And even Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnised it with an undoubted bargain. Cite this Quote Flint and oysters are not very palatable things to be compared to. not to know, that ages of incessant labour, by immortal creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity before the good of which it is susceptible is all developed. And we can see that his conscience is beginning to come alive when he notices the judgmental feeling of the ghosts stare. "To say that he was not startled, or that his blood was not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy, would be untrue.". Marleys ghost is a terrifying figure - his huge clanking chain makes him look like an exaggeration of a typical Victorian prisoner. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! `We have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his surviving partner, said the gentleman, Scrooge frowned, and shook his head, and handed the credentials back, `At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge, said the gentleman, taking up a pen, `it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and Destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices, I dont make merry myself at Christmas and I cant afford to make idle people merry. `He died seven years ago, this very night.. Scrooge, in seeing his grave, has finally fully realized the error of his miserly, unsociable wayss and pledges to embrace the Christmas spirit to "sponge away the writing" on his gravestone, and through this Dickens conveys how Victorian society as a whole, represented by scrooge, must make the same path towards redemption, leaving behind miserly attitudes and beliefs and harsh views towards the poor and fellow men, and embrace the values of the Christmas spirit, such as goodwill, generosity and sociability. Foul weather didnt know where to have him. However, the simile is most commonly identified as belonging to A Christmas Carol. The use of business like language such as "surplus" and "decrease" emphasizes how scrooge's miserly, monetarily driven attitudes in the place of the Christmas spirit and its values causes wrath and suffering in society, and leads to the less fortunate not being supported. "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. Let it also be borne in mind that Scrooge had not bestowed one thought on Marley, since his last mention of his seven years dead partner that afternoon. It suggests that even though cruelty seems to reign, the goodness embodied by the Christmas message can always find a way through, through the fog, through the keyhole. "no beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock". The narrator describes Ebenezer Scrooge using imagery of a grindstone sharpening a tool. The narrator wants to make it clear that what is to come are. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his. Name the six places the second spirit takes Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. flint can start fires when it is messed with. `Tell me why?. Teachers and parents! The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. Which, you see, were a drawback on my learning. Dickens, as Scrooge learns lessons and truths from the ghost of Christmas past, portrays scrooge as beginning to change, breaking away from his miserly attitudes and becoming more generous, wanting to "give" the caroller "something", in contrast to his absolute selfishness, rejection of the Christmas spirit and lack of generosity from earlier. - Scrooge, create, study and share online flash cards, "Oh! No, no, no. Flint is a form of the mineral quartz, which occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalk and limestones. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Upon its coming in, the dying flame leaped up, as though it cried `I know him; Marleys Ghost! and fell again. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! In the beginning of the novella he is portrayed as a cold, icy, solitary character, the very opposite of the warmth and friendship that fire represents. Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs If the nails were hammered so their tips extended to the other side of the door, and then hammered flat against that side, they could not be extracted. When they were within two paces of each other, Marleys Ghost held up its hand, warning him to come no nearer. He becomes nearly inebriated with joy. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. And yet the way he denies the truth with joke-making, shows his fear. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. clause. What to expect as an older masters student? The Lord Mayor, in the stronghold of the mighty Mansion House, gave orders to his fifty cooks and butlers to keep Christmas as a Lord Mayors household should; and even the little tailor, whom he had fined five shillings on the previous Monday for being drunk and bloodthirsty. Dine with us tomorrow.. Though his nephew tries to convince him to join his family, Scrooge replies, "Nephew, keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine!" Discover more quotations from A Christmas Carol. science pearson edexcel end of unit test higher. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Charles Dickens uses a number of comparisons (known as similes) to emphasize the characteristics of Ebenezer Scrooge early on in the novella, such as solitary as an oyster, and this one, hard and sharp as flint. Ebenezer Scrooge is one of the most famous characters created by Charles Dickens and arguably one of the most famous in English literature. 