May 2023 – Effects of greed
In this extract from Stave 2, Scrooge is shown a significant moment from his past.
He was older now; a man in the prime of life. His face had not the harsh and rigid lines of later years; but it had begun to wear the signs of care and avarice. There was an eager, greedy,
restless motion in the eye, which showed the passion that had taken root, and where the shadow of the growing tree would fall.
He was not alone, but sat by the side of a fair young girl in a mourning-dress: in whose eyes there were tears, which sparkled in the light that shone out of the Ghost of Christmas Past.
"It matters little," she said, softly. "To you, very little. Another idol has displaced me; and if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as I would have tried to do, I have no just cause
to grieve."
"What Idol has displaced you?" he rejoined.
"A golden one."
"This is the even-handed dealing of the world!" he said. "There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the
pursuit of wealth!"
"You fear the world too much," she answered, gently. "All your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach. I have seen your nobler
aspirations fall off one by one, until the master-passion, Gain, engrosses you. Have I not?"
Starting with this extract, explore how Dickens presents the effects of greed in the novel. Write about:
-how Dickens presents the effects of greed in the extract
-how Dickens presents the effects of greed across the novel as a whole
In his allegorical polemic, A Christmas Carol, Dickens is unequivocal in his authorial message: greed leads to unhappiness. Through the novel,
Dickens takes Scrooge, a symbol of the worst excesses of the Victorian rich, on a spiritual journey which makes him realise the extent to which
his obsessive pursuit of greed has damaged his life. Therefore, it could be argued that Dickens uses Scrooge’s salvation at the end of the novel
as a clarion call to suggest that the only way the avaricious can save themselves from hell is through rapidly changing their mindset.
In Stave 1, Dickens uses Marley’s ghost as a conduit to explore the terminal effects of greed. He immediately establishes that Marley is
paying for his sins in life by describing his chain in extreme detail. Firstly, the verb ‘clasped’ creates an image of restriction and confinement
while the simile ‘wound around him like a tail’ gives the impression that the chain is dehumanising almost like an animal strangling Marley and
punishing him for his avarice. The description of the chain is developed through the subsequent sentence which uses a semantic field of money
to cumulatively list and bombard the reader with the ‘cashboxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel’ which are
tied to Marley’s chain. The fact Marley ghost must drag these steel symbols of greed around with him in the afterlife startles Scrooge into
seeing that the money he cherishes in his current life will provide no comfort or solace after death. Marley’s ghost also induces fear in Scrooge
as he feels ‘the chilling influence of its death-cold eyes’. This metaphor proves that Marley’s ghost has been successful in initiating Scrooge’s
moral lesson about the terminal effects of greed because at the start of the novella ‘External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge’. In
his presentation of Marley’s ghost, Dickens’ purpose was to show the consequences of greed in the Victorian era by showing how it can lead to
isolation and alienation in both life and, more disturbingly, in death.
In the extract from Stave 2, Dickens is forced to confront the terminal effects of his own greed. The fact Belle, a ‘dowerless girl’ chooses to
‘release’ Scrooge from their engagement emphasises the extent to which greed has damaged Scrooge’s capacity to love. This moment is a
significant milestone in Scrooge’s moral decline. Although he is stated as being in the ‘prime of his life’ Dickens is keen to point out the small
alterations in Scrooge’s appearance which show ‘the signs of avarice’ are slowly being etched onto his face. It is clear that Scrooge’s moral
degradation due to greed has occurred gradually and imperceptibly to Scrooge at least. With the image of the falling ‘tree’, it’s almost as if
Dickens wants the reader to perceive the effects of greed on an individual as comparable to a tree that is slowly dying of an incurable disease.
