grade 9 essay on scrooge

Grade 9 A Christmas Carol Essay ( OCR GCSE English Literature )

Revision note.

Grade 9 A Christmas Carol Essay Question Model Answer

Component 1, Section B of your OCR GCSE contains questions about a 19th-century prose work. You will write an essay responding to one of two options:

Question 1 asks you to write an essay based on an extract from the novel or novella you have studied

Question 2 is a “discursive” essay question and doesn’t contain an extract

You can find a model answer for the extract essay by following this link . This page provides a model answer for the discursive essay question.  A “discursive” essay presents a clear argument, explores the text in detail and contains a range of points. You need to include references to the whole text to support your argument, rather than focusing on one scene or section.

How am I assessed?

You will have 50 minutes to answer the question, and your essay will be awarded a maximum of 40 marks. This table shows how the marks are divided:

Grade 9 A Christmas Carol essay question model answer

Below is an example answer for an OCR GCSE essay question on A Christmas Carol. The annotations show how the assessment objectives (AOs) above have been met. Here is the question:

A Christmas Carol is mainly about Scrooge's transformation. How far do you agree with this view? Explore at least two moments from the novel to support your ideas. 

Grade 9 model answer

Although A Christmas Carol explores themes of poverty, memory and family, Dickens’ main focus is on Scrooge’s transformation from an uncaring, miserly character to a generous, “good” man (AO1) . At the beginning of the novella, Scrooge’s character represents the willful ignorance of many people towards the poverty and suffering that surrounded them in Victorian England (AO3) . Dickens illustrates the injustice of social inequality through a series of interactions and supernatural experiences that transform Scrooge’s perspective and character. By detailing Scrooge’s journey towards awareness and empathy, Dickens demonstrates that transformation and redemption are possible for anyone (AO1) . 

Scrooge’s initial attitude towards those less fortunate than himself is illustrated in Stave 1, when he refuses to make a charitable donation to support the poor (AO1) . His uncaring ignorance of the true circumstances of poverty is shown when he equates poor people with criminals, demanding to know why they are not in “prisons'' or “workhouses” (AO1) . Scrooge’s miserly nature is described directly by Dickens early in Stave 1, but it is further demonstrated when he arrives at his cold, dark home and the narrator comments that “darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it”. The gloominess and emptiness of Scrooge’s chambers emphasise his physical and social isolation, and create an eerie atmosphere, setting the scene for Marley’s ghost to appear. The darkness represents the money Scrooge has saved by only using a single candle to light his enormous lodgings, but Dickens also uses darkness as a metaphor, presenting Scrooge’s ignorance as a type of mental darkness, which is not yet illuminated by awareness or truth (AO2) . 

Dickens makes a clear connection between an individual’s actions and their consequences when the Ghost of Jacob Marley appears to Scrooge later in Stave 1. Marley’s ghost tells Scrooge, “I wear the chain I forged in life”, referring to the chain made of objects representing Marley’s — and now Scrooge’s — business of property ownership and the lending and hoarding of money (AO1) . Marley’s ghost has been prevented from entering heaven and is instead doomed to wander the earth, wrapped in a chain made, by his “own free will”, through his miserly actions in life. However, Scrooge has a chance of escaping Marley’s fate if he can learn what he needs to from the three spirits who will visit him. In this scene, Dickens demonstrates that nothing is completely inevitable in a person’s life, because human beings have “free will” and therefore the capacity to change their actions and alter their fate. Thus, Dickens portrays the possibility of transformation for Scrooge and others like him (AO1) . 

Dickens further emphasises the consequences of Scrooge’s actions in Stave 2, when the Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge on a tour of his memories, showing him the love and happiness he has lost in his life (AO1) . In Stave 3, the Ghost of Christmas Present shows him a series of Christmas scenes that illustrate the way in which other people enjoy generosity and fellowship, regardless of their circumstances. The Cratchit family’s Christmas celebrations, though meagre, are loving and joyous. Despite their poverty, which is largely due to the low wages Bob receives from Scrooge, they are a happy family, who are “grateful” and “pleased with one another”. Such images of family togetherness emphasise Dickens’ message that true value is not monetary, but is based on the good that people can do for each other. When the Ghost tells Scrooge that Tiny Tim will die if the Cratchit family’s circumstances do not improve, Scrooge is horrified. When the Ghost quotes Scrooge’s own harsh words about the poor back to him, he is “overcome with penitence and grief”. Structurally, Scrooge’s feelings of “penitence” are a turning point in the novella and signal the beginning of his transformation (AO2) . 

Following the harrowing experience of witnessing his future lonely death and unvisited grave in Stave 4, Dickens shows that Scrooge’s transformation is complete when he protests: “I am not the man I was” (AO2) . He proves that he is a transformed character through acts of generosity, including buying a huge turkey for the Cratchit family and raising Bob’s salary. The emphasis on Scrooge’s transformation and redemption is made clear in the narrator’s repetition of “good” in the final description of him. The last words in the novella are given to Tiny Tim: “God bless Us, Every One!” His exclamation emphasises Dickens’ message of mutual respect and equality between all people, “every one”, regardless of their status. 

In conclusion, while Dickens’ main focus is on Scrooge’s transformation, as evidenced by Scrooge’s new-found understanding that all actions have consequences, ending A Christmas Carol on this inclusive statement also makes a universal case for empathy and social change (AO1) .

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings , Penguin, 2003

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Author: Jen Davis

Jen studied a BA(Hons) in English Literature at the University of Chester, followed by an MA in 19th Century Literature and Culture. She taught English Literature at university for nine years as a visiting lecturer and doctoral researcher, and gained a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education in 2014. She now works as a freelance writer, editor and tutor. While teaching English Literature at university, Jen also specialised in study skills development, with a focus on essay and examination writing.

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How to get a GCSE grade 9 using just three quotations from A Christmas Carol

Ebeneezer Scrooge is a character who is famous for his miserly ways and hatred of Christmas. Yet he is also famous for the changes that he undergoes; across the novella, we witness his complete transformation, becoming a man who is generous in action and in spirit and who wholeheartedly embraces Christmas. He is in practically every page of the book but you don’t have to learn hundreds of quotations. Three should do it nicely! Below are three short quotations that are easy to remember and can be used to analyse characters and themes, explore language and add in context.

‘Very small fire’ ‘one coal’

Scrooge barely heats his counting-house with a ‘very small fire’ and allows his clerk, Bob Cratchit, just ‘one coal’ for his fire.

Dickens uses fire and warmth as a symbol throughout the novella to reflect characters and explore the theme of generosity. Here, Scrooge’s ‘small fire’ reflects his miserly character, with the intensifier ‘very’ emphasising just how meagre the literal fire is and so how limited the generosity is in Scrooge’s personality. Scrooge’s meanness extends to his clerk, Bob Cratchit, who is allowed only ‘one coal’ for a fire.

One of Dickens’ purposes in writing the novella was to raise awareness in his  readership of the dreadful working conditions in which the poor suffered. Through the cold, miserable environment of the counting-house, Dickens reminds us how it is important for employers to be responsible for their employees.

