GCSE English - A Christmas Carol Quotation Analysis

Alternative transcript:

of no use to him. He don't do any good with it." Here, we are being shown how Scrooge is viewed from the perspective of others in his society, as well as this the quote also presents itself as a way to show what others think of wealth. This quote conveys Scrooge's capitalist mindset that wealth is often viewed for one's own benefit, not to aid others, this shows how the other characters see his great wealth as pointless - he has no use for it other than to let it grow as he doesn't even spend money on himself as it was previously stated that "darkness was cheap". "The boy is ignorance, the girl is want" In this quote, "the boy" can be seen as representing society's views, especially the upper class, on the poor and needy who are barely surviving as represented by the grotesque description of the children. The upper class are especially ignorant to the poor's wants as well as their experiences in life. Moreover, in this quote "want", embodied as a young girl, is representative of the lower class peoples' everyday basic needs such as food, shelter and warmth that are not met due to the "ignorance" of those above in the social hierarchy. As well as this, Dickens uses the imagery of young, feeble children to portray the ghosts' attempt to persuade scrooge to change. The children are used because in society, they are seen as the most pure and innocent forms of being, which is why it would be quite shocking to the reader as well as scrooge that they are used to personify society's views as two ugly, hellish 'creatures'. "Hard and sharp as flint" This quote objectifies Scrooge in a way that describes him as a "hard", "sharp" object, in this case flint. The fact that Scrooge is objectified in this way provides evidence for the fact that his real personality is in a way 'locked' behind walls of something that is hard and impenetrable therefore, showing his extreme individualism where he believes that life is only about himself, and not others, explaining his reluctance to help the poor when the "portly gentlemen" ask him to provide donations. As well as this the adjective sharp perhaps shows how anyone who attempts to bring out his real personality from behind the 'walls' will be cut or hurt by his sharp, hostile attitude that is his outside personality