Scrooge's dismissive, insulting (calling anyone who embraces Christmas and the values of the Christmas spirit an "idiot") and excessively violent (believing anyone who celebrates Christmas should be "boiled" and "buried") attitude to Christmas and those who celebrate it is aggressive to the point of comedy, but is also a daunting and serious reflection of how Scrooge's attitudes and rejection of the Christmas spirit's values leads to violence, strife and conflict within society. He. Oh! "Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster" a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? Flint is a form of the mineral quartz, which occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalk and limestones. I have got a paragraph here from the book Christmas Carol explaining what scrooge was like. "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.". that's all.". He took us home and hammered us. What lesson does Scrooge learn from each spirit in A Christmas Carol? its teeth were chattering in its frozen head up there. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. through the listing of people who won't interact with scrooge, from "children" to "beggars" , and the repetition of the negative "no", Dickens emphasizes the solitude and lack of interaction with society in Scrooge's life, and Scrooge's in-sociability. However, at the end of the tale in Stave 5, Scrooge employs a string of similes to celebrate his return to the present: I am light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. This is fitting because it is traditionally colder at Christmas but also because the cold is an apt metaphor for Scrooges personality. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. The passage clearly states that Scrooge is "a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone" and is "hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel struck out a generous fire." Furthermore, the passage continues to show more detail by saying that he's "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner" and . Scrooge=isolation. Even the blind men's dogs appeared to know him, and when they saw him coming on would tug their owners into doorways and up courts, and then would wag their tails as though they said, 'No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!'" 2023 ** Borders and Enforcement, Crime & Compliance - ICE - Immigration Officers, Oxford Postgraduates: MSc Energy Systems 2023. | Just as Scrooge seems unaffected by the cold and darkness, he also shuns his feelings of fear and refuses to trust his senses or give in to them. Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs Note also Marley's disgust at the connection of the words "good" and "business", which Scrooge also used earlier in his conversation with Fred. Bob Cratchit makes a pitiful effort to "warm himself" while Scrooge looks on which makes him seem all the more miserly in comparison to Bob. Ask me if you need help for GCSE revision? a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy, The sound resounded through the house like thunder, but I mean to say you might have got a hearse up that staircase, and taken it broadwise, with the splinter-bar towards the wall and the door towards the balustrades: and done it easy. But he couldnt replenish it. If you like this, we think you might also be interested in these related quotations. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster". This boy is Ignorance. He is smug and condescending about the poor, and refuses to listen to the gentlemens reasoning. This is a great quote for highlighting the sort of character that Scrooge was in A Christmas Carol. If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population". The Student Room and The Uni Guide are both part of The Student Room Group. The novel 'A Christmas Carol' narrates the story of a man called Scrooge and how he realises his behaviour to people must change in order to do well in his life as spirits show his past, present and future. However, Scrooge being likened to "flint" suggests that, although he has never given "generous fire" he has the potential to be good-willed, sociable, generous and the other attributes encapsulated by the Christmas spirit, as portrayed by the recurring symbol of "fire" used by dickens to represent these values. Poulterers and grocers trades became a splendid joke; a glorious pageant, with which it was next to impossible to believe that such dull principles as bargain and sale had anything to do. . It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel. This girl is Want. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. No, Spirit! What reason have you to be morose? Scrooge's "interest" in Tiny Tm's well being and whether "Tiny Tim will live" highlights Scrooge's changing attitudes towards the poor - in contrast to earlier, Scrooge does not want the deserving poor Tiny Tim to die. Scrooge is Hard and sharp as flint (p. 2). Foul weather didnt know where to have him. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. The narrator describes Ebenezer Scrooge using imagery of a grindstone sharpening a tool. The exclamation mark in "Oh!" suggests that even the narrator is overwhelmed by how outrageously unpleasant Scrooge is. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. His greed is so extreme that he will not even spend the money to allow Cratchit to be warm in the office. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. I am sure we shall none of us forget poor Tiny Timshall weor this first parting that there was among us? likening scrooge to a sheep, suggesting that he foolishly follows certain ideologies such as Malthusian economic theory. `I wonder you dont go into Parliament., `Dont be angry, uncle. Scrooge is an outsider because that is the way he likes it. `Tell me why?. I lived rough, that you should live smooth. 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". Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Why does the Ghost of Christmas Past show Scrooge the boarding school where he was left alone in A Christmas Carol? For characters like Fred and Bob Cratchit, Christmas represents the Christian ideal of goodness and moral prosperity, but Scrooge is at his. Mind! Scrooge is a cold-hearted tight miser who watches everything going on within his counting-house business. Moreover, the narrator explains, "External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. 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". 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). Dickens sets up Cratchit and Scrooge as opposite figures, Cratchit symbolizing joy despite poverty and hardship and Scrooge symbolizing the grave-like sobriety of greed. Fred knows this, and counters that "good" means something else entirely. 16, no GCSES, no other qualifications, is there anything left for me? In each stave Scrooge gradually changes his attitude to become a better person. Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now. Scrooge and he were partners for I dont know how many years. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail. The power of light and music to shine through the winter gloom is a visual way of showing the moral of this story. Instant PDF downloads. Whatever the book. Oh! The fact that there are three spirits and that they will arrive at the same time for the next three nights creates a definite, easy structure for Scrooge, and the story, to follow. 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. Who is Belle in A Christmas Carol, and why was she important to Scrooge? "Nothing" said scrooge "nothing. Its the only way to make a boy sharp, sir. When Jack Cade leads a rebellion against the king, he declares that "if I do not leave you all as dead as a doornail, I pray God I may never eat grass more." The simile "hard and sharp as flint" emphasises scrooge's tough, cold exterior, and through the painful, harmful connotations of "sharp", Dickens also highlights scrooge's lack of sociability towards others, suggesting that he's harmful and dangerous to them. `What do you want with me?. Humbug!" In each of the following sentences, underline the correct indefinite pronoun in parentheses. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Last weekend, I read $\underline{\color{#c34632}\text{To Build a Fire}}$ . similarly when other characters talk to Scrooge he often shouts at them. Marley's purgatorial afterlife is described as a wasteland of endless journeying. he walked through his rooms to see that all was right. Explanation and AnalysisAs Dead as a Door-Nail: Explanation and AnalysisScrooge's Transformation: Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. He thinks he sees the dead Marley in his door knocker. Which, you see, were a drawback on my learning. `He died seven years ago, this very night.. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other old city, town, or borough, in the good old world.". Whereas the line about being solitary as an oyster suggests that Scrooge refuses to let anybody into his life. It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. 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? `Youll want all day to-morrow, I suppose? said Scrooge. "suggests that even the narrator is overwhelmed by how outrageously unpleasant Scrooge is. What does the quote hard and sharp as flint mean?Watch more videos for more knowledgeCharacter Analysis: Scrooge - 'A Christmas Carol . Perhaps this is why Dickens chose to compare Marley to a doornaila flattened doornail and a corpse are both fairly useless, with little to no chance of serving a purpose ever again. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Analysis, Pages 4 (801 words) Views. This is a great quote for highlighting the sort of character that Scrooge was in ' A Christmas Carol '. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office. Scrooge is such a cold-hearted man that the sight of his late partner, who was earlier described as his only friend, does not touch his emotions, but instead makes him angry. a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Yet we have heard that Marley was at least somewhat generous in his lifetime. In the back and forth about marriage the story drops hints about Scrooges past that will become clear later. Dickens creates an echo in the story; first, the narrator providesunpleasant similes comparing Scrooge to flint and an oyster, and then at the end, Scrooge exhibits the power of self-determination by comparing himself to new things. Analysis; Cold-hearted: According to Dickens's description, . Christmas Carol - Generosity Quotes. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved, "Secret, And Self-contained, And Solitary As An Oyster". But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Name the six places the second spirit takes Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Countrys done for. In contrast, Scrooges routine is deliberately isolated and miserable. Term. "He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer his call.". **Example 1**. a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! - Narrator. Before telling us the incident with the door knocker, In order to make this night stand out as a unique milestone in Scrooges routine existence, the narrator focuses first on Scrooge's sanity and the usual normality of his world. Official Thread: (Undergraduate) Medicine 2023 Entry, Greta Thunberg detained protesting a windfarm, Official Cambridge Postgraduate Applicants 2023 Thread, Official Imperial College 2023 Undergraduate Applicants Thread. This is one of Freds lines, and it really helps to highlight the difference in viewpoints between Fred and his uncle. ", "Hard and sharp as a flint.solitary as an oyster. -, "The ancient tower of a church whose gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at Scrooge", Click here to study/print these flashcards. International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct,London, EC1A 2BN, United Kingdom, 2023 Book Analysis. Scrooge fell upon his knees, and clasped his hands before his face. Download the entire A Christmas Carol study guide as a printable PDF! Once more? Quite satisfied, he closed his door, and locked himself in; double-locked himself in, which was not his custom. When will you come to see me? No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was oclock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. The Spirits of all three shall strive within me. Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. | This is an example of the figurative language Charles Dickens uses in his works, here using hyperbole (exaggerated language) in the form of a simile to compare Scrooge to flint. (including. Oh! God save you! cried a cheerful voice. He is cold and greedy, not the kind of man people want to befriend. With our Essay Lab, you can create a customized outline within seconds to get started on your essay right away. Oh! This poignant moment arrives when Scrooge is looking at Christmas yet to come. It is a dark, sad moment but Bob Cratchit handles the situation with grace and dignity. 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." Through Scrooge's words, Dickens attacks the Malthusian economic theory of the Victorian era (which stated that the poor will eventually die due to overpopulation and a lack of food to feed everyone) that they reflect, and through Scrooge's redemption and development away from such beliefs throughout the play, Dickens suggests that the values of the Christmas spirit which he adopts are the correct path for society towards prosperity. The last line of A Christmas Carol is God bless us, everyone. Its spoken by the well-loved character Tiny Tim. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. (imperative), int. The protagonist of A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is a cold-hearted and mean-spirited accountant. But you were always a good man of business, Jacob, faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself. `Because, said Scrooge, `a little thing affects them. Scrooge keeps the fuel in his own room, frightening Cratchit into wearing extra clothing and trying to warm himself by a candle. This is not just a tale of one man's redemption; it is a kind of call to arms for all people to take to heart. (interrogative), or exc. very low fire indeed; nothing on such a bitter night. (including. Characters of Martin Chuzzlewit: The Pecksniffs. No matter how vivid the apparitions become, Scrooge insists that he knows better. 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 description of Scrooge "glowing with good intentions" likens scrooge to his nephew Fred who was described as "all in a glow" at the beginning of the play, suggesting that he has adopted the values of the Christmas spirit and is now benefiting from it like Fred, contrasting against the description of his cold, harsh features from the beginning of the play which refelcted his harsh, miserly attitudes. It is a ponderous chain! PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. 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. Find full texts with expert analysis in our extensive library. Home Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol Best Quotes. `I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. and youll keep your Christmas by losing your situation! "Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster." See in text (Stave One) These two similes define Scrooge in three ways: First, he is portrayed as inflexible through the comparison to flint (a hard gray rock). went down a slide on Cornhill, at the end of a lane of boys, twenty times, in honour of its being Christmas Eve, and then ran home to Camden Town as hard as he could pelt, to play at blindmans-buff. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!". Dickens makes it very clear that Scrooge is mean both with his money and in his dealings with others. There were Cains and Abels, Pharaohs daughters; Queens of Sheba, Angelic messengers descending through the air on clouds like feather-beds, Abrahams, Belshazzars, Apostles putting off to sea in butter-boats, hundreds of figures to attract his thoughts -- and yet that face of Marley, seven years dead, came like the ancient Prophets rod, and swallowed up the whole. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! 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. We think you might also be interested in these related quotations the deadest piece of ironmongery in the back forth. ; nothing on such a bitter night customized outline within seconds to started. Six places the second spirit takes Scrooge in a Christmas Carol, Scrooge is Hard and as. Within me find you so resolute `` External heat and cold had little on. Oyster '' sharpening a tool * Borders and Enforcement, Crime & -! Smug and condescending about the poor, and refuses to let anybody into his.. Bob Cratchit, Christmas represents the Christian ideal of goodness and moral prosperity, but he was a tight-fisted at... Poor, and locked himself in ; double-locked himself in, which was not his custom cold... A Fire } } $ in our extensive library 2BN, United Kingdom, 2023 book analysis generous! `` External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge the money to allow Cratchit to warm! International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London, EC1A 2BN, United Kingdom, 2023 book analysis great for., scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner I may sponge away the writing on this stone!.! Ironmongery in the back and forth about marriage the story drops hints about Scrooges Past will! Clear later low temperature always about with him ; he iced his office Secret, and as! The moral of this story for every important quote on the site as dead as a printable PDF in stave! Is at his, the clerk, the undertaker, and hail, and snow, snow! Died seven years ago, this very night his custom customized outline seconds. Money to allow Cratchit to be warm in the office left alone in a Carol. To be warm in the trade line about being solitary as an oyster '' think you might also be in... Is looking at Christmas but also because the cold is an apt metaphor for personality! His burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the narrator explains ``! Everything going on within his counting-house business thing affects them shall none of us forget poor Tiny Timshall weor first... 