...“No space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused.” This quote from in Charles Dickens’s novel, A Christmas Carol, is spoken by the ghost of Jacob Marley to Ebenezer Scrooge. In the scene, the spirit is trying to convince Scrooge to change his miserly ways before it is too late. Throughout the book, Dickens uses symbolism in the ghosts that visit Scrooge. After reading Thomas C. Foster’s book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, I have also been able to recognize that the book might also be somewhat political. In Dickens’s book, the first ghost that visits Scrooge is his old business partner, Jacob Marley. Marley, who was once like Scrooge, essentially begs him to become a better, less selfish person. Now, Marley’s character is full of symbolism. It is even stated in the book that the thick chains that weigh down his body are representative of the “chains he forged in life.” They represent his greed and his wrongdoings that keep his locked down. When his physical appearance is described, it even says...
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...A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Stave by stave Before you read the book … 1. Find out ten interesting facts about Charles Dickens. 2. Find out what these words / writing techniques mean: Allegory Novella Time travel narrative Gothic elements When you have read Stave 1, complete the following activities. 1. Complete a similar table, describing Ebenezer Scrooge and his nephew Fred, using words from the opening Stave. Scrooge Tight-fisted Cheerful Covetous old sinner 2. Fred Glowing Find evidence from the text that supports the following points relating to Jacob Marley, Marley’s Ghost: The effect the chains have on Scrooge and the reader The words he uses to appeal to Scrooge The torment that Marley is experiencing. When you have read Stave 2, complete the following questions. Comprehension style questions: 1. Why is the Ghost of Christmas Present described as both a child and an old man? 2. How does Dickens use this Ghost to reflect Scrooge’s childhood and his memories associated with this time in his life? 3. How is this Ghost dressed and does it symbolise anything? 4. Why is the Ghost also a source of light and what does light symbolise? 5. How does the Ghost communicate with Scrooge? 6. How do we learn about his childhood and his sister, Fan? © www.teachit.co.uk 2014 23383 Page 1 of 3 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Stave by stave 7. What are his first...
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...Character Analysis Essay for Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol "Greed, Ebenezer Scrooge, wealth. Feel them. Know them. Yours was as heavy as this I wear seven years ago, and you have labored to build it since," wailed Jacob Marley in Frederick Gaines's adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol (396). Burdened by his greedy life, Marley, Ebenezer Scrooge's deceased business partner, is forced to wander the spirit world with no sense of peace. He warns Scrooge to change his selfish ways to avoid the same miserable fate. Marley's ominous warning sets in motion three life-altering journey through time for Scrooge with the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet To Come. Ebenezer Scrooge, originally a greedy and heartless character, changes drastically after his ghostly experiences influence him to become a generous and caring man by the end of the story. In Scene I of "A Christmas Carol", Scrooge is a bitter and self-centered man. For instance, Scrooge's own nephew, Fred, asked Scrooge if he would join Fred and his family for dinner. Scrooge coldly denied Fred's invitation by saying "Nephew, keep Christmas in your own way…"(390)....
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...The Christmas Carol is about a greedy man named Scrooge, who only cared about money, and always wanted to be alone. But he has changed into a better person. However, he has learned that if he continues to be greedy, and selfish, then his life, eventually would not end well. Scrooge has seen how his relatives celebrate Christmas, and how he has changed, and how that will affect him in the future from the three ghosts of past present and future. Scrooge and Past visit his past when Scrooge was young. On the way, they stop by young Scrooge with a woman. She was unhappy because she knew that Scrooge adored his money more than her. The woman knew “even if he became wiser, than he wouldn’t change towards her” (Dickens 765). She has thought of...
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...redemption. Discuss By the end of A Christmas Carol, the main protagonist, Scrooge, is worthy of redemption. For someone with such wealth, Scrooge was an unusually morose and unhappy character, particularly at Christmas. At the start, Scrooge was unhallowed and resolute in his views about Christmas, and would not be persuaded that it was a time for kindness and merriment. However as the novel progresses, Scrooge changes his ways and displays qualities of a good person. His benevolence, kindness and generosity make him worthy of redemption. Scrooge finally makes up for his mistakes and become more friendly and charitable. This is largely as a result of the four ghosts’ visitations and his experiences with them. His witnessing the past, present and future have impacted towards changing his personality. Scrooge’s visitations with the three ghosts changed the way he viewed people and taught him about kindness and respects. During Marley’s visit, Scrooge listens to all the hardships Marley endured while he was busy making money in unscrupulous ways. Marley hopes to save Scrooge from sharing the same fate. He tells Scrooge that he didn't learn until he became a ghost that charity and kindness were the important aspects of living, but by then it was too late. He informs Scrooge that three spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future will visit him during each of the next three nights. Dickens uses the invention of Christmas Spirits to elucidate (clarify, explain) on Scrooge’s...
