No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Marley represents a kind of family for Scrooge, even though they are not blood-related. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover. very low fire indeed; nothing on such a bitter night. What have recent studies shown about a spirit of cooperation in nature? Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good. Scrooge is described as "solitary as an oyster". At Fezziwig's party (pp. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grind- stone, Scrooge! Apparently, Scrooge is: Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Youre rich enough., Scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment. Bob Cratchit makes a pitiful effort to "warm himself" while Scrooge looks on which makes him seem all the more miserly in comparison to Bob. "He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer his call.". He went the whole length of the expression, and said that he would see him in that extremity first. 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. "Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster." See in text (Stave One) These two similes define Scrooge in three ways: First, he is portrayed as inflexible through the comparison to flint (a hard gray rock). No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. But he does not. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. | Oh! Why does the Ghost of Christmas Past show Scrooge the boarding school where he was left alone in A Christmas Carol? No matter how vivid the apparitions become, Scrooge insists that he knows better. Dickens fills this first Stave with superlative and vivid descriptions of Scrooges miserly character and in so doing sets him up for quite a transformation. Instead of being a crotchety old man, he feels like a schoolboy. His nephew left the room without an angry word, notwithstanding. This is a great quote for highlighting the sort of character that Scrooge was in A Christmas Carol. A doornail is notably small and insignificant, but it can be used to build things. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! 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. He. science pearson edexcel end of unit test higher. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. Summary of Stave 1 The man took strong sharp sudden bites, just like the dog. I am as giddy as a drunken man. 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. Down banks and up banks, and over gates, and splashing into dikes, and breaking among coarse rushes: no man cared where he went. Ask me if you need help for GCSE revision? Humbug! but stopped at the first syllable, A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas. 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. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. Oysters are confined solitarily. 2023. Who are the experts?Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. Charles Dickens uses a number of comparisons (known as similes) to emphasize the characteristics of Ebenezer Scrooge early on in the novella, such as solitary as an oyster, and this one, hard and sharp as flint. Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs However, at the end of the tale in Stave 5, Scrooge employs a string of similes to celebrate his return to the present: I am light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. Latest answer posted December 11, 2020 at 10:52:15 AM. Teachers and parents! 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. a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Analysis; Cold-hearted: According to Dickens's description, . The clerk in the Tank involuntarily applauded. 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. The way the content is organized. ", "Hard and sharp as a flint.solitary as an oyster. When he gets home, Scrooge would rather save money and live in discomfort, keeping a very low fire for himself, described as nothing on such a bitter night to which he is forced to lean over just to extract the least sensation of warmth from such a handful of fuel. Scrooge calls those who celebrate Christmas "fools," and tells his nephew there is no reason to be merry. The most famous simile inA Christmas Carol (and arguably one of the most famous similes in literature overall)appears on the very first page: The narrator repeats this line in the next paragraph to emphasize that Marley is, indeed, dead. 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. `He died seven years ago, this very night.. A doornail was a kind of nail or stud that was often used in Dickens's time tobothaesthetically adornandreinforce a door. The exclamation mark in "Oh! Discipline was harsh and. Last weekend, I read $\underline{\color{#c34632}\text{To Build a Fire}}$ . Scrooge was not much in the habit of cracking jokes, nor did he feel, in his heart, by any means waggish then. 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. Note also Marley's disgust at the connection of the words "good" and "business", which Scrooge also used earlier in his conversation with Fred. Scrooge and Cratchit both live on routine. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. On this page, readers can explore the quotes, they are broadly separated into a few sub-categories. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Describe the two children who emerge from the second spirit's robe in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The Spirits of all three shall strive within me. He does not see the basic human value in all people. Whereas Scrooge is described as hard and sharp, Freds features are round and healthy. School Memberships, 2023 OwlEyes.org, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The last line of A Christmas Carol is God bless us, everyone. Its spoken by the well-loved character Tiny Tim. Second, he is uncharitable . Charles Dickens uses the imagery of fire to symbolise greed and generosity in the story of A Christmas Carol. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! You have laboured on it, since. `Because, said Scrooge, `a little thing affects them. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. Why doesn't Scrooge like Christmas in A Christmas Carol? The novel 'A Christmas Carol' narrates the story of a man called Scrooge and how he realises his behaviour to people must change in order to do well in his life as spirits show his past, present and future. Its the only way to make a boy sharp, sir. Scrooge bends over his weak fire. Though his nephew tries to convince him to join his family, Scrooge replies, "Nephew, keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine!" And we can see that his conscience is beginning to come alive when he notices the judgmental feeling of the ghosts stare. As Scrooge looked fixedly at this phenomenon, it was a knocker again. `Youll want all day to-morrow, I suppose? said Scrooge. It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. I want to be an Architect, what GCSEs should I do? Fred is the opposite of Scrooge in appearance and spirit. This girl is Want. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. clause and each adverb clause adv. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. *(Many, Nobody)* is predicting rain for tomorrow. Just as Scrooge seems unaffected by the cold and darkness, he also shuns his feelings of fear and refuses to trust his senses or give in to them. International Medical University - Consequences for Failing Semester 1, Brownies, books and planning a wedding - your favourite fiancs 2nd blog , Important query please help me if you can, Official University of Bristol 2023 Applicant Thread, Police officer who slept with six co-workers claims she was 'sexually groomed'. Again, he's very much an outsider and is treated as an outcast as a result. "Spirit," said Scrooge with an interest he had never felt before, "tell me if Tiny Tim will live.". It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster." From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. (meaning rubbish or nonsense) suggesting that scrooge is dismissive of Christmas and the values that come with it, and the animalistic onomatopoeia of "bah!" `Mr. Marley has been dead these seven years, Scrooge replied. Note the use of the adjective poor to describe Bob Cratchit. Scrooge refusing to give any coal to Bob, and Bob subsequently having "failed" to "warm himself at the candle" reflects the harmful impact that the miserly attitudes of men like scrooge have on society as portrayed by dickens, suggesting that if those more fortunate, like scrooge, refuse to give any goodwill, generosity or support to those less fortunate, like bob, they will surely perish and be unable to survive under what little goodwill, generosity and support they have in society, as symbolized by Bob being unable to warm himself at the very small fire of the "candle". But alongside this caricature of Scrooge, through the wailings of the multitude he also paints a picture of a spirit realm thats full to bursting with chained-up repentors. Though he never speaks this way about Marley, the reader can infer that Scrooge has similar thoughts. Youre quite a powerful speaker, sir, he added, turning to his nephew. Current Year 10 Official Thread (2022-2023). There it stood, years afterwards, above the warehouse door: Scrooge and Marley. Given that Scrooge is so stingy, sharp, and antisocial, the reader does not have much sympathy for him at this point. `And yet, said Scrooge, `you dont think me ill-used, when I pay a days wages for no work., `A poor excuse for picking a mans pocket every twenty-fifth of December!, But I suppose you must have the whole day. Youre poor enough., `Come, then, returned the nephew gaily. In Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is presented as a miserly old man, who is a social outcast and is quite happy to be one, at least in the beginning. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse! boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He believes solely in money. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping,scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Of course he did. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Countrys done for. "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". 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. The simile "hard and sharp as flint" emphasises scrooge's tough, cold exterior, and through the painful, harmful connotations of "sharp", Dickens also highlights scrooge's lack of sociability towards others, suggesting that he's harmful and dangerous to them. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. But in Dickens's era, it was customary to hammer doornails into doors in such a way that made them useless for anything else. "Oh! 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. As Marley's ghost's arrival approaches, dickens portrays Scrooge's tough, cold exterior as breaking down and him beginning to become ready to change and for his redemption, reverting back to a mouldable, childlike state of "infancy". Leading up to this moment it appears as if Scrooge already fears that this is the case, but that does not detract from the tension that Charles Dickens can create here. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Here, Scrooge is talking about Fezziwig and how he uses his wealth to lift others up. When will you come to see me? No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was oclock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Once more? `I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Latest answer posted December 03, 2020 at 4:13:31 PM. wander through the world -- oh, woe is me! The exclamation mark in "Oh!" suggests that even the narrator is overwhelmed by how outrageously unpleasant Scrooge is. In this way, Dickens universalizes his message. and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. There is no doubt whatever about that. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. Scrooge is stingy with his money and will not even allow his clerk to have a decent fire to warm him on Christmas Eve. Even the beggars in the street are silent when he passes. `You dont believe in me, observed the Ghost. Instant PDF downloads. As the day passes, the fog and cold become more severe. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. 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Intentions, that his conscience is beginning to come nephew left the without.

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