Character Traits of Bob in A Christmas Carol

Scrooge is very scared by this. The next and final thing that the ghost shows Scrooge.... Is his own grave. It's cold and deserted, with no signs of anyone visiting him. This makes him fully determined to change his ways. Each ghost gives Scrooge many worries to ponder over, his childhood, his present life, how he treats people, his death amongst other things. All of these contribute to his lifestyle change. He wants people to see him as a different person.

He feels remorse and sadness after the ghosts. He mourns for Tiny Tim and wants to do something to help him.

He wakes up on Christmas morning with a complete change of attitude to life. At the beginning of the story, Scrooge if described as cold and Dickens uses cold words to describe him. At the end of the story, the words are warm. This is known as pathetic fallacy and this is how Dickens reflects Scrooges attitude to life on the weather.

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Even though it is Christmas day and is still cold, the words are warmer then they were at the beginning of the story, for example 'smoking' and 'fires' Dickens shows this transformation of Scrooge to show us that people can change their ways.

Scrooge's transformation is unique but it can happen to other people in many different ways. Scrooge initially didn't care for Christmas but after thinking about what he had seen on Christmas eve night , with the ghosts , it had changed his mind and made him enjoy life in particularly, Christmas.

Throughout the story Scrooge is conveyed as a cold character who hates everyone. But in contrast to Scrooge, his nephew, Fred is described as the complete opposite. Scrooge's opinion of Fred is poor, feeling that he should care more for his work than his family and friends, as Scrooge does.

Fred tries to bring Scrooge into the festive spirit, but he refuses, every time. "Uncle! " pleaded the nephew "Nephew! " returned the uncle, sternly, "Keep Christmas in your own way and let me keep it in mine. " Fred then leaves to enjoy Christmas with his wife and friends, leaving Scrooge to his own business. Scrooge's chambers are in the traditional, austere Victorian style and although we don't hear a great deal about his living conditions, we hear descriptions of his bed chamber quite frequently. His grand four poster, king size bed ahs drapes all around it to keep out the cold.

This could also be symbolic of his need for security. Yet it isn't Scrooge's house, it is the late Marley's. He just hasn't changed the name. As described in the book; he keeps the house quite neat. He checks each room, and from his description he keeps the house in pristine condition. In a sense his house reflects his personality. The way Dickens conveys the message, the house is quite dull. Scrooge is an accountant and manages his own business. Accountancy can sometimes be seen as quite dull and boring; again the occupation could reflect the person within. He treats his employees in a mean way.

He gives them small wages and when it is bitterly cold, he won't let them have coal for the fire. The firm is a cold dark place at any time of the year. This is pathetic fallacy again; the whole business is cold and described using words of that nature. Scrooge really believes that his business is very successful and he is undoubtedly wealthy because of its success. Surely though he has neglected the social side of life and must not be very rich emotionally. The one character in this story that is just like Scrooge is Marley. Scrooge and Marley were business partners until Marley died.

Marley sees him again at the beginning of the story when he comes back as a ghost. He is weighted down with chains and he has a warning for Scrooge that the same will happen to Scrooge if he does not change his ways. "I wear the chain I forged in life," replied the ghost. 'I made it link by link and yard by yard; I girded it on my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you? " Marley portrays a message that he has received punishment for his actions towards people when he was alive and that Scrooge could stop this happening to him.

Marley and Scrooge are very alike. Now Marley is dead, Scrooge runs the business and is very strict towards his employees. This first thing we notice is his harsh treatment towards Bob Cratchit, a clerk to the accountants. The measly wages that Scrooge gave him was barely enough for him and his family to survive on and because of his poor wages, Bob couldn't afford to pay for his sons, Tiny Tim's treatment. But this family is still in the Christmas spirit and Bob remains loyal to Scrooge throughout. Scrooge just classifies Bob as an employee but Bob has a heart of gold.

He is the one to Speak up to Scrooge when he or any of the other employees had a problem. 'A poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty- fifth of December! ' said Scrooge, buttoning his great coat to the chin. 'But I suppose you must have a whole day. Be here all earlier the next morning'. This is the one occasion where he is kind to his employees even if he does it grudgingly. At the end of the story, Scrooge gives Bob Cratchit a pay rise and he gives money to help Tiny Tim who is then cured of his illness. Scrooge is selfish, doesn't care for anyone else but himself.

In his opinion, no-one works harder than he does and he feels he deserves respect for that, but respect from others isn't displayed when they move away from him, but Scrooge doesn't care. The description of Scrooge is large and full. The descriptive words tell us that he is the most important character. One way to describe this portrayal is by use of pathetic fallacy. This is where, on this occasion, Dickens uses descriptions of the weather to reflect the character's mood. At the beginning, cold words are used to Describe Scrooge, such as 'froze' and 'foul weather', giving the impression to the reader of his coldness as a character.

At the end of the novella, in contrast, he is described with warm words, for example, 'golden sunlight' and 'smoked'. This gives the impression to the reader that Scrooge has under gone and complete transformation from being a cold, stubborn character into a warm, caring, compassionate person. Everything he now does is in direct opposition to his actions at the beginning of the story. The language in 'A Christmas Carol' helps us to relate to the characters. It can create an atmosphere, whether it is sympathetic or cold. One example of this is where we see Tiny Tim. Dickens describes him as 'crippled'.

We automatically feel sympathy for him and his family who cannot afford to help him. This is described in stave three, when 'the ghost of Christmas Present' visits Scrooge. Then in stave four, when 'the ghost of Christmas yet To Come' returns Scrooge to the house, all he sees is an empty chair and a crutch. This upsets the reader because we have become attached to Tiny Tim and his plight. The description conveys him as an ill child and we are naturally sympathetic towards this. Continuing with the pathetic fallacy theme, when Dickens wants to make an atmosphere of any kind he does, with his descriptive words.