A CHRISTMAS CAROL (BY CHARLES DICKENS)
“By Close Analysis of Staves One and Five Show How Dickens Portrays
the Transformation of Scrooge and To What Effect”
In December 1843, Charles Dickens wrote and published “A Christmas
Carol.” He published this book when he needed money; he needed money
badly because he was in debt. He decided to link it to things that are
happening; that Christmas was not taken seriously, it was fading out
and ghost traditional Christmas tales. Dickens used the genre of ghost
stories, but Dickens did something unusual, he changed the fact that
ghost stories are meant to be frightening, in this book, the ghost
stories were scary.
In 1843 (ancient times), there were no security, pensions, national
health nor compulsory education. You were expected to work six days a
week and on Sunday, you go to church (only if you had a job). Those
who had no job couldn’t go to church, because they were probably in
prison or workhouse. There were no holidays, you had to work on Boxing
Day, and if you ended up in debt, you would be put in debt prison.
Dickens grew up in this prison with his dad, he started work at the
age of 12 (it was a terrible work).
Looking at the Book, it was about ghosts, and ghost stories were
always told during Christmas. Books were always in chapters, but
Dickens wrote his in staves; musical notes. Dickens starts to compare,
first, looking at the full title, “A Christmas Carol in prose,” to
have a carol in prose means a contradiction (to speak against). The
book written in staves, which is a music stave, is already
contradicting the title. In the preface, he uses another contradiction
(repetition); we will also be looking at jokes and humours.
Stave1: Marley’s Ghost
“Marley was dead; to begin with” this is a contradiction; we already
begin to make assumptions about the story. Stave1, beginning with a
negative statement; “Marley was dead..........” (A quick reference to
stave 5), and stave 5; a positive statement; “Yes!” with an
exclamation mark, showing that there is an excitement there, even in
the first paragraph. Dickens uses repetition in the first paragraph of
stave 1; clergyman and clerk, undertaker and chief mourner, and
Scrooge was also emphasised twice. He uses a simile; “Old Marley was
dead as a door nail”, he was being humorous; in the book he explains
why he used it, but we figured out that Dickens uses these to slow
down the “pace” and change the “atmosphere”, this was meant to be
funny (in1843), he used this to divert people’s attention from the
Dickens' Use of Language and Structure to Build Up a Picture of the Joy of Christmas Present
work for a long working hour and not get any break or time off at any
Harper Lee and Truman Capote, two of the greatest 20th century authors, were once prodigious best friends. And best friends share everything; their thoughts, their dreams, but most importantly, their ideas. So could it be possible that Capote, a prolific writer, could have played a role in writing Lee’s esteemed novel, To Kill a Mockingbird? Doubtful. Through comparisons of Lee’s only work to Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” it can be seen that despite similarities, these friends’ works differ too greatly in the way they set the tone, emphasize their themes, and utilize imagery for them to have worked together on her novel.
unhappy man whose only wish is to make the rest of the world as sad as
In Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Who Stole Christmas the main theme, of the conflicting opinions about Christmas, is understood when understanding the emotions of the grinch. At such a joyful and merry time, how is one soul not feeling the love without a solid emotional excuse? It is clear that at some point the grinch suffered through a memory that may be directly or indirectly related to Christmas. While the grinch is much different than all the whos in whoville, he must have felt lonely during a time when everyone else is feeling welcomed. This has resulted in the grinch not believing in the ‘joys’ of Christmas, as he never experienced them himself. The grinch, being isolated and far from everyone else, views Christmas as only being of gift exchanges
was no then they had to change for the better as no one wants to be
Charles Dickens wrote the novel A Christmas Carol because he believed that he can have an influence on the situation in England in the 19th century(Bio). He included the character’s greed and want that are a part of Scrooge during his visits with the Ghosts of Christmas.
Truman Capote’s story A Christmas Memory, is about Capote’s childhood memory of a particular holiday season and how he enjoyed that moment in time with a special friend. Capote is illustrated by the main character, Buddy. Buddy and his distant cousin have a bonding friendship and tell of their exploits during that Christmas. They pick out a very special Christmas tree, make each other presents, and make fruitcakes.
It is hard to believe that there is anyone on the planet that hasn't heard of the story "A Christmas Carol". Although it isn't hard to believe that people do not realize that there are differences between movies and novels. In this case, that fits right into that subject. Here are some of the differences between the movie and the novel.
in done by creating stages and builds up to the finale of the ghost of
In the timeless tale, A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens focuses upon the extreme transformation of a character named Ebenezer Scrooge. The fact that several moralistic themes can be applied throughout the novel confirms why it is a classic.
Charles dickens classic novella “A Christmas Carol” endorses the notion that “Generosity involves more than the giving of money, it’s also about the giving of one's goodwill, compassion, sympathy, empathy and kindness. By taking his seemingly irredeemable protagonist Ebenezer Scrooge on a supernatural journey, Dickens’ intends to convey to all of society the importance of generosity. He proclaims that generosity of the spirit defines Christmas, and goes a large way towards defining true humanity for him as well.
In Bleak House, by Charles Dickens, Mr. Vholes is Richard Carstone’s legal advisor. Introduced to Richard by Mr. Skimpole, Vholes encourages and assists Richard as he attempts to unravel the mysteries of the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case in Chancery. Vholes, however, may not have the best intentions. Through descriptions of his gloomy physical appearance, suspicious actions, and unfortunate connections to English law, Dickens paints a vivid image of Mr. Vholes—a man who cannot be trusted. Vholes, therefore, is made up of multiple layers; as each layer peels away, the reader understands a little bit more of this secretive man. Surprisingly, Mr. Vholes is seen as more and more evil as readers journey to the center of his being.
Of the extraordinary amount of literary devices available to authors, Charles Dickens uses quite a few in his novel A Tale of Two Cities, which is set during the French Revolution. One of his more distinctive devices is character foils. The five sets of foils are Carton and Darnay, Carton and Stryver, Darnay and the Marquis de Evremonde, Madame Defarge, and Mr. Lorry and Jerry Cruncher. Dickens uses foil characters to highlight the virtues of several major characters in order to show the theme of personal, loving relationships having the ability to prevail over heartless violence and self-consuming vengeance.
In many novels, the society created by the author is surrounded by wealth and corruption. Numerous amount of times these settings are produced based on the life in which the author lives. Charles Dickens is no different. In the midst of most of his novels, Dickens exposes the deception of Victorian England and the strict society that holds everything together. In Dickens' novel Our Mutual Friend, a satire is created where the basis of the novel is the mockery against money and morals. Throughout this novel, multiple symbols and depictions of the characters display the corruption of the mind that surrounds social classes in Victorian England.