In her apt ‘mourning dress’; Belle describes how she has sadly watched greed annihilate Scrooge’s ‘nobler aspirations one by one’ until he is
merely a puppet to the personified ‘master-passion. Gain’. The personification and capitalisation of ‘Gain’ seems to be Dickens acknowledging
the powerful allure of wealth which would strike a chord with his Victorian audience. The image of ‘another idol…a golden one’ highlights how
his worship of money has overwhelmed his feelings for Belle. In this Christian morality tale, the use of the term ‘idol’ is deliberate from Dickens
to stress how greed has alienated Scrooge from his true faith in the worship of a false icon. Belle clearly has a perceptive understanding of
Scrooge’s motivations. She intuitively exclaims he ‘fear[s] the world too much’. It appears Scrooge’s obsession from money is borne from a fear
of returning to his childhood poverty. This has caused him to overcompensate (as a psychological defence mechanism) to the extent that he
becomes a selfish miser only interested in money. While this is a mitigating factor in the reader’s overall perception of Scrooge, it is not enough
for Belle to continue with the relationship. Dickens is ultimately critical of Scrooge’s inability or unwillingness to confront the burdens of his
past. When Belle cancels the engagement, it marginalises Scrooge further away from society and from the prospect of having a family and a
satisfying life. Instead Scrooge is forced to confront the image of the life he could have had when, later in Stave 2, he sees Belle’s children who
‘might have been the spring-time in the haggard winter of his life’. The juxtaposition is used by Dickens to highlight the importance of family in
humanising an individual. Springtime has obvious connotations with joy, happiness and growth which contrast heavily with ‘haggard winter’
suggesting Scrooge is exhausted as he reaches a melancholic end to his existence. This image of domestic familial bliss is too much for Scrooge
to process at the end of Stave 2 as he uses abrupt imperatives to ask the ghost to ‘Leave me! Haunt me no longer’. At this point, Scrooge is
beginning to realise his greed throughout his adult life has prevented him from enjoying the benefits of being included within society.
While the scene with Belle certainly has a powerful impact upon Scrooge, it could be argued the events in Stave 4 have the biggest impact in
making Scrooge truly realise the terminal effects of greed because they occur after Scrooge has died when it is too late to make amends. When
Scrooge observes the possessions of a dead man being unceremoniously stolen by criminals, Scrooge concludes: ‘The case of this unhappy man
might be my own’. Although Dickens hasn’t yet permitted Scrooge to realise the man is actually himself, the adjective ‘unhappy’ is significant
because it demonstrates Scrooge’s new understanding that the man’s choices about how he has lived his life has led to dissatisfaction. This
demonstrates how far Scrooge’s character has developed since Stave 1 when he passionately defended his extreme frugality when rejecting
Fred’s invitation to Christmas. Dickens also uses this moment from Stave 4 to explore the circularity of greed when the mob of thieves ironically
refer to Scrooge as ‘a wicked old screw’. Their disdain towards Scrooge and their immorality by stealing the clothes he was to be buried in,
reflects the callous viewpoint that Scrooge had towards others at the start of the novella. These people are now the ‘squeezing, wrenching,
grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinners’. In death, Scrooge has now become the victim of the very avaricious attitude he celebrated
and used to exploit others with during his life. The ironic way the criminals refer to Scrooge as wicked is key to Dickens’ authorial message
about greed. Dickens is suggesting Scrooge’s avaricious way of life has had a more detrimental impact on society than the desperate acts of
petty thieves. Through this startling juxtaposition, Dickens is suggesting the rich are far worse than the poor. The poor criminals merely steal to
survive while the rich don’t need to steal a living from others but they do which makes them more ‘wicked’.
Overall, Dickens authorial messages about the pursuit greed are unambiguous: it destroys an individual’s capacity to love and appreciate life
and it will be punished with severe retribution in the afterlife.
, May 2022 – effects of loneliness and isolation
In this extract from Stave 2 Scrooge when sees his former self as a young child at school.
“The school is not quite deserted,” said the Ghost. “A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still.”
Scrooge said he knew it. And he sobbed.
They left the high-road, by a well-remembered lane, and soon approached a mansion of dull red brick, with a little weathercock-surmounted
cupola, on the roof, and a bell hanging in it. It was a large house, but one of broken fortunes; for the spacious offices were little used, their
walls were damp and mossy, their windows broken, and their gates decayed. Fowls clucked and strutted in the stables; and the coach-houses
and sheds were over-run with grass. Nor was it more retentive of its ancient state, within; for entering the dreary hall, and glancing through the
open doors of many rooms, they found them poorly furnished, cold, and vast. There was an earthy savour in the air, a chilly bareness in the
place, which associated itself somehow with too much getting up by candle-light, and not too much to eat.
