Literature Analysis #5

A Christmas Carol:
by Charles Dickens

General:
1. A Christmas Carol is a story about the life of Ebenezer Scrooge, an old man riddled with hate for anything material and does not look to bring pleasure upon anyone else but himself with his money. We start the story by watching Scrooge's horrible attitude to even "friends". The inciting incident is when Marley, one of Scrooge's old business friends who was so consumed by material wealth that when he passed away his afterlife was to be spent prowling the world in heavy chains. Marley decides to save Scrooge from this fate by sending scrooge to three different spirits, Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come. Each of the ghosts lead on to a important parts in Scrooge's life, showing him the things he's done, and the things he is doing. When Scrooge see's his future, he realizes that his life was not worth living if he just let his own riches run his life. He was sent back to his home, and accepted the morals and virtues of Christmas, sharing his wealth and spending time with those who mattered. 

2. The them of the story is to not get so caught up in your life to forget what matters the most. Sometimes we pay to much attention to school and sports that we lose track of what is really important, and that is the love of those around you, and to love those people who love you. Showing gratitude is just a simple step, though significant, to showing Scrooge's change in his life.

3. The whole story is contained by dark images and somber people. The fact that poverty has struck London and that all of the characters seem to live on the line, Scrooge's outlook on those people seem condescending throughout the entire story. This doesn't not stop until Scrooge is pitiful in the end, but the author still notes that London is still racked with poverty and that people are still getting sick and live with nothing.

4. In the story, the author uses similes to describe things that have no significance, so similes were used, but rare in the important parts of the story. The other used his speech as an aphorism, explaining his ideas on life through the ghosts in the story. He uses a kind of rhetoric speech to say that those who are wealthy, but do not share, are selfish, and those who do, are more happy and well off. The other was very good at drawing out pathos. The reader felt pity for Scrooge as the story went on, not really hatred anymore, just a realization of a lost man, in need of love and help. 

Characterization:
1. Two examples of direct characterization are when Scrooge meets the second ghost and the author describes him as "clear minded and kind". Another example is when the third ghost comes near to Scrooge and the author writes that Scrooge was "filled with dread". Two examples of indirect characterization are: Describing Scrooge, "Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, ``My dear Scrooge, how are you. When will you come to see me.'' and another example is, "His hands were busy with his garments all this time: turning them inside out, putting them on upside down, tearing them, mislaying them, making them parties to every kind of extravagance." showing the excitement and nervousness.

2. When describing Scrooge's dreams with the spirits, Dickens wrote in long descriptive sentences, with little dialogue, to give it a quiet, yet extravagant scenery. During the wake of Scrooge's real life, the syntax is with short sentences full of dialogue. The story switches in between the two for when he is witnessing the ghosts and talking to those in real life.

3. As A Christmas Story is well known, Scrooge's tale is that of an extremely dynamic character. The story is simply about how Scrooge came to notice the importance of life and caring during Christmas, and how he changed his ways to a kind-hearted and generous man.

4. I felt like it was someone that I was witnessing something with, not so much that i was meeting him or talking to him, but a fly on the wall, watching as Scrooge realizes things that pass by. Many of his surprises and heartfelt fears were very close to anything that would have scared anyone else outside of the story. We never want our flaws pointed out, and Scrooge acted, as I think, anyone else would.