Winter was coming in London and the shop window looked dull and drab in it’s out of season clothes. The shop window had an out of character sense about it, as Christmas was coming and the shop still had the dusty decorations of all hallows eve in it for sale. The windows looked like they hadn’t been cleaned for months. The door hadn’t swung open for weeks and so the interior had gradually faded into a state of disrepair and had lost even the pretence of a greatly visited and popular shop. In short, it was as dirty as a pigsty if not dirtier. It was now nearly Christmas and the festive season had wrought its unprecedented magic and even the aforementioned drab window and shop now looked as though it too was celebrating with it’s heart. It was now making merry and celebrating with the rest of the world, also it had garbed itself in a far more attractive and fashionable suit. The shop was now the popular and greatly visited shop it had strived to look like earlier. In the window was shelf upon shelf of the most soft, sweet, spongy and succulent cakes that you could imagine that the ...
“Mr. Utterson began to haunt the door in the by street of shops.” The ‘haunt’ is as if he’s like a ghost hoveri...
Dickens' Use of Language and Structure to Build Up a Picture of the Joy of Christmas Present
On a tiny snowflake floating through the air, exists the town of Who-ville, home of the Whos. The town is joyously preparing for the coming of Christmas. The opening scene is full of noise and excitement with the townspeople hustling and bustling about shopping for gifts. Cheerful Christmas music plays in the background while the countdown until Christmas Day is announced over the town’s loudspeaker. Bright colors combined with unusual hairstyles are seen on the people of Who-ville. The town itself is covered with a multitude of lights, decorated trees, and wreaths.
The sun had just set and all the street lights had begun to turn on to help see through the dark alleys. Just before we began to close the store something surprisin...
Christmas has consumed itself. At its conception, it was a fine idea, and I imagine that at one point its execution worked very much as it was intended to. These days, however, its meaning has been perverted; its true purpose ignored and replaced with a purpose imagined by those who merely go through the motions, without actually knowing why they do so.
It’s December of 1801 and the whole town is decorating, dancing, singing, and laughing as they get ready for a near holiday: Christmas. All but one pessimistic, obdurate cripple of a man. His name is Ebenezer Scrooge, an undermined old male swathed in dark clothing. He is typically found strolling the streets on Victorian London with poor posture, eyes locked on the cracked sidewalk beneath the soles of his shoes. Slumping along, carolers cease to sing near him and nobody speaks when in his presence. Scrooge is a prejudging business man who hurries to be left alone and disregards cheer. He is obdurate and blind to the consequences of his actions. Sudden wealth brings a snobbiness when his business partner dies, and as a result, his one true love divorces him, sending him into a state of hatred and regret. With this evidence to back it up, Scrooge can be perceived as a negative, crippling man with little tolerance to change. However, things are bound to change with the visitation of the wraiths: the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, an inevitable change that be...
...astic change in his life, the realisation that one single person’s generosity can bring about untold jubilance. These acts of generosity demonstrate that Scrooge has had a drastic change in his life, the realisation that one single person’s generosity can bring about untold jubilance.
According to William Muir Auld’s book Christmas Traditions, the Christmas tree found its way into the hearts and homes of Christian people with their thoughts and sentiment. Auld writes, “On the night in which Christ was born, all the trees in the forest, despite snow and ice, bloomed and bore fruit” (Auld 138). This story was first told by a geographer of the tenth century named Georg Jacob. This story was as highly believed as the birth of Christ. Christmas trees can be dated back through writing, specifically songs and are associated with the Church, specifically to post-Reformation times. The trees, which decorate homes worldwide, are linked to a spiritual tradition practiced by a variety of religious groups. (The Fir Tree, page 241 in
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a classic novella that many throughout the world enjoy. It is widely known throughout the world, even the youngest of children know of its basic elements and its lasting message. Although the novella seems to coincide with current views of Christmas, it was not always the same. During Dickens’ early life, Christmas was more about partying and not about giving or helping others, especially the poor. At the time, many of the poor and working class, including children, were forced to work an obscene amount of hours with very little breaks and almost no holidays. A Christmas Carol made the world acknowledge the social injustices that were rampant during the 1800s and tried to be an advocate of change for
...t, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within [him]." With this still resonating in his mind, he jumps out of bed and immediately begins setting things right. He buys a turkey bigger than Bob Cratchit's son and sends it to him, and instead of being rude to the Poulterer, he pays for a cab to get them to Cratchit's home. He then goes out with joy in his heart and bumps into a man who asked him to donate money to the poor the day before. As opposed to being unkind and cruel, the new and improved Scrooge donates a large sum of money to the cause happily. This kind, happy, and generous man is a complete change from the stingy and unkind Scrooge from Christmas Eve. If someone this awful can change, anyone and everyone can do the same. They just need a little push in the right direction.
The well known holiday of Christmas today is far from what it was in it’s former being. Many aspects led to the change in Christmas, however Charles Dickens, a Victorian era author was arguably the most influential in the change. There was a time when christmas was not much more important than your average holiday. Without the work of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Regency Christmas would not have changed to be the way it is today. As we examine the Regency Christmas, the Christmas events in A Christmas Carol, new Christmas ideas, and today’s new christmas we will form the true Christmas.
The holiday season are often thought of as happy and joyous moments, which are intended to spend with close family and friends. People all over the world spend this time to think about all the things that are most important to a person’s life. Movies help portray the holiday season as a time to spend with loved ones, and a time where the greatest blessings are the things that are near and dear to one’s heart. Literature helps to provide a different perspective as to how one can look at a situation during the holidays. Charles Dickens’ novel A Christmas Carol and Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South are both examples as to how a person can gain another perspective from the main objective of the story. Both Dickens and Gaskell used certain situations
...Christmas.” Readings on Charles Dickens. Ed. Bruno Leone, et al. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998. 82-85. Print. Literary Companion Series.
Christmas spirit can be defined in many different ways and mean many different things. For some people it can be giving to other or it can just spending time together with the people you love. Personally, I don’t really give for Christmas because I always felt like giving was only providing material happiness. Generally for Christmas I just spend time with the family and have fun, laugh and catchup on all the things that has happened over the year. Ebenezer Scrooge on the other hand, lack all of these traits therefore he is regarded as having no Christmas spirit. Scrooge said Christmas was a humbug, refusing to spend time with his family, not giving to anyone and keeping to himself on Christmas. To Scrooge, Christmas was just a waste of time as he makes his worker Bob Cratchit work for grueling hours at low pay, refuses his nephew Fred's Christmas dinner invitation, and turns away two charitable workers seeking donations for the poor.
I walked into Starz hesitantly, looking for a corner seat. Air coming through the open door chilled the shop's interior, which was teeming with customers just fifteen minutes after the shop had opened. The stares from those already seated in the shop's green plastic chairs along the right wall, as well as from those getting haircuts frightened me a bit. It looked as if I didn’t belong. Th...