Scrooge changes as the Christmas ghosts take him on a journey of self-discovery.

‘No, no… oh no… say he will be spared’

Scrooge’s agony over the predicted death of Tiny Tim illustrates how much he is changing.  The repetition of ‘no’ reflects Scrooge’s horror as he tries to deny the future that the ghost shows him.

There is a sharp contrast with his deep concern over a poor boy and his dismissive attitude to the surplus population at the start of the novella. Scrooge is learning compassion; he is connecting with humanity again.

The Industrial Revolution had forced many people into London looking for work, but wages were low and conditions were terrible. Through no fault of his own, Tiny Tim is victim to these circumstances, and Dickens uses the small boy to show Scrooge and the readership that the poor are part of humankind and should be protected, not ignored or despised.

‘I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy’

At the end, Scrooge’s transformation is complete as he states how differently he feels.

The repetitive sentence structure of similes highlights his newfound positivity. There is a sense of Christian goodness with the comparison to an angel and genuine joy in the comparison to a school-boy. The simile ’light as a feather’ captures how he is now free from the great burden of greed.

With this new attitude, Scrooge proceeds to correct the mistakes he made in Stave One by giving money to charity and improving Bob’s Christmas; Dickens uses a mirrored structure to highlight the huge change in Scrooge.

  Dickens’ aim in writing the novella was to show how the Christmas Spirit can change an individual, and also society, for the better. Scrooge’s transformation shows the reader how it is easy to change and just how much happiness that can bring.

Maximise your grade  

These three quotations can take you down the path to a grade 9. Another way to help you secure a top level mark is to look at alternative view of a character or theme. With Scrooge, you could ask:

Is Scrooge a more memorable and engaging character at the start of the novella?

Scrooge’s trademark ‘Bah! Humbug!’ at the start establishes him as a character who we pity but who is also greatly entertaining. The whole idea that anyone who says ‘Merry Christmas’ should be ‘boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart’ is amusing and many readers will fondly remember the cantankerous old man rather than the jolly chirpy fellow at the end. And before we condemn his early self too harshly, we should remember that he does contribute to his society, paying his taxes to support the institutions that help the poor. 

The whole purpose of the novella is to illustrate how the Christmas spirit can transform us into generous, happy people. There is nothing but pure joy for the reader in witnessing Scrooge’s mischievous side as he plays a trick on Bob and in witnessing him becoming part of a family as again as he takes on the role of a kindly ‘second father’ to Tiny Tim.

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Grade 9 Essay Scrooge's Transformation A Christmas Carol

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Assessment and revision

Last updated

27 May 2018

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A grade 9 essay analysing Scrooge’s transformation in A Christmas Carol. AQA GCSE English literature.

