Scrooge And Belle in A Christmas Carol

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Dickens uses quite a lot of dialogue in ‘A Christmas Carol’, the quality which I noticed that it contributes to the story, is that it makes you believe as if you are there watching them interacting with each other. Also you get to see how the characters speak and act while they are in the presence of other characters in the story, so you get to know the character better and who they regard highly and respect and those who they don’t regard so high.

Dickens uses dialogue to create atmosphere especially when the spirit of Marley confronts Scrooge and they begin to talk to each other, this changes the whole mood at that moment, it makes the reader impatient to see what they will say to each other and what they will do especially in the later stages of the dialogue where the spirit of Marley confronts Scrooge, ‘”You must have been very slow about it, Jacob,” Scrooge observed, in a business-like manner, though with humility and deference.

“Slow! ” the Ghost repeated. “Seven years dead,” mused Scrooge.

“And travelling all the time? ” “The whole time,” said the Ghost. “No rest, no peace. Incessant torture of remorse. “‘ This dialogue shows how Dickens uses dialogue to create atmosphere but it also tells something about Scrooge, Scrooge seems to be observing Marley even though they had been great friends for a long time this tells us that either that he doesn’t trust Marley or that he doesn’t believe the thing that he is speaking is real, this is where the atmosphere is coming from.

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Dickens uses short and long sentences to create tension in his writing.

Usage of Literary Devices in A Chrismas Carol

Here is a short sentence, ‘The chain he drew was clasped around his middle. ‘ This sentence describes the ghost of Marley but very directly so not to lose the tension or suspense, another good short sentence is, ‘He looked out. ‘ This tells he looked out by it is expressed very sharply making you jump because of the quick action therefore maintaining the tension and suspense. Here is a long sentence, ‘To sit, staring at those fixed glazed eyes, in silence for a moment, would play, Scrooge felt, the very deuce with him.

‘ This long sentence constructs the suspense and atmosphere of what is going to happen next, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat and also variety in length creates interest. But even though it is a long sentence it has a lot of pauses which is produced by the repeated use of commas therefore maintaining the tension in the sentence. A way which you could look at it is the merging of many short sentences like ‘He looked out. ‘ Therefore creating one long sentence. Dickens introduces humour into ‘A Christmas Carol’ for example, ‘… a ghost so transparent might find him self to take a chair…

‘ some people may say it is wrong to introduce humour into a story but I don’t think Dickens meant for it to be a full on ghost story because introducing humour into the story, it lightens up the mood thus varying the atmosphere. Also you have to look at the audience which Dickens was aiming for, I don’t think he wrote the story for die hard ghost story readers but for children, Christmas story but most importantly to put the point across of the appalling plight of the children of the poor. In ‘A Christmas Carol’ there is many characters some major and others minor from Scrooge to Belle.

The first major character is obviously Ebenezer Scrooge who is a hard, cold miser who spends his days counting his profits and wishing the world would leave him alone. He doesn’t believe in charity, and he is certain that those who do are just lazy bums looking for a handout. Scrooge’s entire life is his business and he shuts out his nephew who is the only relative he has. But Scrooge is visited by his old business partner, Jacob Marley, who warns him that if he continues to live his life in such an unchristian way, he will spend all eternity trying to make up for it.

Three spirits also visit him who shows him that the errors of his ways turn everyone against him and therefore losing the respect of others making him a lonely old man. Because of what he sees and learns, Scrooge opens his heart to the people around him and learns charity and love and saves himself from the doom of which Marley warned him. Bob Cratchit another main character is an accountant who works for Scrooge, and he is a kind and loving family man. Scrooge generally mistreats Cratchit, but the accountant bears his employer no ill will because he believes that Scrooge’s life is lonely.

The greatest sorrow in Cratchit’s life is that his young son, Tiny Tim, is very ill. Because Bob’s salary is so meager, the family cannot afford treatment for Tim. When Scrooge sees their situation during one of the ghostly visitations, he realizes that he must be more generous to his employee and help save Tiny Tim. Jacob Marley was once Scrooge’s business partner, but he died seven years ago and now he returns as a ghost to warn Scrooge of the horrors that await him unless he changes his ways.

Marley appears to Scrooge on Christmas Eve to tell him of the cumbersome burden that he bears in death because he neglected his duty toward others in life. Marley must walk around and watch people and regret that he did not help anyone or touch anyone during his lifetime. His burden is incessant remorse for his own greed during life. He warns Scrooge that unless he becomes a more charitable person, he will also bear that weight. Marley tells Scrooge of the three ghosts who will visit him. They are Scrooge’s only chance for salvation. After the warning, Marley flies out the window and joins the other ghosts who drag their chains of duty.