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Dickens introduces the characters of Ignorance and Want thus: "They were a boy and girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked; and glared out menacing. No change, degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread.
" The use of a long list which employs frequent commas builds up intensity, which has more impact on the reader.
He also uses harsh plosive words which combine to create a shocking image, therefore readers can 'see' what he is saying, and thus his critique of social injustice is delivered forcefully. Dickens only employs such imagery later on because it would be too intense to use it at the start of the story so he eases the readers in and gradually builds up to this intensity as the tale progresses.
Despite Dickens saving Scrooge's complete transformation until the end, we get brief sightings of remorse and guilt at the end of each visit by the ghosts.
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"Leave me! Take me back. Haunt me no longer! " Dickens has structured this story so that the audience gets early glimpses of Scrooge's redemption because it would be unrealistic to show Scrooge having a sudden change at the end.
He also wants Scrooge to the show the accumulated effects of each visit. This is probably because it's important for the reader to have empathy for the main character (Scrooge), throughout the story.
If the readers can relate to Scrooge, they might decide to change their own actions towards the poor and the social problems around them. If they cannot, it will seem that selfish attitudes are Scrooge's alone and have nothing to do with them. One of the most largely discussed scenes of the story is Scrooge's reaction when The Ghost of Christmas Future reveals to him Tiny Tim's death. Scrooge is pre-occupied by the contents of previous visions and does not even comment in Tim's death. "Tell me what man that was whom we saw lying dead?
" This reaction from Scrooge could be quite difficult to take in because when he was with The Ghost of Christmas Present, he seemed very concerned when he saw Tiny Tim ill. I think his actions are due to him being more concerned about earlier visions and he suspects that people were referring to him in talking about dead man. When Scrooge does realise that the dead man from the earlier vision is him, he reacts differently. He starts to panic and has much more remorse. "I am not the man I was.
I will not be the man I must have been for this intercourse. " From this quote, we get the idea that Scrooge only changes his ways because he sees himself dead, and that maybe he wouldn't have changed otherwise. Dickens could be making a point about how rich people are only concerned by their own business and not that of the poor - Scrooge wants to protect his own memory and changes for his own sake. However, equally, this would undermine the central message of the story which is that bad people really can become good.
One meaningful area that highlights the effective nature of Dickens' language, is the scene in which The Ghost of Christmas Present introduces Want and Ignorance to Scrooge. Dickens knew it was important to introduce these two characters in this particular scene, because he is trying to show the situation in society at the present time. Dickens presents child poverty by using personification with these two characters. The use of personification makes them symbolic of all children at this time.
When Scrooge's nephew is trying to persuade his uncle that Christmas is a time for joy and cheer, he uses a comment about the rich in society:"Christmas is... the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. " "In the long calendar of the year" puts into perspective that even though people are treated well at Christmas time, they have a bad time for the rest of the year.
The phrase "Shut-up" reminds me of a shop. Shops "shut-up", and in this case, hearts shut-up. Also, shops are about money and making profit, the hearts that are shut-up in this case are the rich peoples, so they are also about money and making profit. Dickens uses strong imagery throughout the story. He uses a powerful image to show the consequences of greed in Stave One. Scrooge is visited by the ghost of Marley, who has chains binding him. Scrooge fearfully comments on these and Marley replies: "I wear the chain I forged in life...
I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you? The chains represent all the bad things Marley done with his money, and each link is the result of each bad thing. By repeating "of my own free will" it shows Markey didn't have to act in this way, it was completely his own choice. This is letting the reader know that they also have "free will" actions to decide on their own not to be a bad person if they are one. Every Victorian reader will pick up the significance of the phrase "free will.
" It would remind them that if they acted badly they would go to hell, as every Victorian had religious sensibilities, compared to our more secular concerns in the modern age. At the end this quote, "you" is italicized. This is because, not only is Marley talking to Scrooge, Dickens is talking to the reader. It's almost as if he is asking "Are you making chains for yourself? " In conclusion, Dickens is trying to teach us the importance of celebrating Christmas with family and friends. However, the message goes far past this.
It goes on to tell us that we should love everyone, regardless of their class in society. Dickens was most successful in writing this book as a social commentator with an important message to deliver. Not only did this novella help change the social problems 166 years ago when it was first read, this novella continues to help people see the modern day problems in society. The decent words right at the end of the story, spoken by Tiny Tim "God bless us, every on," sum up the meaning of Christmas, and this quote is now used famously each year.
Dickens' language. (2020, Jun 01). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/dickens-language-5124-new-essay
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