A CHRISTMAS CAROL
CHARACTERS
Dickens has created some of the most memorable characters in all of literature and A Christmas Carol is no exception. The name Scrooge has becomes an insult every year for anybody not in the Christmas spirit and characters like Tiny Tim stay with us long after we read the novella.
THEMES
REDEMPTION
Scrooge begins the novella as greedy, selfish and miserable. His actions don't just hurt himself but he is shown how they hurt others too. The whole novella though is about him being given the chance to change, to redeem himself. Marley either chose not to or was never given the chance; he now regrets this. Throughout A Christmas Carol we see the gradualy transformation of Scrooge until the final stave where he leaps through the streets of London as merry as a "schoolboy" and buys the prize turkey for the Cratchit family. Dicken shows us the Christian belief that we all have an opportunity to change and redeem ourselves.
POVERTY AND INEQUALITY
Dickens takes on the inequality of Victorian England. How can some men have great fortunes whilst many on the streets of London live in poverty and starvation? We see the gradual decline of Tiny Tim until we are shown his empty chair and later his grave; his death almost certainly caused by malnutrition. We see the family happy to hear of Scrooge's death as it means their debt to him is no more. As a moneylender, Scrooge makes his business out of this poverty and inequality. A Christmas Carol was a message to wealthy Victorian England that they cannot ignore the poverty the poor face nor live a Christian life if they do nothing about the inequality and help them out.
FAMILY
Family is at the centre of all happiness in the novella. We see the Cratchit family enjoying their Christmas day even with no money to spend on it. We see the family Scrooge could have had with Belle had he not chosen money over her. We see the family that Fred has and Scrooge rejects time after time. Dickens shows that family gives strength and happiness; far more important that money or business.
GREED
Why does Scrooge want so much money? He does nothing with it and it brings him no happiness. This is one of the questions Dickens makes us think about throughout the story. Greed has made Scrooge ruin relationships. It has made the people around him hate him. It has led to the death of a young child and made countless other people miserable. Greed is shown throughout the novella as an evil that brings no joy to those with wealth and despair to those without it. It is a sin that goes against Victorian Christian values.
TIME
A Christmas Carol was written as a timeless message that is still relevant to us today. The Ghost of Christmas Past "like a child" yet "like an old man" suggest we should all listen to its message. Yet time is running out for Scrooge. Dickens structures the story to show how the past has shaped us, our actions in the present have consequences, and those will action will impact what is yet to come. The four ghosts also show Scrooge that time is running out and that death is a certainty to us all. If we do not redeem ourselves in the time we are given, then eternity will be spent in pain and regret. The motif of a bell is a repeated warning of this throughout the story.
SYMBOLS AND MOTIFS
BELLS & RINGING
The the "gruff old bell" that was "always peeping slily down at Scrooge" keeps a watchful eye on him. Every bell in the house ringing announces the arrival of Marley and then bells announce each of the ghosts that follow him. Bells in A Christmas Carol track time and a warning that time is running out. A bell could have a number of meanings throughout history. Ringing of the bell could signify a death in the town, the church bells could ring to announce a Christian service was about to start, or ring out in celebration of an event. Dickens uses bells to track the stages of time but also show Scrooge's redemption at the end. He fears and despises each bell until the final stave when "clash, clang, hammer; ding, dong, bell. Bell, dong, ding; hammer, clang, clash!" the redeemed Scrooge explodes in excitement at hearing the church bells.
WEATHER / HEAT & COLD
"External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge". Dickens uses weather and heat to show the change in Scrooge. His cold personality is contrasted by the heat of Fred as he comes into Scrooge's workplace. The "cold, bleak, biting" weather and fog outside represent his personality at this point in the story. However in the final stave we see Scrooge as a man transformed. This is reflected in the changed weather outside: "no fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air."
FOOD
Food is something that appears throughout the story by Dickens to create vivid descriptions and for symbolic purposes. We see Scrooge eating his lonely meal in stave one and being described as "solitary as an oyster". The Cratchit family make the most out of the little food that they have to create a wonderful christmas day for the family. Dickens uses description of food however to symbolise that there is no need for hunger in London. There is more than enough food to go around but some just cannot afford it. There were "pot-bellied baskets of chestnuts...brown-faced, broad-girthed Spanish Onions...there were pears and apples, clustered high in blooming pyramids; there were bunches of grapes." Dickens spends paragraphs vividly describing the food on the streets of London. The food the hungry cannot afford. The fact the prize turkey is still on the shelf on Christmas day going to waste is another symbol of greed. Fortunately, the redeemed Scrooge buys it for the Cratchit family.
MARLEY'S CHAIN
The chains that Marley "forged" of his own free will are a symbol of his greed in life. Greed is a sin and each link represents a sin that Marley committed in life. If the symbol wasn't clear enough, attached to the chains are all the instruments that Marley used to lead a sinful life. The "cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers' were all how the money obsessed Marley counted his wealth. Money which was hoarded by Marley and could have been used to help those in need. The message of Dickens is that we all have a chain we are forging if this is the way that we also choose to live our lives.
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