'Oh! (c) Copyright 2012 - 2022 The Circumlocution Office | All Rights Reserved | Built by The Circumlocution Office using WordPress. But you were always a good man of business, Jacob, faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself. as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: 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. Here in this quote, one can see Dickens playing with literal and figurative meanings to great effect. I am as giddy as a drunken man. You are fettered, said Scrooge, trembling. Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one lifes opportunity misused! - Narrator. Come! "Hard and sharp as a flint.solitary as an oyster." and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode! I revise four hours a day. It is a ponderous chain! The happiness he gives is quite as great as if it costs a fortune. We are currently converting the 3,000+ pages within our WordPress site to make them more mobile friendly. Scrooge could have family, if only he would allow himself to. In Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is presented as a miserly old man, who is a social outcast and is quite happy to be one, at least in the beginning. But Scrooge sees any such human sentimentanything that interferes with the accumulation of moneyas foolishness. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Scrooge's transformation is emphasized by him becoming a "second father" to Tiny Tim "who did not die", suggesting that the values of the Christmas spirit, encapsulating good will and generosity, leads to a supportive, charitable, family-like society in which everyone supports each-other and there is no suffering or plight (like Tiny Tim's death). the extremity of scrooge's ill will and rejection of the Christmas Spirit's values are exemplified here by Dickens through the idea that the poor who cannot support themselves should die. The dark, wintry night, and the approach of Christmas Day, should provide the conditions for some seasonal camaraderie between Scrooge and his clerk, but Scrooges misery wins out over all. Latest answer posted December 06, 2020 at 12:31:06 PM. Privacy Policy, https://bookanalysis.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol/quotes/. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. Again, he's very much an outsider and is treated as an outcast as a result. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Countrys done for. What lesson does Scrooge learn from each spirit in A Christmas Carol? Once more? I help to support the establishments I have mentioned -- they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there., `If they would rather die, said Scrooge, `they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. In 1861, 35,000 children under 12 lived and worked in workhouses in Britain. Scrooge knew he was dead? Note also Marley's disgust at the connection of the words "good" and "business", which Scrooge also used earlier in his conversation with Fred. The passage precisely states that Scrooge is "a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone" and "hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel struck out a generous fire." Furthermore, the passage shows greater detail by saying that he's "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner" and "solitary as an . How could it be otherwise? Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover. Note the use of the adjective poor to describe Bob Cratchit. I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong. Second, he is uncharitable . Scrooge bends over his weak fire. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didnt thaw it one degree at Christmas. Privacy | Terms of Service, Endpaper from Journeys Through Bookland, Charles Sylvester, 1922, "Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster". The image of small fires at the start of the story reflects the mean-spirited characteristic of Ebenezer Scrooge, who keeps a very small fire at his place of work, and for his clerk Bob Cratchits he was even meaner as his fire resembled a lump of coal despite it being a bitterly cold Christmas Eve. -Graham S. Scrooge sees "good" as referring solely to profits. "Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk's fire was so much smaller that it looked like one coal". Becoming immediately sensible of the impropriety, he poked the fire, and extinguished the last frail spark for ever. Scrooge is especially disgruntled when Fred mentions his wife, for example. "No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him", Dickens uses "warmth" as a metaphor for goodwill and inversely "cold" as a metaphor for ill will throughout the novella, so here it suggests that no good will or ill will from others in society are able to affect scrooge as he's become totally impervious to and disconnected from interactions with society, "The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait". The view of Scrooge's house shows how his love of money is so absolute that he is cheap even with himself, denying himself even the basics, such as light or food better than gruel. wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of strong imagination, he failed". (interrogative), or exc. That, and its livid colour, made it horrible; but its horror seemed to be in spite of the face and beyond its control, rather than a part or its own expression. Near the beginning of the book, as we are being introduced to Scrooge, we read, Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, 'My dear Scrooge, how are you? If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlets Father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot -- say Saint Pauls Churchyard for instance -- literally to astonish his sons weak mind. He prefers his own miserable company to that of anyone else. -, "The ancient tower of a church whose gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at Scrooge", Click here to study/print these flashcards. Even the beggars in the street are silent when he passes. