A Christmas Carol Quotes And Analysis
"Solitary as an oyster" (stave 1) ✔️✔️Shows us that he's lonely and doesn't want to associate or
communicate with anyone. This is also telling us that Scrooge traps his feelings up inside and refuses to
open up to anyone. Additionally, it's also foreshadowing change. Since there's pearls inside oysters, it's
foreshadowing change and a journey of redemption for Scrooge in the bildungsroman novella.
"I can't afford to make idle people merry" (stave 1) ✔️✔️Scrooges words to the charity collectors as
he refuses to give charity.
Adjective "idle"- reveals Scrooge believes the poor are lazy and to blame for their own situation. This
mirrors the Victorian rich's attitude to the poor. Because poor people were thought to be lazy,
workhouses were deliberately bad
"A solitary child, neglected by his friends" (stave 2) ✔️✔️A description of Scrooge as young boy-he
was left alone at school as others enjoyed their holidays.
Adjectives "solitary" and "neglected" highlight his feelings of loneliness and isolation, therefore we feel
sympathy for him. It also explains why he becomes "hard and sharp as flint" later on.
"Have they no refuge or resource?" (Stave 3) The Second of the Three Spirits ✔️✔️We can see that
Scrooge has gone through a huge amount of redemption, directly contrasting to his words in Stave 1 to
the charity collectors "are there no workhouses?" and "are there no prisons?". Prisons in Victorian times
were for people in debt and could not pay. Dickens' father was sent to a debtors prison because he was
in debt. Dickens himself had to work in a factory because his father was in a debtors prison. Workhouses
were deliberately
"I wear the chain I forged in life"-Marley's ghost. Stave 1-Marley's ghost ✔️✔️
"It was cold, bleak, biting weather"-narrator-Stave 1-Marley's ghost ✔️✔️Pathetic fallacy.
"Golden sunlight; heavenly sky"-Stave 5-The End of It ✔️✔️Pathetic fallacy.
"Solitary as an oyster" (stave 1) ✔️✔️Shows us that he's lonely and doesn't want to associate or
communicate with anyone. This is also telling us that Scrooge traps his feelings up inside and refuses to
open up to anyone. Additionally, it's also foreshadowing change. Since there's pearls inside oysters, it's
foreshadowing change and a journey of redemption for Scrooge in the bildungsroman novella.
"I can't afford to make idle people merry" (stave 1) ✔️✔️Scrooges words to the charity collectors as
he refuses to give charity.
Adjective "idle"- reveals Scrooge believes the poor are lazy and to blame for their own situation. This
mirrors the Victorian rich's attitude to the poor. Because poor people were thought to be lazy,
workhouses were deliberately bad
"A solitary child, neglected by his friends" (stave 2) ✔️✔️A description of Scrooge as young boy-he
was left alone at school as others enjoyed their holidays.
Adjectives "solitary" and "neglected" highlight his feelings of loneliness and isolation, therefore we feel
sympathy for him. It also explains why he becomes "hard and sharp as flint" later on.
"Have they no refuge or resource?" (Stave 3) The Second of the Three Spirits ✔️✔️We can see that
Scrooge has gone through a huge amount of redemption, directly contrasting to his words in Stave 1 to
the charity collectors "are there no workhouses?" and "are there no prisons?". Prisons in Victorian times
were for people in debt and could not pay. Dickens' father was sent to a debtors prison because he was
in debt. Dickens himself had to work in a factory because his father was in a debtors prison. Workhouses
were deliberately
"I wear the chain I forged in life"-Marley's ghost. Stave 1-Marley's ghost ✔️✔️
"It was cold, bleak, biting weather"-narrator-Stave 1-Marley's ghost ✔️✔️Pathetic fallacy.
"Golden sunlight; heavenly sky"-Stave 5-The End of It ✔️✔️Pathetic fallacy.
