This Essay focuses on the role of the ghosts in a christmas carol and each of their effects of character and symbolisms. This essay was marked as a grade 9 and written for the eduqas exam baord but can be adapted for any!
Introduction:
A Christmas Carol was written by Charles Dickens in the 19th ...
• You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this question.
• You should use the extract below and your knowledge of the whole text to answer this question.
• Write about the role of the Ghosts throughout the novel
• In your response you should:
• refer to the extract and the novel as a whole
• show your understanding of characters and events in the novel
• refer to the contexts of the novel (40 marks)
A Christmas Carol was written by Charles Dickens in the 19 th Century in the
Victorian Era, a period of deep and sustained religious revival. Dickens
introduces four Ghosts in his story, the roles of which are to transform the
unempathetic, miserly character of Scrooge. The Ghosts were often thought to
be the disrobing spirits of the dead trapped in purgatory, therefore used ton
creates a karmic tone to the novella.
Dickens presents the role of the first Ghosts, Jacob Marley to catalyse
Scrooge’s transformation, as his old busines partner. At the beginning of Stave
One Scrooge and Marley are described a ‘kindred spirits’. The adjective ‘kindred’
implies that Scrooge and Marley are very much alike, paired with the noun
‘spirits’ alluding to the fact Scrooge will end up exactly like Marley if he doesn’t
change; evoking fear in Scrooge to his own afterlife. However, when Dickens
presents Marley as a Ghost, he is desperately penitent for his sins, said to wear:
‘a chain of key, padlocks, ledgers, deeds and heavy purses wrought in steel.’ The
use of the asyndetic list emphasises Marley’s never-ending stream of sins, the
lexical field of money and business also demonstrating his greed. This chain is
symbolic of Marley wrong-doings, using the supernatural to evoke fear in his
audience, mainly aimed at the upper-class citizens who believed they were
immune to everything. The adjective: ‘heavy’ illustrates the weight of his sins
and how they drag him down – perhaps to hell. Dickens presents the role of
Marley to inspire Scrooge and his readers to avoid the same fate as him.
Dickens uses Marley as an exemplar to Scrooge, his role to emphasise the
consequences of living a money-conscious and isolated life as Scrooge is doing.
When Scrooge asks why Marley is fettered, Marley’s explains how he ‘made it
link by link, yard by yard; I girded it on my own free will and of my own free will I
wore it.’ The repetition used by Dickens in the nouns ‘link’ and ‘yard’
demonstrate how long his chain is and its accumulation of it over time,
originating from his sins. The repetition of the noun phrase ‘my own free will’
highlights that Marley know it is only himself to blame for the eternal punishment
he must suffer through now, his intense regret used to stir emotion in Scrooge
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