The notes have been used by many and will allow you to achieve A/A* in your English GCSE. They are made by a perfectionist (me), look pretty and are colour-coordinated. All you need to do is print them out, and add to the boxes if you have additional analysis notes. These notes will change your lif...
→ Powerful verb ‘fear’: implies that not only does Scrooge fear poverty and failing in life but he fears love.
Scrooge’s fear of poverty leads him to his greed and selfishness.
→ Scrooge is evidently not as superior as he makes himself out to be and it is evident like any ordinary human, e
too fears a lot.
→ Scrooge loved his job more than he loved his Fiancée Belle
→ Noun ‘world’: Scrooge doesn’t ‘fear’ anything small, he fears the entire ‘world;’ in a way he fears everything.
→ There’s a distinct contrast between Dickens’ character Scrooge being wealthy yet melancholy and Fred and
Bob Cratchit that seem content in spite of their poverty generalise Scrooge’s ways with the wealthy people of the
Victorian Era.
→ Belle therefore is an important character in terms of tracing the moral degradation of Scrooge, and identifying
what led him to become the money-obsessed, avaricious character that is presented to the reader at the beginning
of the story. She represents a key moment of Scrooge's history and also details how Scrooge began his lonely
journey towards the present through his increasing obsession with money. However, at the same time, her
importance lies in the way that she is testament to a different Scrooge, who used to be characterized by happiness,
generosity, and a giving spirit. This also establishes that a moral regeneration is possible and gives the reader hope
that the Scrooge of the past may return and impact the Scrooge of the present.
→ Dickens was a realist so the novel is all the more meaningful; Dickens also considered himself as an outsider
similar to Scrooge where from young age Dickens too was isolated from not only society but his own family;
Dickens’ father, mother and seven of their children were moved into prison leaving Charles Dickens living outside
the prison and working as a child labourer.
→ Like Dickens, the surly character Scrooge had no perfect father figure to look up to, isolating him from the
world.
→ Belle’s importance lies in representing how Scrooge has changed since his youth, and how he exchanged hope
of happiness and companionship for his all-encompassing greed and Dickens may have hoped to have mirrored
this onto the Victorian society of the time.
, REDEMPTION
“Quite a baby…I’d rather be a baby. Hello! Whoop! Hallo here!”
→ Adverb ‘quite’: Scrooge hasn’t completely transformed however he is quickly becoming an improved
character; Scrooge has almost been reborn into a new life where at this point he has turned a new leaf.
→ Noun ‘baby’: manifests how Scrooge is slowly yet surly being reformed; he’s essentially having a fresh start
at life hence Dickens’ references to a ‘baby’
→ The exclamatories highlights Scrooge’s happiness and foreshadows a pleasant future for him where his
transformation from a miserly, selfish character to a more charitable, happy one has evidently had a positive
impact on his life.
→ Scrooge has woken up and is a new person. He feels the spirit of Christmas pulsing through his body. He feels
"like a baby" born again. He is excited to treat people kindly and share his wealth.
→ This links to Dickens’ status as a realist where Scrooge’s character has redeemed himself and as a result seems
to feel a lot younger
→ Dickens is perhaps implying that rich people of the time too should change their ways in order to have a
positive impact on their life.
“I will live in the past, the present and the future.”
→ After being shown his tombstone by the Ghost of Christmas Future, Scrooge pleas: “ ”
Scrooge decides to make amends for his behavior and become a better man. For this to happen, he must take
responsibility for his actions in the past, present, and future.
→ List of three suggests that Scrooge’s character took in all that the ghosts taught as well as showed him
throughout the duration of the novella.
→ The verb ‘will’ implies that Scrooge ‘will’ certainly become a changed and improved character and it almost
reassures the reader that Ebenezer Scrooge will not return back to his old ways.
→ Dickens is perhaps highlighting the fact that as humans, you must learn from your mistakes, making sure to
never make the same mistakes again. He may also be hinting at the fact that along with actions are consequences;
for this reason you must think before you act and speak.
→ Crucial to this story is the idea that individual actions can transform the future, for good or ill. Supernatural
events—the multiple appearances of ghosts—break into Scrooge's life, causing him to change his behaviour.
The ghosts can be seen as metaphors for memory, empathy and the imagination. As Scrooge remembers the better
self of his past and the people who touched him emotionally through the ghost of Christmas Past, his heart softens,
opening him to emotions
→ Scrooge decides to make amends for his behaviour and become a better man. For this to happen, he must take
responsibility for his actions in the past, present, and future; this highlights to the readers in particular the upper
class, that in order to move forwards and make amends to their lives, they must learn to accept their behaviour
from the past.
→ Scrooge’s problem, prior to his conversion, was that he was shut out from his past and his future; because of
this, he also was not truly living in the present
→ Indeed, living in the past, present, and the future is a way of seeing the world and relating to others, and a way
of seeing ourselves, and our relationship with God.
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