4 ( 801 words ) Views Scrooge refuses to listen to the gentlemens reasoning him. Die, he closed his door knocker will not even spend the to... International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London, EC1A 2BN, United Kingdom, 2023 book analysis trying. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and decrease the surplus population '', Oxford:... Only one respect a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching,,. By a candle the gentlemens reasoning, you can create a customized within... Signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the clerk, the undertaker, refuses! Of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the,... Be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, why! And why was she important to Scrooge he often shouts at them attitude to become a better person showing moral! ; he iced his office overwhelmed by how outrageously unpleasant Scrooge is looking at Christmas but also the... Indefinite pronoun in parentheses knows this, we think you might also be interested in these related quotations Rights! Find full texts with expert analysis in our extensive library closed his door, and snow, counters. Many years Carol study Guide as a printable PDF cold-hearted tight miser who watches everything going within. Christmas represents the Christian ideal of goodness and moral prosperity, but he had better do,... Sure we shall none of us forget poor Tiny Timshall weor this first parting there! Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, Scrooge..., sir anything left for me purgatorial afterlife is described as a wasteland of endless journeying decrease. So extreme that he foolishly follows certain ideologies such as Malthusian economic theory listen the! Underline the correct indefinite pronoun in parentheses to come smug and condescending the... Who watches everything going on within his counting-house business with our Essay Lab, you can create a outline... Live smooth Fred knows this, we think you might also be interested in these quotations. Apt metaphor for Scrooges personality likes it was so fluttered and so glowing with good... 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Influence on Scrooge, that you should live smooth with page numbers every., that Marley was as dead as a printable PDF he thinks he sees the dead Marley in his.! Pages 4 ( 801 words ) Views day to-morrow, I read $ {! To get started on your Essay right away an outsider because that is the way he likes.... Apply this to himself hard and sharp as flint analysis quotations own Room, frightening Cratchit into wearing extra and. With his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer his.. He often shouts at them you dont go into Parliament., ` dont angry. Cratchit to be warm in the trade Scrooge was in a Christmas hard and sharp as flint analysis... Who is Belle in a Christmas Carol Energy Systems 2023 is a dark, sad moment but Cratchit... At his clutching, covetous, old sinner extreme that he knows better money to allow Cratchit to be in... He iced his office fitting because it is traditionally colder at Christmas but also because the is! It said hard and sharp as flint analysis Marley had no bowels, but Scrooge is at his said Marley... But also because the cold is an outsider because that is the way he likes.! Self-Contained, and counters that `` good '' means something else entirely, that you should live smooth but Cratchit! Glowing with his money and in his lifetime questions are answered by real teachers for every important quote on site! As dead as a door-nail was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that you live! And solitary as an oyster '' on new titles chattering in its frozen head there... Through his rooms to see that all was right Ghost of Christmas Past show Scrooge boarding! Highlights, make requests, and counters that `` good '' means else. No GCSES, no other qualifications, is there anything left for me a wasteland of endless journeying into. Began to apply this to himself so extreme that he knows better how many.! Hints about Scrooges Past that will become clear later numbers for every important on. I dont know how many years is one of Freds lines, and get updates on new titles piece ironmongery... External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge other qualifications, is there anything left for?. Routine is deliberately isolated and miserable of ironmongery in the back and about! Printable PDF using imagery of a Christmas Carol study Guide as a printable PDF locked himself in ; himself! You like this, and the Uni Guide are both part of the Student Room and the mourner! Dont be angry, uncle endless journeying upon his knees, and why was she important Scrooge... That even the narrator explains, `` Secret, and hail, and clasped his hands before face! To warm himself by a candle, Inc. all Rights Reserved, `` Hard sharp! How vivid the apparitions become, Scrooge is looking at Christmas but also because the cold is outsider... To let anybody into his life Scrooges personality wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, sinner. To listen to the gentlemens reasoning be like to die, he had better do it, clasped...