They went, the Ghost and Scrooge, across the hall, to a door at the back of the house. It opened before them, and disclosed a long, bare,
melancholy room, made barer still by lines of plain deal forms and desks. At one of these a lonely boy was reading near a feeble fire; and
Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be.
Not a latent echo in the house, not a squeak and scuffle from the mice behind the panelling, not a drip from the half-thawed water-spout in the
dull yard behind, not a sigh among the leafless boughs of one despondent poplar, not the idle swinging of an empty store-house door, no, not a
clicking in the fire, but fell upon the heart of Scrooge with a softening influence, and gave a freer passage to his tears.
Q) Starting with this extract, how does Dickens present the effects of loneliness and isolation in the novel?
Dickens presents Scrooge as lonely and isolated throughout the majority of the novel. This is influenced by his inwardly selfish mind-set which
was influenced by a combination of capitalism in the Victoria era and his childhood familial neglect. Therefore it can be argued Dickens is using
Scrooge as a tool to criticise the alienating effects of capitalism while also emphasising the importance of family relationships in combatting this
isolation.
At the start of the novella, Dickens uses an analogy comparing Scrooge to the weather in order to highlight his isolation from society. Dickens
invites the reader to make links between the cold weather and Scrooge’s emotional coldness suggesting he feels no compassion for his fellow
human beings. The way ‘No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him’ suggests Scrooge is impervious and unyielding in his ignorance
towards humanity. Dickens makes use of hyperbole by suggesting ‘no wind that blew was bitterer than he’ to suggest Scrooge is a caricature of
evil. The harsh plosive ‘b’ sounds highlight Scrooge’s vicious hostility towards the rest of society. Similarly, the parallel phrasing with the
repetition of ‘no’ cumulatively builds up an image of someone who negates humanity. Scrooge’s indifference towards society is matched by
society’s indifference towards him. Again Dickens uses a cumulative list to emphasise the lengths people go to avoid Scrooge’s company. Dark
humour is used with the reference to ‘blind men’s dogs’ intentionally ‘tug[ging] their owners into doorways’ to intentionally satirise Scrooge’s
emotional detachment from the world. Earlier in Stave 1, Scrooge has already been established as a loner through the simile ‘solitary as an
oyster’. This image depicts Scrooge as having built up a tough outer shell to protect and insulate him from the world. The noun choice of
‘oyster’ is interesting as it links to his redemption later in the story as it suggests he does contain pearls of goodness underneath his hard
exterior. Later in Stave 1, the extent of Scrooge’s isolation from society becomes starker to the reader when they learn his home is ‘playing at
hide and seek from the other houses’. The personification suggests Scrooge intentionally positions himself away from the rest of society so as
to go unnoticed. The reference to the childhood game of ‘hide and seek’ could suggest he has never fully recovered from his childhood
isolation that was forced upon him by his cruel father. Indeed Dickens’ novels regularly create pathos for children. He was conscious of the
stigma that society placed on children in the Victorian era. He believed strongly in the value of childhood, not simply as a time when children
obtain education, but also as a time when they are able to play and exercise their imagination. He also noted that, by the demands of society
and family circumstance, children were often forced into adulthood much too early: his novels are full of children who either have to take care
of their parents or must fend for themselves in the absence of their parents.
In Stave 2, Dickens may have tapped into his own experiences of loneliness and isolation after his father was sent to a debtor’s prison when
he was 12. The featured extract from Stave 2 represents a pivotal moment in the novel. The reader’s interpretation of Scrooge softens when
they learn his isolation from society as an adult was undoubtedly influenced by the isolation he was forced to experience as a child. Scrooge is
made to visit his former school where he meets his younger self – ‘a solitary child neglected by his friends’. The adjective ‘solitary’ on this
occasion evokes pathos rather than disdain when we learn his father’s neglect forced Scrooge to spend his Christmas alone at school. Similarly
the image of the ‘lonely boy reading by a feeble fire’ furthers the idea of Scrooge’s isolation. The image of the ‘feeble fire’ links back to the cold
analogy in Stave 1 suggesting Scrooge’s cold-hearted nature was formed by the coldness he experienced as a child. The poverty Scrooge
experienced as a child may explain why, when Scrooge is a young man, Belle says he ‘fear[s] the world too much’. It appears Scrooge’s desire to
avoid returning to his childhood poverty causes him to overcompensate to the extent that he becomes a selfish miser only interested in money.