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How Scrooge Changes

How is scrooge presented as being selfish, the point behind the paragraph ao1 - big picture (plot) ao2 - zooming in (language) ao3 - context, during the opening of the novel, scrooge is presented as a selfish, closed character who only thinks of himself. the first section of the novel takes the form of a long piece of description where dickens highlights just how selfish scrooge is. he’s described as being “squeezing,” “wrenching,” and “grasping.” all these active verbs suggest different ways that he takes things. squeezing suggests that he holds things close to himself and won’t let them go. “wrenching” means to take things; to snatch them. this might refer to how he runs his business, snatching back what’s his own, as though he’s a selfish spoilt child who won’t share. “grasping” means to reach desperately for something, which isn’t something we’d associate with someone as wealthy as scrooge. equally, he’s described as being “solitary as an oyster.” this wonderful simile perfectly illustrates just how closed off scrooge is: he has a hard shell to keep himself away from the rest of the world. throughout the rest of stave 1 we see more examples of his selfishness: he refuses to go to fred’s house, arguing that christmas is a “humbug;” he refuses to give to the portly gentleman’s charity, saying that the poor should go to workhouses, prisons or simply die if they can’t afford to live and he resents giving bob cratchit the day off for christmas, thinking himself “ill-used.” scrooge clearly thinks only of himself. he doesn’t “make merry” at christmas, and he “can’t afford” to make anyone else merry either. here, dickens uses scrooge to shine a light on the selfishness of the victorian upper classes, who would happily sit by their firesides eating rich food while their poorer brothers froze in the dirt outside. it is also worth remembering, however, that the issue of poverty is not one that is consigned to victorian england; it’s very much alive today, and we would all do well to look outside of our bubbles to see those who suffer in the world around us ., the text above would represent one paragraph from an essay about scrooge being presented as selfish. the second paragraph would look at how scrooge learnt to be less selfish, while the last would focus on how scrooge was presented by the end. each paragraph would have a point, some language analysis (ao2), some key moments of plot (ao1) and a reference to context (ao3)., the extract, during the opening of the novel, and in the extract, scrooge is presented as a “tight-fisted hand at the grindstone.” this is to say that he doesn’t like sharing – he is tight fisted – while the “grindstone” image represents him at work. this image suggests that he drives people hard at work but doesn’t pay them much for it. and this is certainly true of scrooge. dickens also uses a string of verbs to describe his miserly hero: “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, clutching;” all of them imply that he is taking things and holding on to them. he’s described as “hard and sharp as flint” – which implies that he is difficult and even dangerous – “from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire” which implies that one thing flint does well is something scrooge is incapable of, because fire is warm and looks after others. most interestingly, however, scrooge is described as “edging his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance.” this is an interesting image as it implies a certain strange compassion from scrooge. in fact, he isn’t just rude or obnoxious, it’s as though he recognised that he is socially and emotionally dysfunctional and now “warns” other humans to keep away., by the end of the book, however, he has changed and he does this by realising a few very important things., firstly, he understands that people and emotions are more important than money. at the beginning of the book scrooge things money equates to happiness – he says that “i can’t afford to make idle people merry,” suggesting that happiness can only be provided through financial means. during his visits with the ghost of christmas past, however, he sees his old manager fezziwig throwing a party and comments that “the happiness he gives is quite as great as if it had cost a fortune.” here, he shows the beginnings of an understanding that happiness isn’t just financial. throughout stave 3, also, scrooge sees people enjoying christmas without any money. he is taken across the country from the poor tin-mines in cornwall to the most distant lighthouses and even across the sea to where he sees people singing and laughing and making merry despite being on meagre means. he also sees the cratchitts enjoying christmas with next to nothing – with their chipped glasses and broken custard cups holding the drinks as well as “golden goblets.” dickens repeatedly uses references to gold in the book, and at one point bob mentions that tiny tim is “as good as gold and better.” here, bob is clearly celebrating the key theme of the book: that people and human relationships are more important than money. by the end of the book, with the third spirit, scrooge seems changed. he says “lead on, time is precious to me.” here he recognises that time – which is irreplaceable – is actually the most valuable commodity on earth and he seems changed., also, scrooge is changed by the compassion he sees other’s treating him with. when belle speaks to him, she does so with “tenderness” – suggesting that even at this moment of deepest sadness, she feels sorry for him, and not resentful. also, bob toasts him over their dinner, raising a glass to celebrate him. through this scrooge is forced to reflect on the fact that he is supported and loved despite his behaviour. his nephew, fred, also insists on defending him – albeit that he playfully teases him in the group’s game – when he says that he insists inviting scrooge to dinner every year – “for i pity him.” again, the compassion and sympathy felt by others would have affected scrooge and softened him, melting his cold and bitter heart, rather than making him angry and isolated. finally, scrooge allows himself to become absorbed in society when he becomes tiny tim’s “second father.” this final statement shows clearly that scrooge is now a fully-fledged member of society, and even though he had no relationship with his own family, he has an adopted, extended family that he can be a part of., it’s also worth noting, that the first person scrooge feels compassion for is himself. in the school room, when he “wept” to see his “poor forgotten self” scrooge shows sympathy for his own plight. it could well be that his father – the father that fanny didn’t have to feel “afraid” of anymore – was the source of scrooge’s anger and resentment. in this respect, you could easily argue that scrooge was deserted by those who were closest to him and, in turn, deserted those around him; however, by the end, an extended family of society have proven that they care for scrooge and can forgive him, and in this way he learns to feel compassion again., a christmas carol and death, a churchyard. here, then; the wretched man whose name he had now to learn, lay underneath the ground. it was a worthy place. walled in by houses; overrun by grass and weeds, the growth of vegetation’s death, not life; choked up with too much burying; fat with repleted appetite. a worthy place, the spirit stood among the graves, and pointed down to one. he advanced towards it trembling. the phantom was exactly as it had been, but he dreaded that he saw new meaning in its solemn shape., “before i draw nearer to that stone to which you point,” said scrooge, “answer me one question. are these the shadows of the things that will be, or are they shadows of things that may be, only”, still the ghost pointed downward to the grave by which it stood., “men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,” said scrooge. “but if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. say it is thus with what you show me”, the spirit was immovable as ever., scrooge crept towards it, trembling as he went; and following the finger, read upon the stone of the neglected grave his own name, ebenezer scrooge., the extract is from the end of stave 4 and explores scrooge’s final realisation of his fate as the ghost of christmas yet to come points to his grave. overall, death is a prevalent theme in the novella, one which haunts scrooge at every turn, enough to finally transform him for the better., at the beginning of the novel, scrooge’s encounter with the terrifying spectre of death, his old business partner jacob marley sows the early seeds of receptiveness to a new way of life. at first, scrooge refuses to believe that anything dead could return, joking ‘there’s more gravy than the grave about you’ however, the chilling horror of marley’s appearance ‘i wear the chains i forged in life’ –which are constructed of financial elements: purses, and sales ledgers, suggest an unhealthy obsession with money and the way one’s profession will manifest itself and weigh you down after death. also, the clear warning to scrooge ‘mankind was my business’ and the image he shows outside scrooge’s window of dead people desperately trying in vain to change their ways and reconcile themselves with their families, is a message that once one is dead, there is no opportunity for redemption and change. in this section, dickens draws on his knowledge of the gothic genre –churches, door knockers that turn into the face of marley, and marley’s stories from beyond the grave that to chill the victorian reader to the core. of course, they would also be only too aware of the potential of hell, something that dickens was sceptical of, but a huge proportion of his readership would have believed in., another aspect of death that strikes a chord with scrooge early in the novella is when the ghost of xmas past reveals the scene when his sister, fan came to take him home from the boarding school for christmas. this is clearly a treasured memory for scrooge and the reader learns of what a strong bond the two had. ‘fan, fan, dear fan’ and she reminds him ‘father has changed’. the ghost reminds scrooge of the fact she has died and has only one surviving relative, her son, fred. scrooge instantly feels guilty about how he treated fred at the beginning when he received his usual invite to xmas dinner. dickens conveys here how a memory of a death has a significant impact on scrooge’s gradual transformation into a more caring person., in the extract, the reader is presented with the final scene from the ghost of xmas future and scrooge’s terror reaches a dramatic peak. the setting is described as ‘a worthy place’ with this adjective from dickens’ narrator serving to identify the bleak spot as one which scrooge heartily deserves. pathetic fallacy is used to convey the place with lines like ‘overrun by grass and weeds –the growth of vegetation’s death’ indicating how the unwanted weeds, a clear metaphor for death, have destroyed any flowers, and made the location one that resembles the fate that potentially awaited scrooge: one where no-one would tend his grave. it is even ‘walled in by houses’ and at the start the reader learns ‘the furniture was not the same’ in his office. this suggests that in death, everything continues on as normal –someone will take scrooge’s place as a loan shark, and no-one will notice or visit his grave as it is hidden from view., the mood of this piece builds in dramatic tension as scrooge desperately implores the ghost to speak and to reassure him that ‘if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. say it is thus’ but the short sentence ‘the spirit was as immovable as ever’ conveys how dickens allies death with silence and that perhaps it is not god or anyone else who will change our life’s path, only by reaching within one’s self that a genuine transformation can occur., further evidence of scrooge’s doom laden panic as he faces up to the reality of his own death is found in the verb ‘trembling’ as he approaches his own grave, the question ‘am i the man who lay upon the bed’ and the repeated exclamations ‘no, spirit oh, no’ overall, it is an extract that encapsulates the horror of facing up to one’s death, and the added fear for scrooge that no-one will remember him. it is the final catalyst in making him change his ways., the cratchits, cratchits extract, intro / “happy, grateful pleased” vs scrooge at school “not afraid” // “shut out the darkness” vs fred welcoming scrooge // “in a glow” vs belle’s family // grave / as good as gold, charles dickens wrote a christmas carol during the victorian times, when the gap between rich and poor was very big. in the novel dickens shows that money is not as important as family when it comes to happiness. he was inspired partly because his father had been taken into debtors’ prison when he was younger, something that would have left dickens understanding just how much more important family was than money., the first paragraph of this extract deals with the cratchits, who are not wealthy – as shown by their “scanty” clothes – but are happy. dickens uses four key adjectives to describe them: “happy, grateful, pleased” and “contented.” these adjectives show that despite the fact that they didn’t have any of the things that victorian society would have valued, they are still capable of being happy in a range of different ways. this contrasts directly with scrooge’s younger years, where he was “forgotten” by his family and left in school. scrooge is rescued by his younger sister, fanny, who comes to tell him that he is welcomed back because their father doesn’t make her feel “afraid” anymore. this adjective gives us a suggestion that their father may have been abusive to them, and would go some way towards understanding why scrooge rejects family so firmly later in his life., despite fanny’s death – another desertion that would have affected scrooge – her spirit lives on through her son, scrooge’s nephew fred, who repeatedly invites scrooge to his house for christmas dinner. scrooge repeatedly refuses with his famous “bah humbug” line, but fred insists that he will keep inviting him for “i pity” him. the fact that fred pities scrooge for being rude, shows just how far family will go to remain loyal to each other. this idea is also shown in the extract, where the families prepare to close their curtains so they can “shut out the darkness.” in many ways, these curtains could be seen as metaphoric blinds that help keep families together; they keep out the outside and sometimes even blind each other to our failings in order that the family unit is kept happy., the second paragraph also describes some “handsome girls, all hooded and fur-booted” who enter a house “in a glow.” here, dickens makes the point that family is not just for poor people, but is something that unites us all (like the “trip to the grave” that fred mentions in a speech earlier in the book.) the fact that they are “in a glow” suggests that they aren’t just happy, but are actually glowing – a symbol of light that is used repeatedly through christmas carol. also, the preposition “in” suggests that they are within this glow, protected by it, in the same way that families protect us all. in one of the most heart-breaking scenes in the book, scrooge is taken to see his former girlfriend with her new family, a family that could have been his own, had scrooge not chosen worship his “golden idol” above her., in the end though, it is the lack of respect given to his death that really changes scrooge for the better. once he’s seen his own “neglected” grave, he understands the true cost of being alone and understands the reasons why tiny tim’s father calls him, proudly, “as good as gold – and better”.

