Ebenezer Scrooge

Dickens clearly uses symbolism to describe Scrooge, key words in his descriptions obviously relate to Scrooge being cold and hard.

Examples of this are: "The cold within him froze" and "Hard and sharp as flint". Both of these clearly state that Dickens intended for Scrooge to be seen had a Cold and Hard Person. The symbolism of cold and hard can be seen as uncaring and hard-hearted which is also clear in the conversation with the two charity collectors; "If they would rather die, they had better do it" this quote states that Scrooge is uncaring and hard-hearted, therefore cold and hard.

The symbolism that includes Dark is not as comprehensible as the cold and hard symbols but it is recognizable as the symbol of dark can be associated with deliberate ignorance which Scrooge shows plenty of towards the end of the novel. The title of the first stave is Marley's ghost therefore it is inevitable that it is going to have something to do with Marley's ghost.

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First of all Scrooge witnesses Marley's face in place of his door knocker then in a second it was gone, with this Scrooge became slightly anxious but remained calm therefore when he went to bed he double locked himself in.

Scrooge then let his imagination fly a bit until he did hear a bang a something coming up the stairs, it then passed through the door and Scrooge witnessed the same face as before Marley's face. In this scene the reader witness' the first sign of Scrooge changing because he is backing down to Marley.

Scrooge says; "Mercy! Dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me? " this is evidence that Scrooge is scared and this is counted as a change because Scrooge has never shown fear before. Also in this scene Marley has a chain wound around him and attached to it are "Cashboxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel.

" This chain is worn by Marley because "I forged it in life. I 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. " Marley is saying here that he created the chain by himself in his mortal life and now he wears it because of this. Marley goes on to say that if Scrooge does not change he will also bear this "Ponderous Chain". Marley's next key quote is telling the reader that the chain is a sign of eternal punishment; "The whole time, No rest, No peace. Incessant torture of remorse.

" He is telling Scrooge that he is in eternal punishment to try and make Scrooge understand that if he does not change then he too will bear this chain. He then explains to Scrooge why it is that he bears this chain; "Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode? Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me! " This is a key quote because Marley is telling Scrooge that the reason he is in eternal punishment is because that he treated everyone who was poor or not as wealthy as himself badly.

This is the exact problem that Dickens is trying to put write and in his novel he has created an eternal punishment in the after life for people that do this during their mortal life. Dickens is therefore not subtle at all about the problem he is trying to solve in fact he is extremely obvious about it. The reader then witnesses' a second change in Scrooge; "Thank'ee! " this is Scrooge showing that he is grateful for Marley giving him this information. This scene with Marley's ghost is very important as it sets the storyline and it highlights the problem that Dickens is trying to solve.

Also the reader witnesses' the first two changes of Ebenezer Scrooge. The First of the three spirits is described by dickens as; "a strange figure like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, its hair was white with age; yet the face had not a wrinkle in it. It wore a tunic of the purest white, But the strangers thing about it was that from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light, by which all this was visible" This description that Dickens creates is again working with symbolism as the first spirit has a jet of light coming out from its head therefore the first spirit is associated with light.

Scrooge however is a dark person therefore when this jet of light was put before him; "he had a special desire to see the spirit in his cap; and begged him to be covered. " This means that Scrooge disliked the light being shone on him. The ghost then quotes "Would you so soon put out, with worldly hands, the light I give? " The light that the ghost gives is an opposite to Scrooges darkness which is associated with deliberate ignorance therefore the light is relieving that deliberate ignorance and showing Scrooge the truth and he is trying to avoid it.

The first spirit is known as the ghost of Christmas past, this is because he takes Scrooge into the past to witness moments in his life which may allow him to change. The spirit takes him back to his childhood where he grew up. Scrooge's younger self is in a room. "A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there. " The ghost is taking scrooge back to his own past so that Scrooge can feel some emotions again to help him change into a nicer person. The First spirit showed Scrooge this part of his past because Scrooge showed a great amount of love for his little sister and the spirit wants Scrooge to revisit this feeling of love.

Then the ghost starts to inquire what Scrooges thoughts are about his little sister. "Always a delicate creature, whom a breath might have withered, But she had a large heart! " now Scrooges feelings he had for her begin to come back as he says something nice about her. "So she had, you're right. I'll not gainsay it, Spirit. God Forbid. " This is the most pleasant thing that Scrooge has said about someone in a long time. The spirit realises this is because Scrooge loved his family, so the ghost starts to talk about the child that his little sister had. "She died a woman, and had, as I think, children.