The image of ‘another idol…a golden one’ highlights how his worship of money has overwhelmed his feelings for Belle. When Belle cancels the
engagement it marginalises Scrooge further away from society and from the prospect of having a family and a satisfying life. Instead Scrooge is
forced to confront the image of the life he could have had when he sees Belle’s children who ‘might have been the spring-time in the haggard
winter of his life’. The juxtaposition is used by Dickens to highlight Dickens’ message about the importance of family in humanising an
individual. This message was especially vital in a Victorian era when the effects of the industrial revolution was placing a huge strain on families.
Springtime has obvious connotations with joy, happiness and growth which contrast heavily with ‘haggard winter’ suggesting Scrooge is
exhausted as he reaches a sad end to his existence. This image of domestic familial bliss is too much for Scrooge to process at the end of Stave
2 as he uses abrupt exclamatory imperatives to ask the ghost to ‘Leave me! Haunt me no longer’. At this point in the novel, Scrooge is beginning
to realise his greed throughout his adult life has prevented him from enjoying the benefits of being included within society.
The contrast between the hyperbolic and harsh description of Scrooge’s isolation in Stave 1 with the more emotional description in Stave 2 is
used by Scrooge to show how a combination of the alienating effects of capitalism and the absence of familial love caused Scrooge to be
isolated from society. Dickens is clearly using Scrooge as a tool to both criticise the capitalist mentality of the Victorian era and highlight the
importance of family love in combating the negative effects. The way Scrooge, a caricature of the selfish mindset of the rich in Stave 1, can be
completely transformed by experiencing familial love suggests both the importance of family and the capacity within everyone, even the
stingiest of misers, to redeem and reintegrate themselves back into society. Therefore Scrooge’s isolation both as a child and an adult is vital in
communicating Dickens’ Christian message about the importance of family.
Nov 2021 – Joy and Happiness
In this extract from Stave 2, Scrooge is shown a significant moment from his past.
He was older now; a man in the prime of life. His face had not the harsh and rigid lines of later years; but it had begun to wear the signs of care and avarice. There was an eager, greedy,
restless motion in the eye, which showed the passion that had taken root, and where the shadow of the growing tree would fall.
He was not alone, but sat by the side of a fair young girl in a mourning-dress: in whose eyes there were tears, which sparkled in the light that shone out of the Ghost of Christmas Past.
"It matters little," she said, softly. "To you, very little. Another idol has displaced me; and if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as I would have tried to do, I have no just cause
to grieve."
"What Idol has displaced you?" he rejoined.
"A golden one."
"This is the even-handed dealing of the world!" he said. "There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the
pursuit of wealth!"
"You fear the world too much," she answered, gently. "All your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach. I have seen your nobler
aspirations fall off one by one, until the master-passion, Gain, engrosses you. Have I not?"
Starting with this extract, explore how Dickens presents the effects of greed in the novel. Write about:
-how Dickens presents the effects of greed in the extract
-how Dickens presents the effects of greed across the novel as a whole
In his allegorical polemic, A Christmas Carol, Dickens is unequivocal in his authorial message: greed leads to unhappiness. Through the novel,
Dickens takes Scrooge, a symbol of the worst excesses of the Victorian rich, on a spiritual journey which makes him realise the extent to which
his obsessive pursuit of greed has damaged his life. Therefore, it could be argued that Dickens uses Scrooge’s salvation at the end of the novel
as a clarion call to suggest that the only way the avaricious can save themselves from hell is through rapidly changing their mindset.