In this extract, we see how the Cratchit family are happy despite their poverty. The novella was published in 1893 which was in the middle of the Industrial Revolution, so many people were moving into cities, leading them to become overcrowded and therefore poverty-stricken. This poverty is evident here in the quote ‘ the family display of glass’ which we then learn consists of ‘two tumblers’ and a ‘custard cup without a handle’. The word ‘display’ shows just how little they own, as they seem proud to showcase these small dilapidated objects off, as this is all they have. However, they seem content as such trivial matters don’t change how they feel towards each other. Dickens compares the cups to ‘golden goblets’ which to me suggests that the Cratchits feel enriched simply by each other’s company, which is worth more to them than anything materialistic.

Earlier in the same scene, we learn first how vibrant the scene is among this family when Dickens personifies even the potatoes, saying they were ‘knocking’ to get out of their pan, as if the joyous atmosphere was so desirable to be amongst that even inanimate objects wanted to be part of the festivities. In the extract, we are told that the chestnuts cracked ‘noisily’ which conveys the same ideas, building a feeling of community despite the poverty in the scene.

The Ghost of Christmas present first takes Scrooge to see the Cratchits Chirstmas, which makes him realise the importance of family at this time, then continues this theme of company by showing him other scenes brought to life by Christmas spirit. For example, when the ghost takes him to a lighthouse, the poor workers there are described as having ‘horny hands’. This suggests that they have struggled through great hardships and have suffered more in their life than Scrooge ever would, and yet their show of unison when they all sing together at Christmas let them disregard their struggles for a time. By comparing the Cratchits and these workers, Dickens shows how the poor could overcome their lack of materialistic value and settle for things of emotional value.

One member of the Cratchit family who strongly highlights the struggles of the poor is Tiny Tim. In this extract his hand is described as a ‘withered little hand’ suggesting it has prematurely withered like a flower with no light. As the word ‘withered’ has connotations of a flower, to me, this could perhaps be seen as a metaphor for how something beautiful has been hindered and killed by the tight fistedness of the rich in society which is something that Dickens was strongly trying to convey in this novella. Light is often a symbol of hope so this flower could be shrivelled due to a lack of light, which is the lack of generosity from the upper classes. Dickens may have untended ‘withered little’ as a juxtaposition, as we would normally associate ‘withered’ with age and ‘little’ with childhood. This contrast highlights how wrong it is that an innocent child should be so shunned by society due to his wealth and status, and this demonstrates Dickens’ frustration over the inequality.

Dickens uses a similar adjective to describe the hands of the children Ignorance and Want. The word ‘shrivelled’ is used here, which compares these children, who are also victims of the struggles of poverty [sic] to Tiny Tim. It creates a similar image of premature decay to highlight the neglect of lower classes in society. The boy in this scene represents Ignorance and the ghost of Christmas Present tells Scrooge to ‘most of all beware the boy’. This strongly conveys Dickens’ message about poverty and the poor, as he is trying to tell society that ignoring the struggles and problems of the poor will be their downfall .

This is demonstrated in Stave 4 when Tiny Tim dies, and the Cratchits say that when Bob had Tiny Tim on his shoulders he walked ‘very fast indeed’. When we have a weight on our shoulders, the phrases normally implies a burden and a worry. However here I think that Tiny Tim represents the burden that the rich think the poor put upon society. Here, Dickens could be saying that if we only realised the potential of the poor they may actually prove helpful and contribute to society, however they are seen only dead weight on the shoulders of society due to the ignorance of the rich.

A Christmas Carol and Family

Question: How does Dickens present family as important to society in A Christmas Carol?

Dicken’s presents family as incredibly important in his allegorical novella ‘A Christmas Carol’ as Dicken’s own father was put in prison when he was young, having a profound effect on him. Scrooge juxtaposes other characters as he rejects the possibility of his own family, we see joy in the Cratchitt’s (despite their poverty) and finally Fred’s kindness is also shown towards his family.

In Stave 2 Scrooge rejects his fiancée by not protesting that he will love her and care for her. Belle uses the metaphor “a golden idol has replaced me” when she “releases” Scrooge from his engagement to her. This suggests that money and wealth are infinitely more important to him than his own family. The Ghost of the Past is instrumental in showing Scrooge what could have been when Belle is described as a “comely Matro” by the omniscient narrator to suggest that she has aged well, is happy and content due to her family. Furthermore, she is “surrounded by children” which shows her large family and how this could have been Scrooge’s fate if he had not loved wealth as much. Family was comforting in the Victorian society as the Welfare State was not in existence meaning families has to look after their elderly relations or they would end up in workhouses (which was the worst fate for the poor). In Stave one Fred is also introduced to us as Scrooge’s nephew and also rejected by him with the repetition of “Good Afternoon” showing how dismissive Scrooge can be when there is no financial gain. Fred shows kindness and caring towards him, but he rejects his offer of “Christmas Dinner” and to “dine with us” suggesting Scrooge likes his isolation and lonely, money-filled life.

