Introduction: Throughout the novella, Dickens
presents Christmas as the ultimate joyful, unifying,
and spiritual event in Victorian Britain. He uses
Scrooge’s journey to illustrate these qualities, while
simultaneously delivering the novella’s Christian
message of empathy and kindness.
Dickens presents Christmas as a time of celebration
with family and friends
Fred invites S to dinner every year even though he
knows he will say no- wants him to be part of the
celebration/wants him to know he thinks of him
‘Come dine with us tomorrow’ Fred understands
important of spending time with family
Cratchits: Bob ‘cries’ and ‘sudden declension in
high spirits’ when he is told his daughter Martha
isn’t coming shows how the absence of a single
family member can make the biggest
different/highlights importance of the WHOLE
family being together
, Mrs Cratchits tells Martha to
hide=playful/joy/Christmas offers time to be
playful/childish as they grow up too fast/child
labour=
Verb’ cries’ emphasises the sadness/despair he
feels not having a member of fam with him
‘Good as gold’ =simile - describes Tiny Tim
indicates worth to family, despite being of ‘no
worth’ in society. Tiny Tim = example of Thomas
Malthus opinion of ‘surplus population’; Believes
poor are idle and non Christian However S
disproves this;
Active verbs when family is cooking together
‘mashes’ ‘dusted’ ‘sweetened’
=unity/togetherness/working together
Ghost takes miners/lighthouse references to the
motif of light ‘ specks of light’ ‘glowing fire’ ‘ray
of brightness’ even situations are dire, they find
Christmas joy by celebrating TOGETHER
presents Christmas as the ultimate joyful, unifying,
and spiritual event in Victorian Britain. He uses
Scrooge’s journey to illustrate these qualities, while
simultaneously delivering the novella’s Christian
message of empathy and kindness.
Dickens presents Christmas as a time of celebration
with family and friends
Fred invites S to dinner every year even though he
knows he will say no- wants him to be part of the
celebration/wants him to know he thinks of him
‘Come dine with us tomorrow’ Fred understands
important of spending time with family
Cratchits: Bob ‘cries’ and ‘sudden declension in
high spirits’ when he is told his daughter Martha
isn’t coming shows how the absence of a single
family member can make the biggest
different/highlights importance of the WHOLE
family being together
, Mrs Cratchits tells Martha to
hide=playful/joy/Christmas offers time to be
playful/childish as they grow up too fast/child
labour=
Verb’ cries’ emphasises the sadness/despair he
feels not having a member of fam with him
‘Good as gold’ =simile - describes Tiny Tim
indicates worth to family, despite being of ‘no
worth’ in society. Tiny Tim = example of Thomas
Malthus opinion of ‘surplus population’; Believes
poor are idle and non Christian However S
disproves this;
Active verbs when family is cooking together
‘mashes’ ‘dusted’ ‘sweetened’
=unity/togetherness/working together
Ghost takes miners/lighthouse references to the
motif of light ‘ specks of light’ ‘glowing fire’ ‘ray
of brightness’ even situations are dire, they find
Christmas joy by celebrating TOGETHER