In Stave 1, Dickens uses Marley’s ghost as a conduit to explore the terminal effects of greed. He immediately establishes that Marley is
paying for his sins in life by describing his chain in extreme detail. Firstly, the verb ‘clasped’ creates an image of restriction and confinement
while the simile ‘wound around him like a tail’ gives the impression that the chain is dehumanising almost like an animal strangling Marley and
punishing him for his avarice. The description of the chain is developed through the subsequent sentence which uses a semantic field of money
to cumulatively list and bombard the reader with the ‘cashboxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel’ which are
tied to Marley’s chain. The fact Marley ghost must drag these steel symbols of greed around with him in the afterlife startles Scrooge into
seeing that the money he cherishes in his current life will provide no comfort or solace after death. Marley’s ghost also induces fear in Scrooge
as he feels ‘the chilling influence of its death-cold eyes’. This metaphor proves that Marley’s ghost has been successful in initiating Scrooge’s
moral lesson about the terminal effects of greed because at the start of the novella ‘External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge’. In
his presentation of Marley’s ghost, Dickens’ purpose was to show the consequences of greed in the Victorian era by showing how it can lead to
isolation and alienation in both life and, more disturbingly, in death.
In the extract from Stave 2, Dickens is forced to confront the terminal effects of his own greed. The fact Belle, a ‘dowerless girl’ chooses to
‘release’ Scrooge from their engagement emphasises the extent to which greed has damaged Scrooge’s capacity to love. This moment is a
significant milestone in Scrooge’s moral decline. Although he is stated as being in the ‘prime of his life’ Dickens is keen to point out the small
alterations in Scrooge’s appearance which show ‘the signs of avarice’ are slowly being etched onto his face. It is clear that Scrooge’s moral
degradation due to greed has occurred gradually and imperceptibly to Scrooge at least. With the image of the falling ‘tree’, it’s almost as if
Dickens wants the reader to perceive the effects of greed on an individual as comparable to a tree that is slowly dying of an incurable disease.
In her apt ‘mourning dress’; Belle describes how she has sadly watched greed annihilate Scrooge’s ‘nobler aspirations one by one’ until he is
merely a puppet to the personified ‘master-passion. Gain’. The personification and capitalisation of ‘Gain’ seems to be Dickens acknowledging
the powerful allure of wealth which would strike a chord with his Victorian audience. The image of ‘another idol…a golden one’ highlights how
his worship of money has overwhelmed his feelings for Belle. In this Christian morality tale, the use of the term ‘idol’ is deliberate from Dickens
to stress how greed has alienated Scrooge from his true faith in the worship of a false icon. Belle clearly has a perceptive understanding of
Scrooge’s motivations. She intuitively exclaims he ‘fear[s] the world too much’. It appears Scrooge’s obsession from money is borne from a fear
of returning to his childhood poverty. This has caused him to overcompensate (as a psychological defence mechanism) to the extent that he
becomes a selfish miser only interested in money. While this is a mitigating factor in the reader’s overall perception of Scrooge, it is not enough
for Belle to continue with the relationship. Dickens is ultimately critical of Scrooge’s inability or unwillingness to confront the burdens of his
past. When Belle cancels the engagement, it marginalises Scrooge further away from society and from the prospect of having a family and a
satisfying life. Instead Scrooge is forced to confront the image of the life he could have had when, later in Stave 2, he sees Belle’s children who
‘might have been the spring-time in the haggard winter of his life’. The juxtaposition is used by Dickens to highlight the importance of family in
humanising an individual. Springtime has obvious connotations with joy, happiness and growth which contrast heavily with ‘haggard winter’
suggesting Scrooge is exhausted as he reaches a melancholic end to his existence. This image of domestic familial bliss is too much for Scrooge
to process at the end of Stave 2 as he uses abrupt imperatives to ask the ghost to ‘Leave me! Haunt me no longer’. At this point, Scrooge is
beginning to realise his greed throughout his adult life has prevented him from enjoying the benefits of being included within society.
