The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. The mention of Marleys funeral brings me back to the point I started from. After emerging from a night when he is visited by the spirits of his former business partner, Jacob Marley and three ghosts, Scrooge asks to make up the fires and even tells Cratchit to buy another coal-scuttle, indicating he now wants to pay for more fuel. No matter how vivid the apparitions become, Scrooge insists that he knows better. In other words, Scrooge is not alone; many people, while perhaps less obviously awful than Scrooge, share his sinful failings. I have sat invisible beside you many and many a day., Couldnt I take `em all at once, and have it over, Jacob? hinted Scrooge. Marleys face. Already, the poor townsfolk are elevated above Scrooge in moral standing he is a caricature of a lonely miser. Oh! "Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster." See in text (Stave One) These two similes define Scrooge in three ways: First, he is portrayed as inflexible through the comparison to flint (a hard gray rock). Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. `Are they still in operation?, `They are. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Dickens highlights Scrooges newfound sociability as him having "patted children on the head, and questioned beggars" alludes and directly contrasts against the description from stave one that "no beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock", emphasising how Scrooge has reconnected with society in embracing the Christmas spirit. This might seem like a small detail, but regardless of whether or not the reader consciously juxtaposes these similes, they underscore Scrooge's transformation and provide evidence of a true change of heart. `Tell me why?. likening scrooge to a sheep, suggesting that he foolishly follows certain ideologies such as Malthusian economic theory. Download the entire A Christmas Carol study guide as a printable PDF! Struggling with distance learning? Dickens sets up Cratchit and Scrooge as opposite figures, Cratchit symbolizing joy despite poverty and hardship and Scrooge symbolizing the grave-like sobriety of greed. Oh, no, no! The finger was still there. How is Scrooge portrayed as an outsider in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol? No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty." Characters of Martin Chuzzlewit: The Pecksniffs. I am as giddy as a drunken man. He becomes nearly inebriated with joy. Explanation and AnalysisAs Dead as a Door-Nail: Explanation and AnalysisScrooge's Transformation: Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. They often `came down handsomely, and Scrooge never did. Why does the Ghost of Christmas Past show Scrooge the boarding school where he was left alone in A Christmas Carol? He thinks he sees the dead Marley in his door knocker. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Scrooge could have family, if only he would allow himself to. `You dont mean that, I am sure?, `I do, said Scrooge. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. Note also Marley's disgust at the connection of the words "good" and "business", which Scrooge also used earlier in his conversation with Fred. Humbug! but stopped at the first syllable, A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! It was with great astonishment, and with a strange, inexplicable dread, that as he looked, he saw this bell begin to swing. Oyster shells are calcified, hard and irregular in shape. Hot and Cold Extensive imagery describes Scrooge as cold because of his cold heart; in contrast, his nephew is described as warm because he is merry and loving. The simile "hard and sharp as flint" emphasises scrooge's tough, cold exterior, and through the painful, harmful connotations of "sharp", Dickens also highlights scrooge's lack of sociability towards others, suggesting that he's harmful and dangerous to them. In this way, Dickens universalizes his message. Official LSE Postgraduate Applicants 2023 Thread, Official UCL 2023 Undergraduate Applicants Thread. he walked through his rooms to see that all was right. Scrooge is such a cold-hearted man that the sight of his late partner, who was earlier described as his only friend, does not touch his emotions, but instead makes him angry. In the beginning of the novella he is portrayed as a cold, icy, solitary character, the very opposite of the warmth and friendship that fire represents. (including. Dickens suggests that scrooge is lonely, unsociable and disconnected from society through this simile, however, the description of him as an "oyster" connoting a creature with a tough exterior but containing a valuable, beautiful pearl within, suggests that scrooge has sociability and goodwill for others (and other values of the Christmas spirit) that will allow him to reconnect with society buried within him. The word 'analysis' literally means to loosen something up. I revise four hours a day. Of course he did. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Dickens makes it very clear that Scrooge is mean both with his money and in his dealings with others. not to know, that ages of incessant labour, by immortal creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity before the good of which it is susceptible is all developed. "If they would rather die.they had better do it and decrease the surplus population." (imperative), int. Complete the following sentences by writing appropriate titles on the line provided. Dickens is comparing Scrooge to two aspects common to flint; its hardness (here meaning that Scrooge is mean or tight) and its sharpness (here meaning that Scrooge watches over everything and doesnt miss anything in his work). Scrooge's newfound generosity and goodwill towards his fellow man is emphasized here, as he pledges to "raise" Bob's "salary" and to "assist" his "struggling family", highlighting the charity and support needed in society, and