A Christmas Carol

By: Charles Dickens

An Analysis By:

Mendoza, Julie Anne Mae S.

Third year - Section 11

August 3, 2015
A. INTRODUCTION

A Christmas Carol is a novelette written by an English writer, Charles Dickens.Its original

title is A Christmas Carol In Prose: Being a Ghost Story of Christmas. It was first published in
London by Chapman & Hall on Dec.19,1843. The illustrations was drawn by John Leech, an
English caricaturist and illustrator. The first edition was a beautiful and expensive book. About
6,000 copies of this book has been sold at Christmas Eve making it the most successful book of
the 1843 holiday season. It was probably the most popular fiction piece that Dickens ever wrote
and said to be one of the greatest influences in rejuvenating the old Christmas traditions of
England. It is usually read at Christmas time and has been adapted to theater, movies and other
media.
On the other hand, Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He is regarded as
the greatest novelist of the Victorian Era because of his worlds best-known creations. His works
gain popularity during his lifetime, and the 20th century critics and scholars had recognized him as
a literary genius. Dickens became inspired to write A Christmas Carol in 1843 after he spoke at
a charity night to raise money for the Manchester Athenaeum in England which was an institution
dedicated to advancement and diffusion of knowledge. Aside from being a literary genius,
Charles Dickens was also regarded as the first famous writer to give public readings of his work.
His first reading was A Christmas Carol which took place in front of 2,000 people in the town
hall of Birmingham,England. His last public reading was also A Christmas Carol wherein his
final performance took place at St.James Hall in Piccadily on March 15,1870. Until now, Charles
Dickens remain popular as well as his works,especially his book, A Christmas Carol.

B. ANALYSIS OF THE STORY

B1. SUMMARY

Seven years after the death of his business partner Jacob Marley, a mean-spirited and miser
old businessman named Ebenezer Scrooge is busily working in his office. He is a man who hates
happiness, love, family, generosity and Christmas. He exploits his employee, Bob Cratchit, and
always gives a bitter treatment to his family and acquaintances. One Christmas Eve, his nephew
named Fred invites him for a Christmas dinner. Scrooge just yelled at him and refused to come
just like what he always did every year. When Fred left, a pair of gentlemen collecting
contributions for the poor drop by. Scrooge quickly dismisses them with the reminder that he
already supports prisons and workhouses for the poor. Later that evening, after returning to his
dark and gloomy house, Scrooge was haunted by Marleys ghost. Marley warns Scrooge that the
dead who led bad lives just like him are punished to roam around the Earth with heavy chains and
not be at peace. The ghost also informs Scrooge that there are still three spirits that will visit him.
After the ghost of Marley disappears, Scrooge fall into a deep sleep. When Scrooge woke up,
three spirits really visited him that night.The first one is the Ghost of Christmas Past, the second
is the Ghost of Christmas Present and the last one is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
The Ghost of Christmas Past is a childlike spirit with brightly glowing head.This spirit takes
Scrooge to his childhood memories and Scrooge began crying when he remembers himself as a
neglected boy in the past.Also, the spirit took him into his young adulthood, from being an
apprentice of a merchant named Fezziwig up to the time when he became greedy which caused
him to lose his fiancee, Belle. He was deeply affected because of what he saw and shed tears of
regret. After that, the first spirit return him to his bed. Then, the Ghost of Christmas Present visits
him. It was a majestic giant in a green fur robe. This spirit shows him things which will happen in
the present. He saw his clerk, Bob Cratchit, having a nice and happy Christmas with his family
despite not having much money. On that vision, Scrooge saw Bob Cratchits crippled son, Tiny
Tim, will soon die if nothing changes. The spirit also took him at Freds party which he find
delightful. After the second vision, the Ghost of Christmas Present vanishes. Lastly, the Ghost of
Christmas Yet to Come who is in black hood visited him Scrooge. It showed him what Christmas
will be in the future if he does not change. At first, it envisions him of people who are celebrating
a mans death and robbing from his house. Scrooge want to know the name of the dead man but
the spirit didnt tell him. Then, they went to Cratchits home and there they saw the family
grieving the death of Tiny Tim. Lastly, when Scrooge pleads to know the name of the dead man,
he found himself in a churchyard and there he saw his own grave. He freaked out and beg the
spirit to change his fate, promising to change his life. After that, the last spirit vanishes. On
Christmas morning, Scrooge wakes up and realizes that he needs to change.He decided to
celebrate Christmas and help Tiny Tim get better. He sends a huge turkey to Cratchits house,
makes a large donation to the charity collector, and attends Freds party which surprised the other
guests. The next day, he raises Bob Cratchits salary. And from that day, Scrooge continued to
change his attitude and lives the rest of his life cheerfully and with generosity, kindness and care
to his fellow human beings.

B2. REVERSAL OF INTENTION

In this story, we can notice how the main character, Scrooge , changed from being a mean-
spirited old businessman to a man with generosity and kindness. At first, he is an old man who is
greedy, who hates Christmas, and who treats people badly. He never cared about the people
around him and dont realize how miserable his life is. When the three Christmas Spirits visited
him, that was the time when he slowly realizes his mistakes and changed his life in the end. He
became a generous and kind man to people around in contrast to a greedy and miserable man that
he was before.

B3. CONCLUSION

This story A Christmas Carol does not only delight and entertain us but also gives a deep
lesson for us to learn. Through this story, we can get some realizations that we can use in our
everyday life. This story does not only tell us to give importance to Christmas but also teach us to
give importance to the people around us. Through this story, Ive learned that it is still not the end
for us to change. We are always given a second chance to correct our mistakes and to prove that
we are worthy of that second second chance.

C. LITERARY TERMS AND DEVICES USED BY THE AUTHOR

Metaphor - direct comparison

...the houses opposite were mere phantoms
But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone,Scrooge!
...a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!

Simile - stated comparison using like or as

Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail
Candles were flaring in the windows of the neighboring offices, like ruddy smears upon the
palpable brown air
It was a strange figure - like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man

Personification - the attribution of the qualities of a human being to inanimate objects

The ancient tower of a church, whose gruff old bell was always peeping slyly down at
Scrooge
Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern
 ...and struck the hours and quarters in the clouds, with tremulous vibrations afterwards as if
its teeth were chattering in its frozen head up there

Alliteration - repetition of initial consonant sounds

No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him
...bright gleaming berries glistened

Parallelism - repetition of words, or phrases that are similar in structure

No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose,
no pelting rain less open to entreaty
...now a thing with one arm, now with one leg, now with twenty legs, now a pair of legs
without a head, now a head without a body