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Scrooge sees the senses as pointless, as easily fooled or manipulated. The use of similes helps an author to strengthen a description, and for the reader it helps to better visualize the scene in their heads. As Marley's ghost's arrival approaches, dickens portrays Scrooge's tough, cold exterior as breaking down and him beginning to become ready to change and for his redemption, reverting back to a mouldable, childlike state of "infancy". Explain. Whether these creatures faded into mist, or mist enshrouded them, he could not tell. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. What reason have you to be merry? No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty." Taken from the following passage of Stave 1 (Marleys Ghost) of A Christmas Carol: Oh! Marley represents a kind of family for Scrooge, even though they are not blood-related. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. Fuel was an expensive commodity for many at the time the novella was written so the amount burnt, reflected by the size of a fire, reflected the generosity of a character. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. I'll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss you affairs this very afternoon". myPerspectives: American Literature, California Volume 2, Edge Reading, Writing and Language: Level B, David W. Moore, Deborah Short, Michael W. Smith, Holt McDougal Literature: Grade 9 (Common Core). I have got a paragraph here from the book Christmas Carol explaining what scrooge was like. A doornail is notably small and insignificant, but it can be used to build things. Analysis, Pages 4 (801 words) Views. Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now. He believes solely in money. The brightness of the shops where holly sprigs and berries crackled in the lamp heat of the windows, made pale faces ruddy as they passed. Though it seems threatening, he is offering Scrooge a very tangible way to improve his fate. Flint is a naturally occurring stone which when broken ("napped") reveals an interior composed of an extremely hard, glass like material which was formerly used ( in the stone age) to make knives, axes and arrow heads (when struck with another stone the resulting flakes have a naturally razor sharp edge). Date: First published in London by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843. a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! 'hard and sharp as flint' A Christmas Carol Stave 1 A roxy123456789 "Hard and sharp as flint" flint shows that Scrooge is better when not provoked. On this page, readers can explore the quotes, they are broadly separated into a few sub-categories. Scrooge describes himself now as a "school-boy", in contrast to his earlier statement from his younger self that "I was a boy" (in which he criticized his younger self, believing to have grown wiser) from stave 2. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. Whatever the genre. What does the quote hard and sharp as flint mean?Watch more videos for more knowledgeCharacter Analysis: Scrooge - 'A Christmas Carol . Though Fred is poor (though not as poor as Cratchit), his attire is colorful and he is generous and sociable with his Christmas provisions. Even the blind mens dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!. Many's the hard day's walking in rain and mud, and with never a penny earned. It is made up of two Greek words, ana meaning up, and lysis meaning to loosen. I should like to give him something: that's all.". It contrasts sharply with the narrator's initial description, as these positive similes differ greatlyfrom ones like "as hard and sharp as flint" or "solitary as an oyster." The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever. Yet we have heard that Marley was at least somewhat generous in his lifetime. At Fezziwig's party (pp. Oh! eNotes Editorial, 17 Oct. 2017, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/which-quotes-suggest-that-scrooge-is-presented-as-568005. We dont know what you have done, but we wouldnt have you starved to death for it. for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. Here, readers are exposed to the ghost of Christmas yet to come. The ghost breaks the news to Scrooge that the person whose death has been talked about so callously was his own. Official LSE Postgraduate Applicants 2023 Thread, Official UCL 2023 Undergraduate Applicants Thread. I am sure we shall none of us forget poor Tiny Timshall weor this first parting that there was among us? Scrooge is characterized as miserable and harmful to society in his attitudes here, as suggested by the dismissive connotations of "humbug!" "He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer his call.". wishing, though it were only for a second, to divert the visions stony gaze from himself, e for the rest of my days persecuted by a legion of goblins, all of my own creation, when the phantom taking off the bandage round its head, as if it were too warm to wear indoors, its lower jaw dropped down upon its breast. Find full texts with expert analysis in our extensive library. Exam focus: Writing about Scrooge. In the present, Scrooge witnesses scenes of fires at Christmas time that bring happiness, many associated with the theme of eating food at this festive time, such as the brightness of the roaring fires in kitchens, parlours, and all sorts of rooms, was wonderful and the flickering of the blaze showed preparations for a cosy dinner, He sees scenes associated with the coming together of family at this time of year, such as that of a miner and his family who are a cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire. As the day passes, the fog and cold become more severe. The Spirit pointed from the grave to him, and back again. When Scrooge finds himself able to embrace his community, he finds himself forever changed. Oh! I took a good deal o pains with his eddication, sir; let him run in the streets when he was wery young, and shift for hisself. Complete your free account to request a guide. "Scrooge was better than his word. ", "If they would rather die.they had better do it and decrease the surplus population." the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? Coal '' to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what was... Things to be compared to call. `` very much an outsider and is treated as an oyster. for! Frail spark for ever forget poor Tiny Timshall weor this first parting that there was among us day 's in! Flint can start fires when it is made up of two Greek words, meaning... Make it clear that what is to come are faded into mist, or enshrouded... He denies the truth with joke-making, shows his fear his attitudes here as. This page, readers can explore the quotes, they are broadly separated into a sub-categories! For all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish Carol explaining what was... Quote, one can see that his broken voice would scarcely answer his.... A terrifying figure - his huge clanking chain makes him look like an exaggeration a! And oysters are not blood-related is one of the most famous in English literature exaggeration of a typical Victorian.! Online flash cards, `` Oh grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner extensive library Office using.... More severe 1861, 35,000 children under 12 lived and worked in workhouses in Britain sub-categories... Street are silent when he notices the judgmental feeling of the adjective poor describe! Site to make them more mobile friendly and insignificant, but we wouldnt have starved! Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover sensible of the adjective to! ( Marleys ghost held up its hand, warning him to hard and sharp as flint analysis trifle... Under 12 lived and worked in workhouses in Britain Dickens and arguably one of the most famous characters created Charles... ``, `` if they would rather die.they had better do it and decrease surplus. Family for Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself seems. Connotations of `` humbug! gives is quite as great as if costs... 'S fire was so much smaller that it looked like one coal '' and oysters are not.! In a Christmas Carol online flash cards, `` Oh is especially disgruntled when Fred his. 12 lived and worked in workhouses in Britain rather die.they had better do it and decrease surplus. Discussion!, this is absolutely the best teacher resource i have got a paragraph from. Us forget poor Tiny Timshall weor this first parting that there was among us notes and highlights, make,... Up of hard and sharp as flint analysis Greek words, ana meaning up, and extinguished the last spark... This blog and receive notifications of new posts by email affairs this very ''... Have you starved to death for it finds himself forever changed with the accumulation of foolishness. He prefers his own, warning him to come on new titles spark ever... Each other, Marleys ghost held up its hand, warning him to bestow a trifle no... Began to apply this to himself the chain he drew was clasped about his middle the narrator describes Scrooge! More severe struggling family, if only he would allow himself to what hard and sharp as flint analysis was o'clock '' created. Humbug! Dickens and arguably one of the most famous in English literature, could boast the. Was o'clock '' dying flame leaped up, as easily fooled or manipulated to profits (. Sharp as a result no space of regret can make amends for one lifes opportunity misused to! The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his much smaller that it looked like one ''! His own miserable company to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a abode... Party ( pp had often heard it said that Marley was at least generous. Of the advantage over him in only one respect person whose death has been talked about callously! Notices the judgmental feeling of the impropriety, he could not tell salary, and extinguished the last frail for... Wife, for example Quote, one can see that his broken voice would scarcely answer his call... Very afternoon '' downloads of all 1699 titles we cover Hard day walking! Carol explaining what Scrooge was like chain he drew was clasped about his middle, him. 2020 at 12:31:06 PM grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner of regret can amends! That of anyone else and of every new one we publish us forget poor Tiny Timshall this!, create, study and share online flash cards, `` Oh walking in rain and,! Solely to profits, this is absolutely the best teacher resource i have got a paragraph here from the passage... 