Throughout the extract the family is seen as paramount to the happiness of the Cratchitt family. Bob is crushed with disappointment when he thinks Martha is not coming for Christmas dinner suggesting love, tenderness and a family bond towards his child. The adjective in “sudden declension in his high spirits” shows how disappointed he is. Tiny Trim and his siblings are extremely caring towards each other when the younger one “spirit him off” so he can “hear the pudding sing” which seems a simple pleasure, but shows that the little things in life matter and that siblings kindness is important, especially as Tiny Tim is the “cripple” and represents Christian goodwill and charity. Perhaps, Dickens was showing the effects of poverty through the presentation of the symbolic Tiny Tim who encourages the people in church to see him as Christmas is about Jesus and he “made beggars walk and blind men see” showing that although Tiny Tim is crippled he is the heart of the family and represents the way people should be towards each other. Christianity is a recurring theme in the novella and Dicken’s may have been highlighting the juxtaposition in the teachings of the bible and the actions of the wealthy in Victorian London and how Christian values were often bent to suit the opinions and thoughts of the wealthy. Dicken’s appears to be criticising through the charitable and kind and loving Cratchitt’ s the way family is rejected by Scrooge, due to his avarice, while those with the least are celebrated and celebrating Christianity and Christian values. It is ironic that Scrooge covets money and wealth more than he covets family and humanity. Further focus on the love and happiness reflected in the Cratchitt household is the way they all join together and share in the chores “in high procession” is used by Dickens to reflect the joyful atmosphere that is created in the small household when the “goose” is brought in for carving. The enthusiasm with which the goose is met is contagious and all the Cratchitt household join in the celebration of the goose “one murmur of delight” describes vividly the whole family gasping in joy at the sight of the food they have for Christmas dinner, despite the clear evidence of poverty that abounds in the household. Mrs Cratchitt is “brave in ribbons” which metaphorically describes the way she has made do and mended her dress to make it appear more festive as a piece of ribbon would have been a relatively cheap way of dressing up, while a new dress would have been an unquestionable expense and out of reach for the family. Although, poor she shows pride in her appearance and wants to look her best for the festivities and not disappoint Bob, her loving husband. Family here is shown as important as they all collectively share in the hardship and even though they are poor they don’t complain or grumble, they just focus on making the best of their situation. Symbolically, the Cratchitt family are the antithesis of Scrooge and his cruel hearted rejection of his own family.

Earlier in the novella, when the Ghost of the Past took him to the boarding school, we see a glimpse of humanity and caring towards family when “Little Fan” arrives to “take him home”. He exclaims that she is “quite a woman” showing his admiration, love and affection for her and his sadness at the reminder that she “died a young woman” which implies that perhaps, like many women at the time, childbirth was too much for her and she died. Dickens doesn’t explicitly state that childbirth was the cause of her death but there is the implication that Fred, Scrooge’s nephew, is a painful reminder of his loving sister to Scrooge and this could be why Scrooge continues to harden his heart against Fred. Alternatively, his hardened nature and his inability to love could be a mechanism that he has used over the years as he became more and more isolated and less interested in sharing experiences with other people. Scrooge’s behaviour, therefore could indicate fear and an unwillingness to open himself up to loss again, as in Stave 2 it is incredibly evident that Scrooge does have a heart and is capable of love and Fan, his sister, has experienced this love and attention from Scrooge. Scrooge’s nephew Fred is also an excellent example of how family should stick together through all the pain and heartache life can throw at people. Fred arrives at the “counting-house” on a bleak, dark and foggy Christmas Eve in stave one with the pathetic fallacy reflecting the inner sadness and miserly nature of Scrooge. Fred is cheerful and welcoming towards his grumpy uncle, who rejects the offer of Christmas dinner and in Stave 3 we see Scrooge become the butt of the joke during a game of “Guess Who”. Scrooge watches amused and seems to ironically miss the fact that he is being compared to an animal of some sort “Uncle Sccccrooooogggeee” is used in the game, too much hilarity as an example that no-one can guess initially. Scrooge watches on with the Ghost of the Present wistfully and plays along with the games, even though he can’t be seen or heard by Fred and the other guests. Although, they are being slightly unkind and poking fun at Scrooge there is some clear evidence of affection for him, due to the fact that he is family. In this scene family is again seen to be normal, caring and loving and everyone is together, looking out for each other and enjoying each other’s company. Dickens presents Fred’s Christmas as a larger and more opulent affair than the Cratchitt’ s but the day seems to represent a wider sort of family gathering with friends and nieces invited to the festivities as well, suggesting that we are all part of the same human race and that there are more similarities between us than differences.

Towards the end of the novella Dickens introduces us to the idea that Scrooge has changed and has reflected on how family is important and why he should join in and become a part of the family, both the Cratchitt family and his own nephew Scrooge. At the end of the novella Tiny Tim utters the phrase that is synonymous with his good nature “God bless us everyone!” which summarises the change that overcame Scrooge. Tim lived because Scrooge changed and became a better man. Scrooge vowed after seeing the Ghost of the Future, the death of Tiny Tim and the death of himself that he would “live in the past, the present and the future” showing that he understood the importance of being a better person. His first act of kindness after this proclamation is to send a “Turkey to the Cratchitt family” which was a huge gesture and showed that he valued their family and really did not want to see Tiny Tim die, he asks the Ghost of the Future “Will Tiny Tim live?” and this rhetorical question reveals that he already knows the answer to this. Without Scrooge’s epiphany and change Tim will die, so Scrooge shows that he recognises how pivotal to happiness Tiny Tim is by sending the food to them. Due to the way family is presented throughout the novella it is obvious that Scrooge begins to understand that family keeps people together and makes them more humane. In the end Scrooge goes to Fred’s house and is invited in. He also becomes “like a second father” to Tiny Tim and shows that he understands the importance of being a better person and the role that having a family plays in this.

Evidently, Dickens felt that family was centrally important to the novella as he places the Cratchitt family in the heart of it. They are show to us in Stave 3 during the Ghost of the Present’s revelations to Scrooge and arguably the scene with the Cratchitt family helps to change Scrooge from being a unkind, miserly and covetous man to a more charitable, kind and loving man. The presentation of family was extremely important in showing Scrooge that he could be a much better man.

ANOTHER ONE

They were a boy and a girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread.

Scrooge started back, appalled. Having them shown to him in this way, he tried to say they were fine children, but the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie of such enormous magnitude. "Spirit, are they yours?" Scrooge could say no more.

"They are Man's," said the Spirit, looking down upon them. "And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!" cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. "Slander those who tell it ye. Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And abide the end." "Have they no refuge or resource?" cried Scrooge. "Are there no prisons?" said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. "Are there no workhouses?"

In A Christmas Carol, Dickens continually returns the readers’ focus on the children in Victorian society. The recurring character and the famous child in the novella is “Tiny” Tim Cratchit who becomes a metonym for thousands of faceless proletariat children neglected by a ruthless self-serving capitalist society. However, the shocking introduction of the minor characters of Ignorance and Want allows Dickens to create a political diatribe against the greed, selfishness and neglect of working-class children. These children contrasted against the earlier childhood version of Scrooge, serve to expose the dichotomy between the poor and rich in a deeply unequal and uneven society.

