This essay explores the theme of Family, with context and critical analysis of quotes linked to the theme throughout the novella. This essay was marked as a Grade 9 and written for the Eduqas exam board, but can be adapted for any!
Introduction: In the novella A Christmas carol, Dickens presents ...
You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this question.
You should use the extract below and your knowledge of the whole novel to answer this
question.
Write about family and how it is presented in A Christmas Carol. In your response you should:
refer to the extract and the novella as a whole
show your understanding of characters and events in the novella
refer to the contexts of the novella. [40]
In the novella A Christmas carol, Dickens presents the importance of loving
family to the character and happiness of a person. In the Victorian Era, Queen
Victoria's family was presented as idealistic to her subjects; large and loving. He
presents Scrooge's isolatory, miserly life as originating from his lonely childhood,
In Stave One, Dickens effectively presents Scrooge as lonely and isolated with no
family around him. When he is visited by his nephew Fred, he please Scrooge to
join them for Christmas dinner stating: 'Don't be angry uncle. Come! Dine with us
tomorrow.' Dickens illustrates how Fred's sense of unity and family does not
wane despite his uncle's harsh words. The abstract noun: 'angry' highlights
Fred's goodwill towards his uncle and his attempt to resolve any dispute between
them. The exclamative: 'Come!' further connotes his happy and jovial character
and However Scrooge declines commenting love is the: ' one thing in the world
more ridiculous than a merry Christmas.' This demonstrates how Scrooge has
given up entirely on the concept of love and family, too used to his solitary and
money-filled life. The noun ‘ridiculous’ conveys how Scrooge sees love as
unnecessary, revealing how he feels wealth brings more value to his life than
family. Here, Dickens implies the way that family is a key and central part of life
and a person’s character. This makes the reader feel pity for Scrooge because he
cannot see the way his life has been ruined and made lonely because of his
greed for money.
Further on in the novella, Dickens successfully presents Scrooge's lack of family
in childhood as the cause for his heartless character. In his past he is presented
as a ‘solitary child...reading by a feeble fire.’ The adjective ‘solitary’ reveals
Scrooge's lack of family and it's warmth as a child, a reflection of Scrooge 's
preference now. This emphasises the impact that a childhood with no family can
have as we see with Scrooge and the covetous, unfeeling man he has become. In
the Victorian Era,, many families would send their children to boarding schools,
and children would be left alone - a classic example of Scrooge’s childhood.
Dickens adds to this sympathetic scene by using the verb ‘reading’ implying that
Scrooge wants to fill the absence of his family by using the characters in the
books. Upon seeing himself like this, Scrooge comments: “Poor boy!” and cried
again.’ The adjective ‘poor’ could perhaps refer to despite the fact Scrooge
comes from a wealthy family, he is poor in terms of love and family, and the
happiness it brings. Dickens himself was left alone at the age of 12 when his
father was sent to debtors prison and he was forced to work in a blacking
factory.
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