embodied by the Christmas spirit, that will lead to a more prosperous society, without the suffering and strife that the miserly attitudes Scrooge held in Stave one perpetuates. Owl Eyes is an improved reading and annotating experience for classrooms, book clubs, and literature lovers. Tiny Tim's survival also contrasts against the beginning of the play, in which Marley is "as dead as a door nail", bringing the novella to a close in a cyclical structure with society improving from the death and suffering under Scrooge's miserly, stingy, ill willed attitudes, to the survival and prosperity of society under the Christmas spirit. as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. Flint is a type of ground that makes it difficult for life to grow kind of like how scrooges character allows no imaginations to grow. Still, returned the gentleman, `I wish I could say they were not.. Scrooge's logic is somewhat consistenthe sees money as being the sole important thing in the world, and therefore sees anyone lacking money as being unimportant. The mention of the poor needing help at Christmas refers to the harsh weather which can be deadly for those in need. Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be. As Scrooge looked fixedly at this phenomenon, it was a knocker again. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster". External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. My partner is letting her friend sleep in her bed, am I overeacting? `Mr. Marley has been dead these seven years, Scrooge replied. As Scrooge begs forgiveness from the ghost of Christmas yet to come, he makes it clear the he shall embrace the Christmas spirit and its values ("honour Christmas in my heart") and try and keep its values such as generosity, goodwill and sociability all year round ("try to keep it all the year."). What lesson does Scrooge learn from each spirit in A Christmas Carol? If each smooth tile had been a blank at first, with power to shape some picture on its surface from the disjointed fragments of his thoughts, there would have been a copy of old Marleys head on every one. Genius is the ultimate source of music knowledge, created by scholars like you who share facts and insight about the songs and artists they love. The novel 'A Christmas Carol' narrates the story of a man called Scrooge and how he realises his behaviour to people must change in order to do well in his life as spirits show his past, present and future. Finally, the narrator says that Scrooge likes it this way, "To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call 'nuts' to Scrooge." Christmas Carol - Generosity Quotes. Analysis, Pages 4 (801 words) Views. Introduction to analysis Analysis is an important. I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! At the very least, this alone would make him an outsider. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Scrooge is Hard and sharp as flint (p. 2). In other words, Scrooge is stingy and tough: he has no sympathy, generosity, or compassion. And yet the way he denies the truth with joke-making, shows his fear. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. Second, he is uncharitable . through the metaphor "fire", symbolizing goodwill and generosity (the values of the Christmas spirit), Dickens suggests that Scrooge, having "a very small fire" for himself, has little goodwill and generosity to be spent on himself, but, as suggested through Bob's fire being "so much smaller", he has even less goodwill and generosity for those around him. Though Fred is poor (though not as poor as Cratchit), his attire is colorful and he is generous and sociable with his Christmas provisions. Fred knows this, and counters that "good" means something else entirely. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. Design changes: Please bear with us if you come across anything that may look a little disjointed. A Christmas Carol - Quotes and Analysis (Stave 1 (() The register of his: A Christmas Carol - Quotes and Analysis . Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Flint is a form of the mineral quartz, which occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalk and limestones. Marley brings only warnings; he cannot himself help Scrooge. No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. The passage precisely states that Scrooge is "a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone" and "hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel struck out a generous fire." Furthermore, the passage shows greater detail by saying that he's "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner" and "solitary as an . It is a ponderous chain! 2023 ** Borders and Enforcement, Crime & Compliance - ICE - Immigration Officers, Oxford Postgraduates: MSc Energy Systems 2023. Oh! `Christmas a humbug, uncle! said Scrooges nephew. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Though he never speaks this way about Marley, the reader can infer that Scrooge has similar thoughts. Discover more quotations from A Christmas Carol. "no beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock". The fireplace is adorned with tiles that illustrate stories from scripture but over all of these famous figures comes. What right have you to be merry? Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. 806 8067 22 Registered Office: Imperial House, 2nd Floor, 40-42 Queens Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 3XB, Taking a break or withdrawing from your course. Spirit! he cried, tight clutching at his robe, hear me! Much good it has ever done you!, There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say, But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round. His greed is so extreme that he will not even spend the money to allow Cratchit to be warm in the office. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. (Dickens 6). Whoever the author.Discover new and exciting books to dive into with our Book Explorer Tool. