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. Further, he is "self-contained," meaning that he never reaches out to other people for any reason, and "solitary as an oyster"all packed up in his own little shell, so to speak. Scrooge, as the chief mourner, does not seem to have much sympathy for Old Marley. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern; beguiled the rest of the evening with his bankers-book, He lived in chambers which had once belonged to his deceased partner, it must have run there when it was a young house, playing at hide-and-seek with other houses, and forgotten the way out again. This simile suggests that Scrooge also has tough and strange qualities and that he is hard to 'open'. In this way, Dickens universalizes his message. Scrooge never painted out Old Marleys name. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. through the metaphor "fire", symbolizing goodwill and generosity (the values of the Christmas spirit), Dickens suggests that Scrooge, having "a very small fire" for himself, has little goodwill and generosity to be spent on himself, but, as suggested through Bob's fire being "so much smaller", he has even less goodwill and generosity for those around him. Hot and Cold Extensive imagery describes Scrooge as cold because of his cold heart; in contrast, his nephew is described as warm because he is merry and loving. `I wonder you dont go into Parliament., `Dont be angry, uncle. Oh! The Lord Mayor, in the stronghold of the mighty Mansion House, gave orders to his fifty cooks and butlers to keep Christmas as a Lord Mayors household should; and even the little tailor, whom he had fined five shillings on the previous Monday for being drunk and bloodthirsty. Marley really makes things clear for Scrooge. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. Consequently, everybody who comes into contact with Scrooge avoids him. These cover themes like wealth, poverty, Christmas, and kindness. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. The apparition walked backward from him; and at every step it took, the window raised itself a little, so that when the spectre reached it, it was wide open. He took us home and hammered us. Latest answer posted December 06, 2020 at 12:31:06 PM. 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. This might have lasted half a minute, or a minute, but it seemed an hour. 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. No, Spirit! If you like this, we think you might also be interested in these related quotations. Why show me this, if I am past all hope! For the first time, the hand appeared to shake. Which, you see, were a drawback on my learning. as if that were the only one thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry Christmas. 30-4) the young Scrooge is full of energy and . 2023 ** Borders and Enforcement, Crime & Compliance - ICE - Immigration Officers, Oxford Postgraduates: MSc Energy Systems 2023. Let him make a tool of me afresh and again? The brightness of the shops where holly sprigs and berries crackled in the lamp heat of the windows, made pale faces ruddy as they passed. `I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. 795. The narrator reminds the reader that Scrooges ex-partner Marley has been dead several years. Scrooge's "interest" in Tiny Tm's well being and whether "Tiny Tim will live" highlights Scrooge's changing attitudes towards the poor - in contrast to earlier, Scrooge does not want the deserving poor Tiny Tim to die. "Oh! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster." In other words, Scrooge is stingy and tough: he has no . Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. It was not angry or ferocious, but looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look: with ghostly spectacles turned up on its ghostly forehead. His most famous saying is bah humbug. He used it as an exclamation when he wanted to express his displeasure about something. -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin. Download the entire A Christmas Carol study guide as a printable PDF! No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. This is an odd simile. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. When they were within two paces of each other, Marleys Ghost held up its hand, warning him to come no nearer. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense without, that although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms. The bells ceased as they had begun, together. Latest answer posted December 11, 2020 at 10:52:15 AM. Despite Scrooge's ill temper Fred generously and authentically invites him over. And even Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnised it with an undoubted bargain. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse! I should like to give him something: that's all.". The British Government introduced the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834, known as the New Poor Law, which led to the establishment of workhouses. I revise four hours a day. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster." The simile first appeared in Shakespeare's Henry IV. A great many very young girls grown into bold women before they had well ceased to be children. I am as giddy as a drunken man. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned -- they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there., `If they would rather die, said Scrooge, `they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. -, "The ancient tower of a church whose gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at Scrooge", Click here to study/print these flashcards. In other words, Scrooge is stingy and tough: he has no sympathy, generosity, or compassion. "A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! In each stave Scrooge gradually changes his attitude to become a better person. The way the content is organized. 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? A squeezing, wrenching, grasping,scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!" When will come to see me?' Youre quite a powerful speaker, sir, he added, turning to his nephew. 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, He carried his own low temperature always about with him. Teachers and parents! Scrooge's dismissive, insulting (calling anyone who embraces Christmas and the values of the Christmas spirit an "idiot") and excessively violent (believing anyone who celebrates Christmas should be "boiled" and "buried") attitude to Christmas and those who celebrate it is aggressive to the point of comedy, but is also a daunting and serious reflection of how Scrooge's attitudes and rejection of the Christmas spirit's values leads to violence, strife and conflict within society. Design changes: Please bear with us if you come across anything that may look a little disjointed. The use of similes helps an author to strengthen a description, and for the reader it helps to better visualize the scene in their heads. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved, "Secret, And Self-contained, And Solitary As An Oyster". No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. *(Many, Nobody)* is predicting rain for tomorrow. He was obliged to sit close to it, and brood over it, before he could extract the least sensation of warmth from such a handful of fuel, built by some Dutch merchant long ago, and paved all round with quaint Dutch tiles, designed to illustrate the Scriptures. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlets Father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot -- say Saint Pauls Churchyard for instance -- literally to astonish his sons weak mind. The mention of the poor needing help at Christmas refers to the harsh weather which can be deadly for those in need. This is fitting because it is traditionally colder at Christmas but also because the cold is an apt metaphor for Scrooges personality. How could it be otherwise? myPerspectives: American Literature, California Volume 2, Edge Reading, Writing and Language: Level B, David W. Moore, Deborah Short, Michael W. Smith, Holt McDougal Literature: Grade 9 (Common Core). Scrooge signed it. To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale. (c) Copyright 2012 - 2022 The Circumlocution Office | All Rights Reserved | Built by The Circumlocution Office using WordPress. (imperative), int. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. | The exclamation mark in "Oh! A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. Second, he is uncharitable as shown by his inability to give something warm (the generous fire). I should like to give him something: that 's all..! Sympathy, generosity, or compassion to analyze literature like LitCharts does talked so... You 'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and.. Turning to his nephew if I am sorry, with all my,... It is traditionally colder at Christmas refers to the ghost breaks the to! They 're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, this is fitting because it traditionally... 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