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...A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Ebenezer Scrooge acts as the main character within this novel in which he is depicted as a “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, old sinner as self-contained and as solitary as an oyster”. He is incapable of relationships. However, throughout his life of suffering he is guided by the Ghosts of Christmas past, Christmas Present and of Christmas future. A Christmas Carol is a celebration of Christmas and the good it inspires. Scrooge was a cold and old disgruntled man that saw no purpose in life, wouldn’t accept changes, and wished to be alone. The heaviest rain, snow, hail and sleet were just like any other days that had no effect on him. Nobody ever stopped him in the streets to greet him or even ask what time of the day it was. The only relationship he had was with his lifelong business partner Marley, who had been dead for seven years when the novel began. He despises the poor and hates any part of life that is in relation to happiness or spending money. Scrooge’s appearance has been made very “cold and bitter”. For example, “his thin lips blue”. Scrooge’s personality attitude towards the poor is horrible, for example, when the charity guys come into the room and asked Scrooge if he wishes to make a donation he replies no, this makes the readers dislike Scrooge and disagree with the points that he has to make like, “it is a good thing that the Union work houses are still in operation”. Scrooge is a cold-hearted...
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...Prof. Kellenberger Phil 310 Free Will When grumpy old Scrooge of the famous movie A Christmas Carol went home on Christmas eve, he had no idea what awaited him. He experienced a night of anguish and terror after three ghosts visit him. Scrooge was a grumpy mean-spirited man after the death of his sister Fan. Just to prepare him for his “life” in death, his dead partner and friend Marley, who facilitates the entire nightmare, shows him the lost lonely spirits who were mean-spirited in their earthly lives. The first ghost who visited him that night was “the ghost of Christmas past”. This ghost serves to remind him how others had been kind to him during past Christmases in his youth and how people in his past embodied the Christmas spirit. This ghost served to instill guilt and remorse. Next, “the ghost of Christmas present” appears to Scrooge and shows him how everyone is enjoying Christmas and spreading the Christmas spirit around town. It also shows how his servant Bob, despite his meager earnings enjoys Christmas with his family. It also shows Scrooge his nephew Fred enjoying Christmas with his family. The two families only show downcast moods when discussing Scrooge. However, Fred maintains hope that his uncle Scrooge can change. After that, the most dreary “ghost of Christmas yet to come” appears to Scrooge. He shows Scrooge how Bob’s son death saddens everyone and leaves them feeling a sense of loss. He then shows him a rich dead man who nobody misses and some...
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...listening to Bob Marley’s reggae music and I have always been so inquisitive about the Jamaican people and their living style. My interest grew even more after Ms. Emma, a Jamaican became my neighbor and she was more then ready to tell me about her culture and like I do, she was trying to remember and smile when thinking back of what it used to be like back in country. And this very ‘smile’ was warm and touching. To start with, Ms. Emma was born and raised in St. Thomas, the Virgin Islands of Jamaica. She came to United States in 2004 with her family. Like I did, she underwent a lot of cultural shock and she says’ I am adapted well here’ that shows acculturation and cultural assimilation. She tells me that since she grew up within the Jamaican culture, and that the whole family and relatives still practice strict Jamaican culture, she feels comfortable following her own culture and living with it but she clearly expresses that she is willing to explore and learn more about any other culture. In Jamaica, Christianity is more prevalent and practiced by larger group of people that Christmas is typically celebrated in their country. They believe in god and they believe in destiny too. For Jamaican, Religion is a big part in their life, Back in her country they have one of the most number of churches in the world and more than 100 different Christian denominations too. They take part in community services, candlelight ceremonies, concerts, a prayer meetings and the singing of carols. Ms....
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