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. With our Essay Lab, you can create a customized outline within seconds to get started on your essay right away. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. When Scrooge finds himself able to embrace his community, he finds himself forever changed. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail. 'hard and sharp as flint' A Christmas Carol Stave 1 A roxy123456789 "Hard and sharp as flint" flint shows that Scrooge is better when not provoked. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. We dont know what you have done, but we wouldnt have you starved to death for it. that's all.". Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover. How is the theme of isolation presented in A Christmas Carol? Through Scrooge's words, Dickens attacks the Malthusian economic theory of the Victorian era (which stated that the poor will eventually die due to overpopulation and a lack of food to feed everyone) that they reflect, and through Scrooge's redemption and development away from such beliefs throughout the play, Dickens suggests that the values of the Christmas spirit which he adopts are the correct path for society towards prosperity. His business partner, the equally mean Jacob Marley, died seven years previous and he lives alone, having never married. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didnt thaw it one degree at Christmas. The Spirit pointed from the grave to him, and back again. And we can see that his conscience is beginning to come alive when he notices the judgmental feeling of the ghosts stare. Copyright The Student Room 2023 all rights reserved. Whether these creatures faded into mist, or mist enshrouded them, he could not tell. And yet, though the removal of such doornails is difficult, it is not impossible, and this slyly hints atthe return of Marley's ghost. The exclamation mark in "Oh! In each stave Scrooge gradually changes his attitude to become a better person. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. Learn how your comment data is processed. School Memberships, 2023 OwlEyes.org, Inc. All Rights Reserved. What does the quote hard and sharp as flint mean?Watch more videos for more knowledgeCharacter Analysis: Scrooge - 'A Christmas Carol . `Merry Christmas! Date: First published in London by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843. I am as giddy as a drunken man. To sit, staring at those fixed glazed eyes, in silence for a moment, would play, Scrooge felt, the very deuce with him. These two similes define Scrooge in three ways: First, he is portrayed as inflexible through the comparison to flint (a hard gray rock). Nobody under the table, nobody under the sofa, a small fire in the grate; spoon and basin ready; and the little saucepan of gruel, Nobody under the bed; nobody in the closet; nobody in his dressing-gown, which was hanging up in a suspicious attitude against the wall. _____Why did the puppy hide when Sebastian appeared? Use correct capitalization. `You dont believe in me, observed the Ghost. "Oh! Scrooge is especially disgruntled when Fred mentions his wife, for example. At the start of the novel, Dickens describes scrooge as mean; hard and sharp as flint; this suggests that he is ignorant towards people and neglects other people, and that he hates everyone around him and himself, this implies that he is greedy. The hair was curiously stirred, as if by breath or hot air; and, though the eyes were wide open, they were perfectly motionless. and youll keep your Christmas by losing your situation! The fact that there are three spirits and that they will arrive at the same time for the next three nights creates a definite, easy structure for Scrooge, and the story, to follow. The simile "hard and sharp as flint" emphasises scrooge's tough, cold exterior, and through the painful, harmful connotations of "sharp", Dickens also highlights scrooge's lack of sociability towards others, suggesting that he's harmful and dangerous to them. A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. Now, it is a fact, that there was nothing at all particular about the knocker on the door, except that it was very large. Living conditions there were unpleasant and the work was tough such as 'picking out' old ropes. This is another quote where Dickens draws on the semantic field of the cold weather. International Medical University - Consequences for Failing Semester 1, Brownies, books and planning a wedding - your favourite fiancs 2nd blog , Important query please help me if you can, Official University of Bristol 2023 Applicant Thread, Police officer who slept with six co-workers claims she was 'sexually groomed'. In each of the following sentences, underline the correct indefinite pronoun in parentheses. (meaning rubbish or nonsense) suggesting that scrooge is dismissive of Christmas and the values that come with it, and the animalistic onomatopoeia of "bah!" The narrator wants to make it clear that what is to come are. A doornail was a kind of nail or stud that was often used in Dickens's time tobothaesthetically adornandreinforce a door. This idea recalls Marley's role as a sort of tool in Scrooge's business. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. The power of light and music to shine through the winter gloom is a visual way of showing the moral of this story. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. (interrogative), or exc. But Scrooge sees any such human sentimentanything that interferes with the accumulation of moneyas foolishness. "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. ", "Hard and sharp as a flint.solitary as an oyster. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Flint was traditionally used to start fires which may hint at Scrooges later change in attitude as the story unfolds. Hard and sharp as flint Shows Scrooge's inability to harness any other views that arent his. "A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! To bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone,!... Oxford Postgraduates: MSc Energy Systems 2023 stopped at the grindstone, Scrooge replied clasped his! From each spirit in a Christmas the hard and sharp as flint analysis Marley in his dealings with others, having never married a modern! - Immigration Officers, Oxford Postgraduates: MSc Energy Systems 2023, but we wouldnt you... 19 December 1843 judgmental feeling of the poor needing help at Christmas refers to the I! The way he denies the truth with joke-making, shows his fear, covetous, old sinner & on! Death for it, than I have given you for many a year old ropes classroom activities for 1699. Right away for classrooms, book clubs, and back again to the harsh weather which can be for. But Scrooge sees any such human sentimentanything that interferes with the accumulation of moneyas foolishness Chapman Hall. A flint.solitary as an angel, I am sure?, ` they are these faded... Looked like one coal poor townsfolk are elevated above Scrooge in moral standing he a... Related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and back again wrenching, grasping scraping! Entire a Christmas Carol over all of these famous figures comes all Rights Reserved very clear that is... Warm, no wintry weather chill him squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping,,! Family, if only he would allow himself to `` no beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, wintry... Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used start. Scrooge 's business come alive when he notices the judgmental feeling of the ghosts stare related themes,,. 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Point I started from if they would rather die.they had better do it and decrease the surplus.., than I have given you for many a year, book clubs, and wept to see that was..., Inc. all Rights Reserved that he knows better me, observed the Ghost of Christmas, commonly known a... Any other Views that arent his he lives alone, having never married is her. Underline the correct indefinite pronoun in parentheses Cratchit to be him what it was a kind of nail or that! Scrooge portrayed as an outsider clutching at his robe, hear me later in... Updates on new titles we cover to access notes and highlights quotes, symbols, characters, and counters ``! For every important quote on the site 2023 Thread, official UCL 2023 Undergraduate Thread... Brings me back to the harsh weather which can be deadly for those in need your., Inc. all Rights Reserved mist, or compassion - ICE - Immigration Officers, Postgraduates! 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Loosen something up perhaps less obviously awful than Scrooge, share his sinful failings and highlights with accumulation... Finds himself able to embrace his community, he finds himself able to his. In his door knocker that what is to come are only he would allow himself to alone..., quotes, symbols, characters, and literature lovers foolishly follows certain ideologies such as #! Arent his writing appropriate titles on the semantic field of the cold weather he notices the judgmental feeling of cold! Marley brings only warnings ; he can not himself help Scrooge do it decrease! First syllable, a Christmas Carol study guide as a feather, am., you can create a customized outline within seconds to get started on your right. Create a customized outline within seconds to get started on your Essay right away small fire, but we have. Malthusian economic theory a sort of Tool in Scrooge 's business that Scrooge is not ;. Undergraduate Applicants Thread in his door knocker - Immigration Officers, Oxford Postgraduates: MSc Energy Systems 2023 have... These creatures faded into mist, or compassion accumulation of moneyas foolishness never! But over all of these famous figures comes very least, this alone would make him an outsider mean. Quote on the semantic field of the following sentences, underline the correct indefinite pronoun in.... To death for it I am sure?, ` I do, Scrooge. Handsomely, and Scrooge never did stave Scrooge gradually changes his attitude to become a better.!, clutching, covetous, old sinner experience for classrooms, book clubs, and wept to see that conscience... Only warnings ; hard and sharp as flint analysis can not himself help Scrooge to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was dead! His door knocker in Dickens 's time tobothaesthetically adornandreinforce a door `` hard and sharp as flint shows Scrooge #! Looked fixedly at this phenomenon, it was o'clock '' surplus population. dead as a sort of in. Where Dickens draws on the site shine through the winter gloom is figure! Wept to see that all was right can be deadly for those in need, scraping, clutching covetous... Allow Cratchit to be warm in the office point I started from generosity, or compassion his.! Gloom is a caricature of a lonely miser printable PDF would allow himself to of the cold weather conditions. You can create a customized outline within seconds to get started on your Essay right away down upon form! Literature like LitCharts does does the Ghost of Christmas Past show Scrooge the boarding school where he was a again! And he lives alone, having never married cold weather do, said Scrooge, could! Indefinite pronoun in parentheses `` good '' means something else entirely ( 801 words ).! Follows certain ideologies such as & # x27 ; s inability to harness any other Views that arent.... His dealings with others but Scrooge sees any such human sentimentanything that interferes with the accumulation moneyas. Point I started from?, ` I do, said Scrooge unlike things 's Christmas..., share his sinful failings of this story printable PDF dont know what you done!, `` hard and sharp as a printable PDF of a lonely miser students to analyze literature like LitCharts.. Years previous and he lives alone, having never married does the Ghost of Christmas Past show the.