While the scene with Belle certainly has a powerful impact upon Scrooge, it could be argued the events in Stave 4 have the biggest impact in
making Scrooge truly realise the terminal effects of greed because they occur after Scrooge has died when it is too late to make amends. When
Scrooge observes the possessions of a dead man being unceremoniously stolen by criminals, Scrooge concludes: ‘The case of this unhappy man
might be my own’. Although Dickens hasn’t yet permitted Scrooge to realise the man is actually himself, the adjective ‘unhappy’ is significant
because it demonstrates Scrooge’s new understanding that the man’s choices about how he has lived his life has led to dissatisfaction. This
demonstrates how far Scrooge’s character has developed since Stave 1 when he passionately defended his extreme frugality when rejecting
Fred’s invitation to Christmas. Dickens also uses this moment from Stave 4 to explore the circularity of greed when the mob of thieves ironically
refer to Scrooge as ‘a wicked old screw’. Their disdain towards Scrooge and their immorality by stealing the clothes he was to be buried in,
reflects the callous viewpoint that Scrooge had towards others at the start of the novella. These people are now the ‘squeezing, wrenching,
grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinners’. In death, Scrooge has now become the victim of the very avaricious attitude he celebrated
and used to exploit others with during his life. The ironic way the criminals refer to Scrooge as wicked is key to Dickens’ authorial message
about greed. Dickens is suggesting Scrooge’s avaricious way of life has had a more detrimental impact on society than the desperate acts of
petty thieves. Through this startling juxtaposition, Dickens is suggesting the rich are far worse than the poor. The poor criminals merely steal to
survive while the rich don’t need to steal a living from others but they do which makes them more ‘wicked’.
Overall, Dickens authorial messages about the pursuit greed are unambiguous: it destroys an individual’s capacity to love and appreciate life
and it will be punished with severe retribution in the afterlife.
, May 2022 – effects of loneliness and isolation
In this extract from Stave 2 Scrooge when sees his former self as a young child at school.
“The school is not quite deserted,” said the Ghost. “A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still.”
Scrooge said he knew it. And he sobbed.
They left the high-road, by a well-remembered lane, and soon approached a mansion of dull red brick, with a little weathercock-surmounted
cupola, on the roof, and a bell hanging in it. It was a large house, but one of broken fortunes; for the spacious offices were little used, their
walls were damp and mossy, their windows broken, and their gates decayed. Fowls clucked and strutted in the stables; and the coach-houses
and sheds were over-run with grass. Nor was it more retentive of its ancient state, within; for entering the dreary hall, and glancing through the
open doors of many rooms, they found them poorly furnished, cold, and vast. There was an earthy savour in the air, a chilly bareness in the
place, which associated itself somehow with too much getting up by candle-light, and not too much to eat.
They went, the Ghost and Scrooge, across the hall, to a door at the back of the house. It opened before them, and disclosed a long, bare,
melancholy room, made barer still by lines of plain deal forms and desks. At one of these a lonely boy was reading near a feeble fire; and
Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be.
Not a latent echo in the house, not a squeak and scuffle from the mice behind the panelling, not a drip from the half-thawed water-spout in the
dull yard behind, not a sigh among the leafless boughs of one despondent poplar, not the idle swinging of an empty store-house door, no, not a
clicking in the fire, but fell upon the heart of Scrooge with a softening influence, and gave a freer passage to his tears.
Q) Starting with this extract, how does Dickens present the effects of loneliness and isolation in the novel?
Dickens presents Scrooge as lonely and isolated throughout the majority of the novel. This is influenced by his inwardly selfish mind-set which
was influenced by a combination of capitalism in the Victoria era and his childhood familial neglect. Therefore it can be argued Dickens is using
Scrooge as a tool to criticise the alienating effects of capitalism while also emphasising the importance of family relationships in combatting this
isolation.