In this passage, Ignorance and Want become a metaphorical paradigm of society’s abandonment of the poor and the consequence of their inability to take social responsibility for poverty. The children have a primarily allegorical purpose evidenced in the focus of their physical features. The boy and girl are old before their time as Dickens says their faces are absent of “graceful youth” and the neglect of their physical, emotional and mental wellbeing is emphasised in the image of their “pinched” and “twisted” features. These adjectives heighten the idea of their youth being robbed and their childhood destroyed by physical hardships particularly given “twisted” is synonymous with something that is misshapen and grotesque. Their faces are described as being the antithesis of childhood innocence as Dickens uses hyperbolic language and describes how “devils lurked” in their faces and “glared out menacingly”. The use of hellish imagery accentuates the impression that their existence has been made unbearable by poverty and in turn has tainted and corrupted their view of the world as well as wrecked their own goodness and innocence. The children’s hostility, distrust and hatred of the Christian society meant to protect them is manifested in the verb “glared”, which is emblematic of their disillusionment and discontent. Dickens uses animal imagery to describe the children as “wolfish” which bolsters the impression of working-class children’s metamorphosis from innocent creatures to starving and exploited children hardened by their suffering. The colour “yellow” is symptomatic of sickness and ill health and furthers the idea of their physical and mental decay within a laissez faire society (where no welfare state or support to lift working class children out of absolute poverty exists). The philosopher John Locke theorised man is born a blank slate and our nature is changed by nurture; this idea is evidenced in the way in which societal neglect changes the nature of the children. It is clear that Dickens subverts the image of childhood innocence and sharply juxtaposes Ignorance and Want’s damaged childhood to the wealthy Scrooge’s happier memories of his powerful education (in which his imagination came alive by his schooling), in order to create pathos for working class children and force his contemporary Victorian readers to examine their conscience, particularly their lack of support for the “ragged” poor and homeless children in society.

Dickens believed how a society treated its children, revealed their social mores. He makes it evident that society is to blame for the suffering and dehumanisation of working-class children especially as the spirits uses the short declarative “They are man’s” to indicate societal responsibility and its moral failing. The hypocrisy of a Christian society is exemplified in the way in which the ghost mocks Scrooge and repeats his infamous questions back to him: “Are there no prisons?” and “Are there no workhouses?” The callousness of society and its evasion of social responsibility to take care of the most vulnerable is emphasised in the repetition of the nouns “prison” and “workhouses” which reminds contemporary readers that they marginalised and disenfranchisedinnocent working-class children by socially excluding them and denying them a good quality of life.

Dickens more importantly uses the recurring character construct of Tiny Tim to dispel the damaging societal stereotype that the working class are deserving of their poverty. In Stave 3, Tiny Tim is romanticised by Dickens to symbolise the beauty and goodness of working-class children who deserve society’s love and charity. He is poor but shows immense courage and huge generosity of spirit. When Tiny Tim uses the biblical story of how Jesus helped the blind and poor, and hopes the bourgeoise remember the poor during Christmas, he becomes a symbol of Jesus and once again exposes the hypocrisy of a Christian society that claims to help the poor but instead neglects them. Though Tiny Tim is dying, he shows courage and endless love and devotion to his family, best demonstrated when he says “God bless us everyone” as he sits next to his dad. Tiny Tim does not ask for anything for himself, but he is the antithesis to Scrooge because he is altruistic and puts others before him. In an increasingly amoral Victorian society, Tiny Tim provides comforting moral guidance on how to live a good life. However, Tiny Tim becomes a symbol of the abandonment of working-class children as he is powerless to improve his situation and is shown to die, leaving his family “still” and destroyed by their grief. His death symbolises how the bourgeoise have the power to change his fate and that of thousands of other vulnerable children but fail to do so, leaving innocent families broken by the death of their babies. The focus on the grief of the family after Tiny Tim dies creates intense pathos and is deliberate as Dickens reminds his readers of their shocking contextual reality - that one in five children in Victorian society did not live to see their fifth birthday.

The fairy-tale reversal in Tiny Tim’s death in Stave 5 is a piercing reminder that a progressive and utopic society is possible, but only if the bourgeoisie (represented by Scrooge) learn to love its children and take social responsibility by improving their poverty-stricken situations and therefore preventing their needless deaths. In this stave, Scrooge becomes a “second father” to Tiny Tim. This lexical phrase is highly symbolic because while it literally shows Scrooge has become more responsible and compassionate, it is an important metaphorical reminder that working-class parents desperately need the support of society to help raise their children and provide a good quality of life for them. The lexical choice “Second” is synonymous here with something that is additional and surplus and so consequently is a strong reminder of the importance of a more responsible and engaged society that is not ignorant or myopic of working-class suffering and exploitation. To reinforce this idea, In Stave 3, Dickens briefly uses the childhood character of Martha Cratchit to remind his readers of the exploitation and premature growing up of Victorian children. In this stave the children are working in the kitchen and Martha arrives home late as she has been working. She is responsible for bringing the goose. She is embraced by her mother. The image of Mrs Cratchit embracing her working child reminds readers how adult breadwinners simply could not support their family and relied upon them sacrificing their childhood. There is no doubt that these moments have great verisimilitude for modern readers, particularly given how two thirds of children living in poverty in the UK have working parents, painfully reminding new readers how the exploitation of the poor is as real as ever.

Finally, the gaiety of Fred's family dinner, contrasted against the hardship of the merry but compromised Cratchit family, is a strong reminder of the terrible and tragic disparity between the lives of the working class and wealthy in society, a context greatly affecting the Cratchit children. To conclude Dickens uses the recurring characters of children to explore society’s lack of responsibility towards its children but also its power to change the fate of these children simply by showing greater compassion and ensuring social justice happens.

https://money.com/ebenezer-scrooge-defense-charles-dickens-christmas-carol/

Miss Huttlestone's GCSE English

Because a whole class of wonderful minds are better than just one!

‘A Christmas Carol’ Grade 9 Response on Fred’s Characterisation

Hi all – another AMAZING essay penned by my year 11 student Ashley. Use as a model for how to structure a top band response:

Within his festive, allegorical novella, Dickens crafts Scrooge’s only nephew Fred to function as a model for embracing Christmas. Most importantly, he demonstrates the virtues associated with this time of year, namely goodwill, benevolence, family and community.

Primarily, the first time the reader meets Fred he is depicted as an embodiment of the Christmas spirit. Fred is ‘all in a glow’ when he comes to meet his uncle. The lexical choice ‘glow’ connotes light which is often linked with purity and hope, emphasising that Fred acts as a role model for Scrooge to learn from. Fred spreads his Christmas cheer and is happy despite not being wealthy. Additionally, Fred is said to have walked through the ‘fog and frost’; the fog could symbolise the lingering presence of the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s and all the negativity it brought such as apathy and ignorance. The ‘fog’ blinkered many capitalists from the fact that the people of London were suffering greatly due to the functions of power failing to protect them and for choosing capitalism over socialism. Fred being ‘all in a glow’, stands out from this metaphorical atmosphere of capitalism and material gain; whilst doing so, he clears a path for goodness and cheerfulness to seep into Scrooge’s melancholy life. He therefore paints himself as selfless and caring – qualities that were quite rare in the 1800s.

Secondly, Dickens cleverly utilises structure to illustrate the weak relationship between Fred and Scrooge. Throughout the extract the terms ‘nephew’ and ‘uncle’ are repeated several times. Dickens intention for this technique may have been to remind the reader that Scrooge and Fred are blood relatives; therefore they should have a familial connection. This is extremely ironic considering the way Scrooge communicates with his ‘nephew’ by calling him ‘poor enough’. This remark can be perceived as very rude, dismissive, ignorant and derogatory to a reader; one may even say their conversation resembles two strangers conversing. Dickens does this to highlight the distance between the two, one whose ‘eyes sparkled’ and one who is ‘hard and sharp as flint’. However, despite this obstacle, Fred continually tried to bridge the gap between them by inviting Scrooge to his annual Christmas dinner every year. From this we can infer that Fred is persistent in ensuring that his uncle stops marginalising himself and is included in familial engagements. This is because Fred understands the importance of community and how one can benefit spiritually from it, something Dickens strongly believed people needed to have.

