A Christmas Carol Essays

A Christmas Carol Essays A Christmas Carol Essay A Christmas Carol Essay Essay Topic: A Christmas Carol Literature At the time when dickens was writing the Christmas tradition was not nearly as important as it is today. The Christmas tradition gained popularity during the reign of Queen Victoria in England. One reason for this was that the monarchy supported it: Prince Albert, Queen Victorias husband brought the German tradition of decorating the Christmas tree when he came to England. Life in Victorian Britain for the poor and un-privileged was very hard as children were uneducated; they had very little money and therefore were unable to afford to go to school. Young children were being employed in factories and mines as chimney sweeps. Children were expected to help towards the family budget, often working long hours in dangerous jobs and low wages. On the other hand life for the richer and fortunate people was more relaxing and also benefitted them in many ways. Parents could afford to send their children to school to get a good enough education; some were very fortunate and were able to be tutored at home. It was cold, bleak, biting weather The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole. He used external coldness to reflect Scrooges cold nature. We are then introduced to Scrooges nephew, Fred, in a conversation. Dickens creates a contrast between the characters of Scrooge and Fred as Scrooge is described bitterly and with coldness and darkness whereas Fred is described cheerfully and with warmth and light. He makes us like Fred and dislike Scrooge by the way they are described. A frosty rime was on him. This is in contrast with the warm hearted Fred that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome. This is similar to Romeo and Juliet where light and dark imagery and reveals the plays theme to reinforce the theme of the novel. As we hear the conversation between Scrooge and Fred we realise their different views about the goodness of Christmas. Scrooge is very negative about Christmas whereas Fred is positive about it. Throughout this section we are taken back to the theme of goodness. There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited. Fred is leading Scrooge to be like him in his goodness to people. Scrooge meets Marleys ghost and who says he must change his ways in order to help people through their journey of life, to do goodness, which is the message of the novel. In the second stave Scrooge is taken back into his past and this has an impact on Scrooges character. The spirit of the past takes Scrooge back to innocent childhood which is when we see the first sign of emotion from Scrooge, but fell upon the heart of Scrooge with a softening influence, and gave a freer passage to his tears. Scrooge muttered, with an unusual catching in his voice, that it was a pimple. In this stave the setting is in contrast to the first Stave as we begin in the coldness and grime of the negative urban city of London, then change to beautiful clear and bright positive rural setting. It was cold, bleak, biting; foggy withal. Some shaggy ponies now were seen trotting towards them with boys were in great spirits The spirit then takes him to Scrooges first employer, Fezziwig who was very kind to him and treated him well. We read about Scrooge at the Christmas party where Scrooge becomes emotional about the joy he had and realises there is more to life than money. Scrooge also feels regretful as he sees how an employer can make his employees jubilant and feels he has not done it for Bob Crachit. Fezziwig, bless his heart. There is further evidence that Scrooge is changing by his expression. His heart and soul were in the scene. He is already a very different character from Scrooge we met at his counting house. In Stave three as Scrooge lies upon his bed awaiting for something to happen and finally going to his door, a voice is heard.