At the start of the novella, Dickens uses an analogy comparing Scrooge to the weather in order to highlight his isolation from society. Dickens
invites the reader to make links between the cold weather and Scrooge’s emotional coldness suggesting he feels no compassion for his fellow
human beings. The way ‘No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him’ suggests Scrooge is impervious and unyielding in his ignorance
towards humanity. Dickens makes use of hyperbole by suggesting ‘no wind that blew was bitterer than he’ to suggest Scrooge is a caricature of
evil. The harsh plosive ‘b’ sounds highlight Scrooge’s vicious hostility towards the rest of society. Similarly, the parallel phrasing with the
repetition of ‘no’ cumulatively builds up an image of someone who negates humanity. Scrooge’s indifference towards society is matched by
society’s indifference towards him. Again Dickens uses a cumulative list to emphasise the lengths people go to avoid Scrooge’s company. Dark
humour is used with the reference to ‘blind men’s dogs’ intentionally ‘tug[ging] their owners into doorways’ to intentionally satirise Scrooge’s
emotional detachment from the world. Earlier in Stave 1, Scrooge has already been established as a loner through the simile ‘solitary as an
oyster’. This image depicts Scrooge as having built up a tough outer shell to protect and insulate him from the world. The noun choice of
‘oyster’ is interesting as it links to his redemption later in the story as it suggests he does contain pearls of goodness underneath his hard
exterior. Later in Stave 1, the extent of Scrooge’s isolation from society becomes starker to the reader when they learn his home is ‘playing at
hide and seek from the other houses’. The personification suggests Scrooge intentionally positions himself away from the rest of society so as
to go unnoticed. The reference to the childhood game of ‘hide and seek’ could suggest he has never fully recovered from his childhood
isolation that was forced upon him by his cruel father. Indeed Dickens’ novels regularly create pathos for children. He was conscious of the
stigma that society placed on children in the Victorian era. He believed strongly in the value of childhood, not simply as a time when children
obtain education, but also as a time when they are able to play and exercise their imagination. He also noted that, by the demands of society
and family circumstance, children were often forced into adulthood much too early: his novels are full of children who either have to take care
of their parents or must fend for themselves in the absence of their parents.
In Stave 2, Dickens may have tapped into his own experiences of loneliness and isolation after his father was sent to a debtor’s prison when
he was 12. The featured extract from Stave 2 represents a pivotal moment in the novel. The reader’s interpretation of Scrooge softens when
they learn his isolation from society as an adult was undoubtedly influenced by the isolation he was forced to experience as a child. Scrooge is
made to visit his former school where he meets his younger self – ‘a solitary child neglected by his friends’. The adjective ‘solitary’ on this
occasion evokes pathos rather than disdain when we learn his father’s neglect forced Scrooge to spend his Christmas alone at school. Similarly
the image of the ‘lonely boy reading by a feeble fire’ furthers the idea of Scrooge’s isolation. The image of the ‘feeble fire’ links back to the cold
analogy in Stave 1 suggesting Scrooge’s cold-hearted nature was formed by the coldness he experienced as a child. The poverty Scrooge
experienced as a child may explain why, when Scrooge is a young man, Belle says he ‘fear[s] the world too much’. It appears Scrooge’s desire to
avoid returning to his childhood poverty causes him to overcompensate to the extent that he becomes a selfish miser only interested in money.
The image of ‘another idol…a golden one’ highlights how his worship of money has overwhelmed his feelings for Belle. When Belle cancels the
engagement it marginalises Scrooge further away from society and from the prospect of having a family and a satisfying life. Instead Scrooge is
forced to confront the image of the life he could have had when he sees Belle’s children who ‘might have been the spring-time in the haggard
winter of his life’. The juxtaposition is used by Dickens to highlight Dickens’ message about the importance of family in humanising an
individual. This message was especially vital in a Victorian era when the effects of the industrial revolution was placing a huge strain on families.
Springtime has obvious connotations with joy, happiness and growth which contrast heavily with ‘haggard winter’ suggesting Scrooge is
exhausted as he reaches a sad end to his existence. This image of domestic familial bliss is too much for Scrooge to process at the end of Stave
2 as he uses abrupt exclamatory imperatives to ask the ghost to ‘Leave me! Haunt me no longer’. At this point in the novel, Scrooge is beginning
to realise his greed throughout his adult life has prevented him from enjoying the benefits of being included within society.
The contrast between the hyperbolic and harsh description of Scrooge’s isolation in Stave 1 with the more emotional description in Stave 2 is
used by Scrooge to show how a combination of the alienating effects of capitalism and the absence of familial love caused Scrooge to be
isolated from society. Dickens is clearly using Scrooge as a tool to both criticise the capitalist mentality of the Victorian era and highlight the
importance of family love in combating the negative effects. The way Scrooge, a caricature of the selfish mindset of the rich in Stave 1, can be
completely transformed by experiencing familial love suggests both the importance of family and the capacity within everyone, even the
stingiest of misers, to redeem and reintegrate themselves back into society. Therefore Scrooge’s isolation both as a child and an adult is vital in
communicating Dickens’ Christian message about the importance of family.
Nov 2021 – Joy and Happiness