In stave 3, the ghost of Christmas present takes Scrooge to a ‘bright, dry and gleaming room’, which we soon learn to be part of Fred’s home. The description of this setting is essential in understanding the character is Fred. The adjective ‘gleaming’ implies that Christmas spirit is almost leaking out of Fred’s house as it is so full of joy and benevolence. This proves that Fred’s house stands out, drastically, from the cold darkness that many people, like Scrooge, fall into on special occasions like Christmas. Here Dickens shows the vast division between those who are wealthy in the Christmas spirit and those who are wealthy but lack the spiritual benefits of Christmas through imagery. Therefore urging readers to understand that importance of family and relationships in order to avoid isolation.

In essence, Dickens utilises Fred to jolt Scrooge and his targeted capitalist readers out of this apathetic ways via his thoughtfulness, cheerfulness and ‘extraordinary kindness’.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — A Christmas Carol — A Christmas Carol: Themes, Redemption, and Dickens’s Craft

A Christmas Carol: Themes, Redemption, and Dickens's Craft

• Categories: A Christmas Carol

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Words: 538 |

Published: Mar 13, 2024

Words: 538 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

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The novella begins, themes of the novel, memorable characters, literary devices.

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Mr Salles Teaches English

What Makes a Grade 9 Essay?

Ft. scrooge and greed.

I’m very grateful to the many students who send me their work. Abby is one of these. I’m also really grateful when they allow me to name them! Thanks Abby.

Hello Mr Salles,

I'd like to first and foremost thank you for being the main reason for me going from a grade 4, to a grade 9 in my English literature mocks.

It would mean the world to me if you could read through my responses to the 2023 AQA Paper 1 exam, which got me 60/64.

I have attached them below just in case.

I practiced by attempting as many exam questions I could find, and answering each one. Also, I quizzed myself on quotes daily to ensure that I remember them.

Thank you in advance,

Still 5 stars, and only £7.99 ? I could have sworn I had priced this at £8.99!

The Essay is About Greed

(Some teachers might still be intending to set this as a further mock - so I haven’t reproduced the title or the extract. I don’t think it will make any difference if I do - but they might).

Ultimately, Dickens uses the construct of Scrooge as the face of greed itself. This greed is what destroys his relationship with Belle, and it is also what could have led to him suffering in the afterlife, had he not changed his ways. Greed caused many deaths in the Victorian era, because the poor relied on help from the rich. If the rich refused to help, the poor would eventually die, either due to lack of food, or due to a lack of other things such as shelther and warmth. However, Scrooge, and by extension most wealthy Victorians, were blinded to the effect that their greed had on others. This led to their greed worsening, as they did not know that it harmed anyone.

Firstly, Dickens presents greed as being physically exhausting.  At the start of the extract, Scrooge's greed is so severe, that it began to have physical repercussions. His eyes had an "eager, greedy, restless motion", which implies that his greed was such a significant component of his character, that it has begun to take a toll on him. This indicates not only that greed is devastating to the poor, because it results in them not having enough money to buy the things they need to survive. It indicates that greed is also devastating to the people that are greedy. Dickens may have used this phrase to deter his wealthy Victorian readership from being greedy, by attempting to scare them with the physical side effects that greed will have. The Victorians, most of whom followed a strict Christian set of rules and commands, believed greed to be a sin. Thus, this manifestation of Scrooge's greed could be seen as a punishment from God for being greedy. Dickens may have done this to indicate how everyone will eventually have to pay for being greedy, in an attempt to dissuade his readership from being greedy themselves.  Alternatively, this phrase may demonstrate that Scrooge is so consumed by greed, that he is constantly thinking about it, and envisioning ways to execute his pursuit of wealth, in a "restless" manner.

In addition, Dickens reveals how greed ruins relationships. Although Belle used to be in love with Scrooge, his greed and avarice has led to her calling of their engagement. She states, "another idol has displaced me... a golden one." Here, Scrooge's greed has not only impacted him. It has also destroyed his engagement, and hurt Belle's feelings. Scrooge had cared so much about money, that he had not cared enough for his fiance, Belle. The word "idol" indicates that Scrooge worships money, and puts it above all else. Perhaps this could reveal that he cares more about money than he cares about God. Dickens uses this phrase in an attempt to reveal to his readers what the devastating effects of greed are. Although rich people such as Scrooge thought that their greed only affected the lower classes, it also affected their relationships. Thus, Dickens implies that if you care about your relationships, you should not be greedy, because greed will ruin them.  Also, Scrooge' worship of money would have been recognised as a sin by a Victorian audience, who believed that worshipping anything that was not a part of the Christian faith was massively sinful. Dickens may have done this to further emphasise the belief that greed is sinful.

Moreover, Dickens demonstrates how Scrooge's greed has caused him to no longer care about any of his aspirations. Belle says "I have seen all your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master-passion, Gain, encompasses you." This suggests that greed is so damaging, that it can seep into one's mind, and encompass everything, causing people to no longer care about anything besides money. Therefore, Dickens implies that greed should be avoided at all costs, as it is inescapable, and devastating. This further emphasises how greed is not only harmful to the lower classes, but also to the rich.  The word "passion" suggests that Scrooge admired greed, and completely succumbed to it.

Furthermore, Dickens reveals that Belle still loves him, but will leave him due to his greed. This can be seen in the extract, when she states that she can now "release" Scrooge, and when Belle states that she still has a "full heart for the man you once were." This indicates that if Scrooge had not been greedy, he would still be together with Belle. It further demonstrates how greed affects all areas of life.

Also, Dickens suggests that not only is Scrooge greedy towards others. He is also greedy towards himself. Upon being asked to donate to charity, Scrooge retorts "I don't make merry myself at Christmas, and I can't afford to make idle people merry." This suggests that Scrooge is living a miserable life due to his greed, as he does not celebrate Christmas, and cannot afford, or does not want to help others celebrate it either. This reveals how extreme his greed is. The word "idle" conveys the misconception that the poor were lazy. Dickens opposed this idea, and used this novel to challenge it. However, the rich, such as Scrooge, still refused to donate to the poor, because they felt that the poor did not deserve any help.

This also indicates that Scrooge thinks the poor do not deserve to be happy. Alternatively, this quote may reveal that Scrooge is not as rich as he seems to be. He is eating gruel, and not celebrating Christmas, because he has little money. This may be false, however, and may just be a by-product of Scrooge's greed. He thinks that he never has enough money, although he has far more money than most people in Victorian London. This greed has distorted Scrooge's view of the world, and therefore he thinks that no one ever has enough money, which is his excuse for not helping the poor.

