went down a slide on Cornhill, at the end of a lane of boys, twenty times, in honour of its being Christmas Eve, and then ran home to Camden Town as hard as he could pelt, to play at blindmans-buff. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. "no beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock". Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. When Jack Cade leads a rebellion against the king, he declares that "if I do not leave you all as dead as a doornail, I pray God I may never eat grass more." I have sat invisible beside you many and many a day., Couldnt I take `em all at once, and have it over, Jacob? hinted Scrooge. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. What lesson does Scrooge learn from each spirit in A Christmas Carol? Note how Scrooge here condemns such fools to death, when over the next few nights it will be he who learns that he is condemned to a terrible death. His business partner, the equally mean Jacob Marley, died seven years previous and he lives alone, having never married. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his. Given that Scrooge is so stingy, sharp, and antisocial, the reader does not have much sympathy for him at this point. ". The happiness he gives is quite as great as if it costs a fortune. This is fitting because it is traditionally colder at Christmas but also because the cold is an apt metaphor for Scrooges personality. When will come to see me?' The hair was curiously stirred, as if by breath or hot air; and, though the eyes were wide open, they were perfectly motionless. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Is an accounting and finance degree worth it? Analysis; Cold-hearted: According to Dickens's description, . Living conditions there were unpleasant and the work was tough such as 'picking out' old ropes. Oh! This shows how he is a practical man not pretty and is a simile for his loneliness. How could it be otherwise? 795. Still, returned the gentleman, `I wish I could say they were not.. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping,scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! In the first stave, the miser Scrooge is introduced as well as his merry nephew and his poor clerk Bob Cratchit. Fuel was an expensive commodity for many at the time the novella was written so the amount burnt, reflected by the size of a fire, reflected the generosity of a character. Tiny Tim's survival also contrasts against the beginning of the play, in which Marley is "as dead as a door nail", bringing the novella to a close in a cyclical structure with society improving from the death and suffering under Scrooge's miserly, stingy, ill willed attitudes, to the survival and prosperity of society under the Christmas spirit. Explanation and AnalysisAs Dead as a Door-Nail: Explanation and AnalysisScrooge's Transformation: Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! What right have you to be merry? Who is Belle in A Christmas Carol, and why was she important to Scrooge? (exclamatory).\ "No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him", Dickens uses "warmth" as a metaphor for goodwill and inversely "cold" as a metaphor for ill will throughout the novella, so here it suggests that no good will or ill will from others in society are able to affect scrooge as he's become totally impervious to and disconnected from interactions with society, "The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait". Becoming immediately sensible of the impropriety, he poked the fire, and extinguished the last frail spark for ever. Dickens, as Scrooge learns lessons and truths from the ghost of Christmas past, portrays scrooge as beginning to change, breaking away from his miserly attitudes and becoming more generous, wanting to "give" the caroller "something", in contrast to his absolute selfishness, rejection of the Christmas spirit and lack of generosity from earlier. science pearson edexcel end of unit test higher. Scrooge doesn't live by his senses in any aspect of his life. I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong. Write the kind of sentence in the blank using these abbreviations: dec. (declarative), imp. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster". You have laboured on it, since. How is Scrooge portrayed as an outsider in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol? Humbug! but stopped at the first syllable, A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas. Youre quite a powerful speaker, sir, he added, turning to his nephew. Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be. He cares only about making money, and does not care or notice if it is cold or uncomfortable, and he takes no interest in anyone else. and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air. Here, readers are exposed to the ghost of Christmas yet to come. The ghost breaks the news to Scrooge that the person whose death has been talked about so callously was his own. he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again. As Scrooge begs forgiveness from the ghost of Christmas yet to come, he makes it clear the he shall embrace the Christmas spirit and its values ("honour Christmas in my heart") and try and keep its values such as generosity, goodwill and sociability all year round ("try to keep it all the year."). Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover. Oysters are confined solitarily. "So surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. "Oh! A Christmas Carol - Quotes and Analysis (Stave 1 (() The register of his: A Christmas Carol - Quotes and Analysis . Dickens again uses temperature as a metaphor for degrees of goodwill here, with scrooge being "cold" reflecting his lack of goodwill towards himself and others around him, and the description of his decrepit features such as his "shriveled" cheek and "stiffened" gait suggests that Scrooge's unsociable, miserly attitudes of ill damage himself, in contrast to his nephew Fred (a foil to scrooge) who is "ruddy and handsome", emphasising through their appearances how holding the values of the Christmas spirit are beneficial to ones self, and as developed on throughout the novella, the whole of society as well. `Let me leave it alone, then, said Scrooge. The narrator sets Scrooge up as the quintessential sinner, the most miserable man in the whole city. Through the two gentlemen, we get a glimpse into Scrooges past as half of the business duo Scrooge and Marley. This poignant moment arrives when Scrooge is looking at Christmas yet to come. It is a dark, sad moment but Bob Cratchit handles the situation with grace and dignity. -, "The ancient tower of a church whose gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at Scrooge", Click here to study/print these flashcards. Now, it is a fact, that there was nothing at all particular about the knocker on the door, except that it was very large. Scrooge is especially disgruntled when Fred mentions his wife, for example. The man took strong sharp sudden bites, just like the dog. Marley is a figure of both terror and kindness it will become clear that instead of wanting revenge on Scrooge, he has come to protect him. The narrator describes Scrooge as "Hard and sharp as flint." His appearance matches his character, with cold-looking, pointy features. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. Flint and oysters are not very palatable things to be compared to. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. similarly when other characters talk to Scrooge he often shouts at them. "To say that he was not startled, or that his blood was not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy, would be untrue.". (imperative), int. Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs It is required of every man, the Ghost returned, `that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellowmen, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Privacy Policy, https://bookanalysis.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol/quotes/. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. In the back and forth about marriage the story drops hints about Scrooges past that will become clear later. Even the blind mens dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!. | There were Cains and Abels, Pharaohs daughters; Queens of Sheba, Angelic messengers descending through the air on clouds like feather-beds, Abrahams, Belshazzars, Apostles putting off to sea in butter-boats, hundreds of figures to attract his thoughts -- and yet that face of Marley, seven years dead, came like the ancient Prophets rod, and swallowed up the whole. ", "Hard and sharp as a flint.solitary as an oyster. This might have lasted half a minute, or a minute, but it seemed an hour. At the very least, this alone would make him an outsider. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. Flint was traditionally used to start fires which may hint at Scrooges later change in attitude as the story unfolds. Scrooge is described as "solitary as an oyster". a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? Cards. Near the beginning of the book, as we are being introduced to Scrooge, we read, Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, 'My dear Scrooge, how are you? My partner is letting her friend sleep in her bed, am I overeacting? Whatever the book. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. In contrast, Scrooges routine is deliberately isolated and miserable. Scrooge is Hard and sharp as flint (p. 2). You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! The water-plug being left in solitude, its overflowing sullenly congealed, and turned to misanthropic ice. (Dickens 6). Note also Marley's disgust at the connection of the words "good" and "business", which Scrooge also used earlier in his conversation with Fred. I took a good deal o pains with his eddication, sir; let him run in the streets when he was wery young, and shift for hisself. Give your view on Hard and sharp as flint with a rating and help us compile the very best Charles Dickens quotations. To sit, staring at those fixed glazed eyes, in silence for a moment, would play, Scrooge felt, the very deuce with him. And I know I know my dears, that when we recollect how patient and how mild he was; although he was a little, little child, we shall not quarrel easily among ourselves and forget poor Tiny Tim in doing it. Yet such was I! Analysis, Pages 4 (801 words) Views. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Instead of being a crotchety old man, he feels like a schoolboy. Current Year 11 Official Thread (2022-2023)! Last weekend, I read $\underline{\color{#c34632}\text{To Build a Fire}}$ . What is the theme of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens? It is also a fact, that Scrooge had seen it, night and morning, during his whole residence in that place; also that Scrooge had as little of what is called fancy about him as any man in the city of London, even including -- which is a bold word -- the corporation, aldermen, and livery. I should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk just now! Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. Let us know your assignment type and we'll make sure to get you exactly the kind of answer you need. "He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer his call.". At this time of the rolling year, the spectre said `I suffer most. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! The adjectives squeezing and wrenching, etc., relate to how one should imagine him with money, refusing to let go of his wealth. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. Youre rich enough., Scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment. He becomes nearly inebriated with joy. secret, and self contained, and solitary as an oyster. a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Oh! Instead of being hard and sharp, he is soft and light. "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. It was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. Scrooge's logic is somewhat consistenthe sees money as being the sole important thing in the world, and therefore sees anyone lacking money as being unimportant. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. 2023. Who are the experts?Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. The fact that there are three spirits and that they will arrive at the same time for the next three nights creates a definite, easy structure for Scrooge, and the story, to follow. --------------------------------------------------------, "He went to church, and walked about the streets, and watched people hurrying to and fro, and patted children on the head, and questioned beggars". For characters like Fred and Bob Cratchit, Christmas represents the Christian ideal of goodness and moral prosperity, but Scrooge is at his. The bells ceased as they had begun, together. God save you! cried a cheerful voice. Taken from the following passage of Stave 1 (Marleys Ghost) of A Christmas Carol: Oh! Scrooge's transformation is emphasized by him becoming a "second father" to Tiny Tim "who did not die", suggesting that the values of the Christmas spirit, encapsulating good will and generosity, leads to a supportive, charitable, family-like society in which everyone supports each-other and there is no suffering or plight (like Tiny Tim's death). Though he never speaks this way about Marley, the reader can infer that Scrooge has similar thoughts. The exclamation mark in "Oh!" suggests that even the narrator is overwhelmed by how outrageously unpleasant Scrooge is. I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices, I dont make merry myself at Christmas and I cant afford to make idle people merry. clause. Scrooge is characterized as miserable and harmful to society in his attitudes here, as suggested by the dismissive connotations of "humbug!" `What right have you to be dismal? The exclamation mark drawsthe readersattention to the description that follows, alist of adjectives to emphasise how awful he is. 16, no GCSES, no other qualifications, is there anything left for me? -Graham S. Scrooge sees "good" as referring solely to profits. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Click the card to flip . 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