Scrooge has to see himself as others see him: At the start, Scrooge is: Scrooge doesn’t seem to care about anything except money
• Throughout the visions, Scrooge is forced to see how others • Bitter: “No wind that blew • Scrooge is portrayed very negatively at the start of the no
talk about him when he’s not there: described as “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping
• Mrs Cratchit calls him an “odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man”.
bitterer than he”
• Cynical: “What’s Christmas covetous old sinner!”
• Fred says he’s a “comical old fellow”, and “not so pleasant as • He’s so miserly and mean that he begrudges Bob Cratchi
he might be”. time to you but a time for
wages, and won’t allow him a decent fire.
• A business man calls him “Old Scratch” – a nickname for the paying bills without money”
devil and a couple who owe him money call him “merciless”.
• Belle (Scrooge’s ex-fiancé) says that Scrooge sees money
• Isolated: “secret and self-
• At the beginning, Scrooge is selfish – he doesn’t care how his that it has “displaced” her in his affections. This suggests
contained, and solitary as an worships money as if it’s a god – link to Christian beliefs
attitude to life affects others. However, the Spirits show him
the way other people talk about him, and forces him to realise oyster” other gods before me).
his faults and convinces him to change his attitude. He’s cold-hearted and unfeeling:
• Scrooge is unsympathetic towards other peo
Tiny Tim shows Scrooge that the poor are people too: interest in helping the poor. He refuses to do
• Seeing TT helps Scrooge to feel empathy again. He he thinks he’s done enough by paying taxes
asks the spirit if TT will die, with “an interest he had prisons and work houses.
never felt before”. TT’s situation makes him start to • He’s indifferent to how poor people might fe
care about other people. its not his ”business” to care about them.
• The Ghost of Christmas Present uses TT to show
Scrooge how wrong his beliefs about the “surplus
Scrooge • Dickens describes him using cold and icy lan
“cold within him” that “froze his old features
population” are, and forces him to think about poor described as having a “frosty rime”. This asso
people as individuals. He is saddened by how cruel his cold emphasises his cold-hearted nature.
thoughts were.
• Scrooge is “overcome with penitence and grief” when
His past has shaped him:
• It becomes easier to understand why Scroo
he realises how wrong he’s been. He starts to accept
that helping people like TT is his responsibility. bitter as the book progresses – the events o
partly responsible for his present personalit
His values change: • He’s shown sympathetically as “a lonely boy
• Scrooge’s character changes completely by the end of the
Scrooge becomes: fire” at his old school. He was left at school
book. He laughs at himself and says he‘s “as merry as a
let him come home for Christmas.
schoolboy”. • Generous: “I’ll raise your salary” • He’s eventually brought home by his sister w
• He also learns to be charitable. He buys the Cratchits a • Happy: “Scrooge regarded everyone a close relationship with. Its possible that h
Christmas Turkey and makes a large donation to charity. with a delighted smile” from Fred as he’s a sad reminder of the sist
• Scrooge completely changes his mind about Christmas. The
• Sociable: “Wonderful party, • He is distressed at the vision of Belle leaving
narrator says that he “knew how to keep Christmas well.
wonderful games, wonderful painful memory is made worse by the vision
• The spirits teach Scrooge to value family and
unanimity” family. The reader feels sympathy when he
companionship, so he embraces his nephews family and
voice” to be shown no more.
becomes a father figure to Tiny Tim.
, Marley is…
His appearance is disturbing: • Terrifying: “the spectre’s voice disturbed
Marley’s ghost has come to wa
• Scrooge feels “the chilling influence” of the very marrow in his bones” • Marley’s main role in the no
Marley’s “death-cold eyes”, and when • Exhausted: “I cannot rest, I cannot stay, I
warn Scrooge about what w
the ghost removes the bandage from cannot linger anywhere” after he dies – unless he cha
its head, its “lower jaw dropped down • Direct: “I am here tonight to warn you” • Marley and Scrooge have sim
upon its breast” – a horrible image.
personalities – they’re “two
Marley’s terrifying appearance reflects
spirits”, who are obsessed w
the frightening nature of his message,
and don't care about other
and makes it seem more important.
are so similar that Scrooge l
• Marley gives off an “infernal”
Marley’s old rooms and eve
atmosphere, and his clothes are
Marley’s name – “it was all
“agitated as by the hot vapour from an
him”. These similarities emp
oven”. This description links Marley to Jacob Marley Marley's role as a warning fi
ideas of Hell and eternal suffering.
• Molly's punishment is the co
• The chain Marley wears is made of
a self centred, “misused “lif
money-related objects. It is forged
already shown Scrooge beh
because he cared more about money
– Marley’s fate illustrates w
than people. The chain is particularly
happen to Scrooge if he doe
disturbing for Scrooge because he
bears a similar, but larger chain.
Marley tries to help Scrooge:
• Marley regrets that he didn’t change his ways whilst he was alive – it’s too for him to avoid suffering. All he
can do is offer Scrooge the chance to escape the same fate.
• He stood invisibly at Scrooge’s shoulder for “many a day” in the past. He acts as a kind of hellish guardian
angel to Scrooge.
• Marley says that his presence now is “a chance and hope” of his own “procuring”. This suggests that he
tried (and succeeded) to find a way to help Scrooge and give him a chance to save himself.
• Marley is acting selflessly – he’s helping a friend even though he has no chance at redemption. He doesn’t
want Scrooge to have the same restless fate as him.
