collectors ask Scrooge for money to give
to the poor but he doesn’t give any money so he asks if there are any workhouses so they could
go there. This shows poverty by talking about the poor people going to workhouses and that
they should die.

 “They were not well dressed; their shoes were far from being water-proof; their clothes were
scanty.” This shows poverty by the description of their clothes. Even though they enjoy the
Christmas season and are full of cheer and good-will they are classed as very poor people.

 “Alleys and archways, like so many cesspools disgorged their offences of smell, and dirt, and
life, upon the straggling streets; and the whole quarter reeked with crime, with filth and misery.”
This shows that the alleyways were not clean and were in a poor condition. The people living
there must be in a really bad condition because of how bad it’s described.

 Firstly, when Scrooge visits the Cratchits house, the author shows how they celebrate
Christmas. Usually, people see Christmas as a time to enjoy and give presents to each other;
however the Cratchits are grateful for what they have. We see this as “luxurious thoughts of
sage and onion”. This shows that the basic food to them was luxurious to them. This also shows
that the Cratchits don’t need luxury presents to make them enjoy Christmas.

 The Cratchit family are described as bravely making the best of what they have; they represent
a poor family however we see that they are happy and that they are enjoying it. Mrs Cratchit, for
example, is “dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons which are cheap
and make a goodly show for six-pence”. Mrs Cratchits’ ribbons symbolise ‘luxury’ as it is the
only ‘nice’ thing on her. Mrs Cratchit’s ribbons might be a luxury but they are also a symbol of
her desperation to make her dress look new and respectable. Also, it shows how she wants to
make her dress look like new. Their daughter Belinda is also ‘brave in ribbons’, and their son
Peter wears a too-large shirt with collars that he has to borrow from his father for this special
occasion on Christmas dinner. Bob Cratchit arrives home in this scene in this “threadbare”
clothes that someone has attempted to darn and brush to make him look better.

 The Cratchits are full at the end of their meal, although we have to wonder if this is because
they don’t have enough to eat the rest of the year; 'nobody said or thought it was at all a small
pudding for a large family. It would have been flat heresy to do so. Any Cratchit would have
blushed to hint at such a thing'.
 “Scrooge never painted out old Marley’s name”. The rich take short-cuts. Don’t spend
unnecessary money.
 “Another idol has displaced me”. Money is more important to Scrooge than anything else. Money
corrupts people. Money is so important that it is described as a person.
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 “Keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell”. This connotes Scrooge as a prison
guard. The poor have no power over their job (Scrooge does however (as he is rich)). Poor
working conditions for employees.

 “Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk’s fire was so very much smaller”. Rich are cruel to
the poor. Rich abuse their power (and their workers).

 “There are many things from which I might have derived well, by which I have not profited”.
Doesn’t do ‘things’ to profit from (however he still might gain ‘favours’)
Theme of Children
 The Cratchits are here described as bravely making the best of what little they have. Mrs.
Cratchit, for example, is "dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons,
which are cheap and make a goodly show for sixpence". Their daughter Belinda is also "brave
in ribbons", and their son Peter wears a too-large shirt with collars that he has borrowed from
his father for this special occasion of Christmas dinner. Bob Cratchit arrives home in this scene
in his "threadbare" clothes that someone has attempted to darn and brush to make him look
seasonable.

 The older Cratchit children talk of apprenticeships that will help add to the family's income,
Martha already an apprentice at a milliner's shop and Peter on the verge of finding work soon.
They want to earn more money to help for their family’s wealth. Even the young children have
started work even though they are not adults. We are told that they are "not a handsome family",
"not well dressed", "their shoes were far from being water-proof" and they have scanty clothing.
When their dinner goose is served, the whole family is merry about it because they rarely have
the food; however they eat every single crumb of it to show how grateful they are for having food
on their plate.

 Their poorness is after all only financial, because they are wealthy in human kindness. The
juxtaposition of the family's poverty and bravery in the face of all its hardships are a shocking
thing for Scrooge to see.
Theme of Change in Scrooge
 First, the change in Scrooge is quite apparent, as we see from his past, from his present, and
from his future. It was Scrooge's past that influenced his being so miserly and mean. If you
recall, he was a neglected child during one of the most beautiful family times in the year,
Christmas, which explains why he considers Christmas as a "humbug." This neglect changed
Scrooge. But we do see a change occurring in Scrooge when he sheds a tear upon seeing
himself as a very small boy at a boarding school all alone during Christmas.

 In his past, we also see how Scrooge changed from valuing people, like his sister, Fan, and his
fiancé, to placing his love, in money, and this results to Scrooge losing his fiancé and living a
very lonely life.

 And that change is very apparent in Scrooge's present, for he does not celebrate Christmas,
nor does he value his nephew, Fred, very much. We also see a change in Scrooge in the present
when he inquiries about Tiny Tim's fate.
 Finally, we see an enormous change in Scrooge when he is given a look at his future, and
realizes that Tiny Tim dies, and that no one cares about his death. And change Scrooge does,
for he promises to celebrate Christmas in the past, the present, and in the future; he values
family again for visits Fred, and he vows to help Tiny Tim by giving Bob Cratchit a raise, but
first, Scrooge instructs Cratchit to buy more coal to fuel the fire in the fireplace of his office in

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 order for everyone who comes in to feel the warmth of human compassion and generosity once
again in Scrooge.

 In the beginning of the extract, Scrooge was described as ‘solitary as an oyster’ and a ‘covetous
old sinner.’ as well as this he described as ‘hard and as sharp as a flint.’ This shows how he has
a bad attitude towards others and is alone, leading him to be ‘solitary.’ Being described as ‘sharp’
also indicates he’s harsh and completely spiteful. However, towards the end of the novella, the
author quotes ‘Scrooge was better than his world’ and ‘his own heart laughed.’

 This shows change because in the beginning, the author describes Scrooge to be spiteful and
alone which shows the reader that he never laughed and was not happy. However in this, the
author quotes on how his ‘heart laughed’, which shows how he is now cheerful rather than cold
hearted.

 Even the blind men’s dog’s appeared to know him’ and ‘no children asked him what was o’clock’
these quotes show that the public did not want anything to do with Scrooge and stayed away
from him as much as possible and would rather avoid him. In the end of the extract Dickens
quotes, ‘as good as man as the old city knew.’ This shows the change in the public towards
Scrooge, by the public now accepting him and his change of character. The public was not
scared of him anymore.
 Scrooge became a different person for the better. At the beginning of the novella he was
described as a despicable human but towards the end he was now loved by many and became
a great guardian to Tiny Tim
Theme of Supernatural
 Dickins starts off the Christmas Carol telling the reader that ‘Marley is dead.’ and Marley should
not come back. Secured with the quote ‘There is no doubt whatever about that’ the narrator tells
the reader that Marley should not appear again as he is dead.

 ‘Don’t a knocker, but Marley face’ as Marley is dead and appearing on Scrooge’s door knocker.

 The quote ‘Best and happiest of all, the time before him was his own, to make amends in.’ shows
how time is supernatural as it is manipulated to go back in the past, present and the future.

 ‘Now a pair of legs without a head, now a head without a body: of which dissolving parts no
outline would be visible.’ The use of apposition is used as only the legs can be seen and then
only a head can be seen.

 ‘Whose passions made this caps, and force me through whole trains of years to wear it low
upon my brow!’

 ‘found himself face to face with the unearthly visitor’

 ‘For in the very air through which this Spirit moved it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery.’
 ‘Shrouded in a deep black garment,’ connotes mystery and gloom. Also the colour black
symbolises death.

By Sulaiman Afzal Yr10