However, towards the end of the novel the reader learns that this greed will lead to Scrooge having an unceremonious funeral, due to living a life of greed. Upon seeing the dishevelled state of his gravestone, he pleads "tell me I may sponge the writing from this stone." Here, Scrooge learns that he will suffer in the afterlife, as a result of his greed, and now feels remorseful for behaving in such a covetous manner throughout his life. This implies that people will not realise the effects that greed will have until it is too late for redemption, and therefore Dickens uses this as a way to remind his readership to not be greedy, as it will be incredibly hard to erase the consequences of this greed. This is mirrored in the way Scrooge wants to use a "sponge" to erase his punishment. This is rather ironic, as the readers know that it will not work, much like you will never be able to fully erase the effects that your greed has had on others. Dickens uses this phrase to reveal that while greed can be avoided by being charitable, the effects of greed are certain, and thus it is far easier to not be greedy in the first place, than it is to try to make up for your greediness in the past.

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What Do Bold and Italic Mean?

Bold is where Abby explains Dickens’ point of view.

Bold italic is where she implies Dickens’ point of view.

If there is one thing to work on in the content of a grade 9 essay, that is it.

Just keep explaining the writer’s point of view!

How Many Explanations?

Another way of looking at essay writing is this. The more explanations you write, the higher your grade.

It tends to follow that students who write a lot of explanations naturally write about the author’s point view - that is how you have more explanations to give. so, the two go hand in hand.

Here is the essay again, exactly the same, but presented as numbered explanations

Mr Salles Teaches English is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts which help you get top grades, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Ultimately, Dickens uses the construct of Scrooge as the face of greed itself.

This greed is what destroys his relationship with Belle, and it is also what could have led to him suffering in the afterlife, had he not changed his ways.

Greed caused many deaths in the Victorian era, because the poor relied on help from the rich. If the rich refused to help, the poor would eventually die, either due to lack of food, or due to a lack of other things such as shelther and warmth.

However, Scrooge, and by extension most wealthy Victorians, were blinded to the effect that their greed had on others. This led to their greed worsening, as they did not know that it harmed anyone.

Firstly, Dickens presents greed as being physically exhausting.

At the start of the extract, Scrooge's greed is so severe, that it began to have physical repercussions. His eyes had an "eager, greedy, restless motion", which implies that his greed was such a significant component of his character, that it has begun to take a toll on him.

This indicates not only that greed is devastating to the poor, because it results in them not having enough money to buy the things they need to survive. It indicates that greed is also devastating to the people that are greedy.

Dickens may have used this phrase to deter his wealthy Victorian readership from being greedy, by attempting to scare them with the physical side effects that greed will have.

The Victorians, most of whom followed a strict Christian set of rules and commands, believed greed to be a sin. Thus, this manifestation of Scrooge's greed could be seen as a punishment from God for being greedy.

Dickens may have done this to indicate how everyone will eventually have to pay for being greedy, in an attempt to dissuade his readership from being greedy themselves.

Alternatively, this phrase may demonstrate that Scrooge is so consumed by greed, that he is constantly thinking about it, and envisioning ways to execute his pursuit of wealth, in a "restless" manner.

In addition, Dickens reveals how greed ruins relationships.

Although Belle used to be in love with Scrooge, his greed and avarice has led to her calling of their engagement. She states, "another idol has displaced me... a golden one." Here, Scrooge's greed has not only impacted him. It has also destroyed his engagement, and hurt Belle's feelings.

Scrooge had cared so much about money, that he had not cared enough for his fiance, Belle. The word "idol" indicates that Scrooge worships money, and puts it above all else.

Perhaps this could reveal that he cares more about money than he cares about God.

Dickens uses this phrase in an attempt to reveal to his readers what the devastating effects of greed are. Although rich people such as Scrooge thought that their greed only affected the lower classes, it also affected their relationships.

Thus, Dickens implies that if you care about your relationships, you should not be greedy, because greed will ruin them.

Also, Scrooge' worship of money would have been recognised as a sin by a Victorian audience, who believed that worshipping anything that was not a part of the Christian faith was massively sinful. Dickens may have done this to further emphasise the belief that greed is sinful.

Moreover, Dickens demonstrates how Scrooge's greed has caused him to no longer care about any of his aspirations.

Belle says "I have seen all your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master-passion, Gain, encompasses you." This suggests that greed is so damaging, that it can seep into one's mind, and encompass everything, causing people to no longer care about anything besides money.

Therefore, Dickens implies that greed should be avoided at all costs, as it is inescapable, and devastating.

This further emphasises how greed is not only harmful to the lower classes, but also to the rich.  The word "passion" suggests that Scrooge admired greed, and completely succumbed to it.

Furthermore, Dickens reveals that Belle still loves him, but will leave him due to his greed. This can be seen in the extract, when she states that she can now "release" Scrooge, and when Belle states that she still has a "full heart for the man you once were." This indicates that if Scrooge had not been greedy, he would still be together with Belle.

It further demonstrates how greed affects all areas of life.

Also, Dickens suggests that not only is Scrooge greedy towards others. He is also greedy towards himself. Upon being asked to donate to charity, Scrooge retorts "I don't make merry myself at Christmas, and I can't afford to make idle people merry." This suggests that Scrooge is living a miserable life due to his greed, as he does not celebrate Christmas, and cannot afford, or does not want to help others celebrate it either.

This reveals how extreme his greed is.

The word "idle" conveys the misconception that the poor were lazy. Dickens opposed this idea, and used this novel to challenge it. However, the rich, such as Scrooge, still refused to donate to the poor, because they felt that the poor did not deserve any help. This also indicates that Scrooge thinks the poor do not deserve to be happy.

Alternatively, this quote may reveal that Scrooge is not as rich as he seems to be. He is eating gruel, and not celebrating Christmas, because he has little money. This may be false, however, and may just be a by-product of Scrooge's greed. He thinks that he never has enough money, although he has far more money than most people in Victorian London.

This greed has distorted Scrooge's view of the world, and therefore he thinks that no one ever has enough money, which is his excuse for not helping the poor.

However, towards the end of the novel the reader learns that this greed will lead to Scrooge having an unceremonious funeral, due to living a life of greed.

Upon seeing the dishevelled state of his gravestone, he pleads "tell me I may sponge the writing from this stone." Here, Scrooge learns that he will suffer in the afterlife, as a result of his greed, and now feels remorseful for behaving in such a covetous manner throughout his life.

This implies that people will not realise the effects that greed will have until it is too late for redemption, and therefore Dickens uses this as a way to remind his readership to not be greedy, as it will be incredibly hard to erase the consequences of this greed.

This is mirrored in the way Scrooge wants to use a "sponge" to erase his punishment. This is rather ironic, as the readers know that it will not work, much like you will never be able to fully erase the effects that your greed has had on others.

Dickens uses this phrase to reveal that while greed can be avoided by being charitable, the effects of greed are certain, and thus it is far easier to not be greedy in the first place, than it is to try to make up for your greediness in the past.

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