Scrooge and the supporting cast, the themes of redemption and social responsibility, and the quotations that carry the most analytical weight.
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1.How is Scrooge described at the start?
As hard and sharp as flint, and solitary as an oyster, using cold and closed imagery.
2.Why is the oyster image effective?
An oyster is closed and hard, but contains a pearl. It hints that something valuable is hidden inside Scrooge.
3.What does Scrooge say about the poor in Stave 1?
He asks whether there are no prisons and no workhouses, and says the poor should die and decrease the surplus population.
4.Why is that line significant later?
The Ghost of Christmas Present repeats it back to him when discussing Tiny Tim, forcing him to confront what he said.
5.How does Scrooge change by the end?
He becomes generous, joyful and involved with others, described as being as good a man as the old city ever knew.
6.Who is Bob Cratchit and what does he represent?
Scrooges underpaid clerk, representing the working poor who remain warm and loving despite hardship.
7.Who is Tiny Tim and what is his function?
Bob Cratchits ill son, whose vulnerability creates sympathy and whose possible death gives Scrooge a reason to change.
8.What does Tiny Tims famous line contribute?
God bless us, every one closes the novella on a note of inclusive blessing, extending goodwill to everybody.
9.Who is Fred and why does he matter?
Scrooges nephew, whose persistent warmth and invitations show that Scrooge is offered kindness repeatedly before the ghosts arrive.
10.Who was Jacob Marley?
Scrooges former business partner, who returns as a ghost bound in chains to warn him.
11.What do Marleys chains symbolise?
The cash boxes, keys and ledgers he made in life through greed. The chain is a physical image of a wasted life.
12.What does Marley mean by saying mankind was my business?
That he should have cared for people rather than profit, and realised it only after death when it was too late.
13.Who is Fezziwig?
Scrooges former employer, generous and joyful, who shows that a businessman can also be kind.
14.Who is Belle?
Scrooges former fiancée, who released him from their engagement because he had come to love money more.
15.How is the Ghost of Christmas Past described?
As strange, both old and young at once, with a bright light from its head, suggesting memory and clarity.
16.How is the Ghost of Christmas Present described?
As a large, generous, joyful giant surrounded by food, representing abundance and generosity.
17.How is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come described?
As a silent shrouded phantom, resembling the figure of death, representing fear and the unknown.
18.What is the theme of redemption?
That anyone can change. Dickens insists even the worst person can be reformed, which is the central hopeful message.
19.What is the theme of social responsibility?
That the wealthy have a duty towards the poor, and that ignoring poverty harms society as a whole.
20.How does Dickens present poverty?
Through the Cratchits, who are poor but loving, and through Ignorance and Want, who are its shocking consequence.
21.What is the theme of isolation?
Scrooge cuts himself off from everyone, and the ghosts show that his loneliness is self inflicted and reversible.
22.How is Christmas itself presented?
As a time of generosity, family and goodwill, and as a moral test of how people treat each other.
23.How does Dickens use light and warmth?
Warmth and firelight are linked to kindness and family, while cold and darkness surround Scrooge until he changes.
24.Why does Dickens make Scrooges change gradual?
A sudden change would be unconvincing. Showing each ghost chipping away makes the transformation believable and earned.
25.What is the moral message of the novella?
That wealth means nothing without compassion, and that it is never too late to change how you treat others.
26.Why is A Christmas Carol still relevant?
The questions it raises about inequality, and about the responsibility of the rich towards the poor, have not gone away.
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