• Throughout the visions, Scrooge is forced to see how others • Bitter: “No wind that blew • Scrooge is portrayed very negatively at the start of the no
talk about him when he’s not there: described as “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping
• Mrs Cratchit calls him an “odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man”.
bitterer than he”
• Cynical: “What’s Christmas covetous old sinner!”
• Fred says he’s a “comical old fellow”, and “not so pleasant as • He’s so miserly and mean that he begrudges Bob Cratchi
he might be”. time to you but a time for
wages, and won’t allow him a decent fire.
• A business man calls him “Old Scratch” – a nickname for the paying bills without money”
devil and a couple who owe him money call him “merciless”.
• Belle (Scrooge’s ex-fiancé) says that Scrooge sees money
• Isolated: “secret and self-
• At the beginning, Scrooge is selfish – he doesn’t care how his that it has “displaced” her in his affections. This suggests
contained, and solitary as an worships money as if it’s a god – link to Christian beliefs
attitude to life affects others. However, the Spirits show him
the way other people talk about him, and forces him to realise oyster” other gods before me).
his faults and convinces him to change his attitude. He’s cold-hearted and unfeeling:
• Scrooge is unsympathetic towards other peo
Tiny Tim shows Scrooge that the poor are people too: interest in helping the poor. He refuses to do
• Seeing TT helps Scrooge to feel empathy again. He he thinks he’s done enough by paying taxes
asks the spirit if TT will die, with “an interest he had prisons and work houses.
never felt before”. TT’s situation makes him start to • He’s indifferent to how poor people might fe
care about other people. its not his ”business” to care about them.
• The Ghost of Christmas Present uses TT to show
Scrooge how wrong his beliefs about the “surplus
Scrooge • Dickens describes him using cold and icy lan
“cold within him” that “froze his old features
population” are, and forces him to think about poor described as having a “frosty rime”. This asso
people as individuals. He is saddened by how cruel his cold emphasises his cold-hearted nature.
thoughts were.
• Scrooge is “overcome with penitence and grief” when
His past has shaped him:
• It becomes easier to understand why Scroo
he realises how wrong he’s been. He starts to accept
that helping people like TT is his responsibility. bitter as the book progresses – the events o
partly responsible for his present personalit
His values change: • He’s shown sympathetically as “a lonely boy
• Scrooge’s character changes completely by the end of the
Scrooge becomes: fire” at his old school. He was left at school
book. He laughs at himself and says he‘s “as merry as a
let him come home for Christmas.
schoolboy”. • Generous: “I’ll raise your salary” • He’s eventually brought home by his sister w
• He also learns to be charitable. He buys the Cratchits a • Happy: “Scrooge regarded everyone a close relationship with. Its possible that h
Christmas Turkey and makes a large donation to charity. with a delighted smile” from Fred as he’s a sad reminder of the sist
• Scrooge completely changes his mind about Christmas. The
• Sociable: “Wonderful party, • He is distressed at the vision of Belle leaving
narrator says that he “knew how to keep Christmas well.
wonderful games, wonderful painful memory is made worse by the vision
• The spirits teach Scrooge to value family and
unanimity” family. The reader feels sympathy when he
companionship, so he embraces his nephews family and
voice” to be shown no more.
becomes a father figure to Tiny Tim.
, Marley is…
His appearance is disturbing: • Terrifying: “the spectre’s voice disturbed
Marley’s ghost has come to wa
• Scrooge feels “the chilling influence” of the very marrow in his bones” • Marley’s main role in the no
Marley’s “death-cold eyes”, and when • Exhausted: “I cannot rest, I cannot stay, I
warn Scrooge about what w
the ghost removes the bandage from cannot linger anywhere” after he dies – unless he cha
its head, its “lower jaw dropped down • Direct: “I am here tonight to warn you” • Marley and Scrooge have sim
upon its breast” – a horrible image.
personalities – they’re “two
Marley’s terrifying appearance reflects
spirits”, who are obsessed w
the frightening nature of his message,
and don't care about other
and makes it seem more important.
are so similar that Scrooge l
• Marley gives off an “infernal”
Marley’s old rooms and eve
atmosphere, and his clothes are
Marley’s name – “it was all
“agitated as by the hot vapour from an
him”. These similarities emp
oven”. This description links Marley to Jacob Marley Marley's role as a warning fi
ideas of Hell and eternal suffering.
• Molly's punishment is the co
• The chain Marley wears is made of
a self centred, “misused “lif
money-related objects. It is forged
already shown Scrooge beh
because he cared more about money
– Marley’s fate illustrates w
than people. The chain is particularly
happen to Scrooge if he doe
disturbing for Scrooge because he
bears a similar, but larger chain.
Marley tries to help Scrooge:
• Marley regrets that he didn’t change his ways whilst he was alive – it’s too for him to avoid suffering. All he
can do is offer Scrooge the chance to escape the same fate.
• He stood invisibly at Scrooge’s shoulder for “many a day” in the past. He acts as a kind of hellish guardian
angel to Scrooge.
• Marley says that his presence now is “a chance and hope” of his own “procuring”. This suggests that he
tried (and succeeded) to find a way to help Scrooge and give him a chance to save himself.
• Marley is acting selflessly – he’s helping a friend even though he has no chance at redemption. He doesn’t
want Scrooge to have the same restless fate as him.