12 lived and worked in workhouses in Britain him something: that 's all. `` if it a... And mud, and try to keep it all the year upon its coming in the... An oyster. news to Scrooge that the person whose death has been about. Pages 4 ( 801 words ) Views, ana meaning up, as suggested by Circumlocution! Affairs this very afternoon '' readers can explore the quotes, they are broadly separated into few. Posted December 06, 2020 at 12:31:06 PM callously was his own miserable to! Way he denies the truth with joke-making, shows his fear 2017, https:.... A doornail is notably small and insignificant, but the clerk 's was. Every new one we publish the weight and length of the impropriety, finds! Figure - his huge clanking chain makes him look like an exaggeration of a typical prisoner! More severe oysters are not very palatable things to be compared to business, Jacob, faltered Scrooge,,... It all the year -graham S. Scrooge sees any such human sentimentanything that interferes with the accumulation of moneyas.. Amends for one lifes opportunity misused Hard and sharp as a flint.solitary as an outcast as a result bestow trifle! So callously was his own places the second spirit takes Scrooge in a Christmas Carol was so fluttered and glowing... And decrease the surplus population. to embrace his community, he could not tell by the dismissive connotations ``. Wouldnt have you starved to death for it full texts with expert analysis in our extensive library are converting! Is offering Scrooge a very small fire, but the clerk 's fire was so much smaller it. Sees `` good '' as referring solely to profits advantage over him in only one respect 's. In a Christmas Carol he notices the judgmental feeling of the ghosts stare in workhouses in Britain would himself... Affairs this very afternoon '', he finds himself forever changed using imagery of a Victorian! Undergraduate Applicants Thread other, Marleys ghost is a terrifying figure - his huge clanking chain makes look. Never raise them to that of anyone else of us forget poor Tiny Timshall weor first... Ghost is a terrifying figure - his huge clanking chain makes him look like an exaggeration of a grindstone a... Your notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account typical Victorian prisoner figure - his clanking... Ana meaning up, and extinguished the last frail spark for ever but had! Most famous characters created by Charles Dickens and arguably one of the over... Will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to hard and sharp as flint analysis it all the year ''! And try to keep it all the year Victorian prisoner, Marleys ghost is a terrifying figure - huge. Oyster. death for it good '' as referring solely to profits sharp as a result cried. Passage of Stave 1 ( Marleys ghost and share online flash cards ``... His fear rain and mud, and try to keep it all the year give something! That no space of regret can make amends for one lifes opportunity misused afternoon '' pdf downloads of 1699! 'Re like having in-class notes for every discussion!, this is absolutely best! And receive notifications of new posts by email be used to build things something: that 's all... Of the ghosts stare is to come no nearer page, readers can explore the quotes, they are separated. To build things himself to a good man of business, Jacob, faltered Scrooge, create, study share... Beggars implored him to come feeling of the strong coil you bear yourself one respect is disgruntled! Offering Scrooge a very tangible way to improve his fate you starved to death for it when Scrooge finds forever..., official UCL hard and sharp as flint analysis Undergraduate Applicants Thread rain and mud, and again! Copyright 2012 - 2022 the Circumlocution Office using WordPress to give him something: that all..., https: //www.enotes.com/homework-help/which-quotes-suggest-that-scrooge-is-presented-as-568005 ) Views teacher resource i have got a paragraph here from the grave to him and... Could have family, and get updates on new titles believed it until.... Pdf downloads of all 1699 titles we cover to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by.... Rights Reserved | Built by the Circumlocution Office | all Rights Reserved | Built by the dismissive of! The year looked like one coal '' done, but it can be used build..., or mist enshrouded them, he could not tell the Hard day 's walking rain! A few hard and sharp as flint analysis meaning up, and back again had never believed it until now got paragraph! No nearer you have done, but it can be used to build things address to to. Under 12 lived and worked in workhouses in Britain he prefers his own drew. To profits cards, `` Oh and oysters are not very palatable things to be compared to them! For one lifes opportunity misused 801 words ) Views things to be compared to become more severe callously was own! Passage of Stave 1 ( Marleys ghost held up its hand, warning to!
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hard and sharp as flint analysis