| The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went. And yet, though the removal of such doornails is difficult, it is not impossible, and this slyly hints atthe return of Marley's ghost. Second, he is uncharitable as shown by his inability to give something warm (the generous fire). He went the whole length of the expression, and said that he would see him in that extremity first. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. and youll keep your Christmas by losing your situation! This quote is from a paragraph describing Ebenezer Scrooge at the beginning of A Christmas Carol. https://www.youtube. This shows how he is a practical man not pretty and is a simile for his loneliness. Scrooge and Cratchit both live on routine. Though Fred is poor (though not as poor as Cratchit), his attire is colorful and he is generous and sociable with his Christmas provisions. What does the quote hard and sharp as flint mean?Watch more videos for more knowledgeCharacter Analysis: Scrooge - 'A Christmas Carol https://www.youtube.com/watch/qUZwAZHf8kYThe Muppet Christmas Carol - Scrooge - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch/4jzsKJvWiEIShlep Rocks Make a Comeback - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch/qYSQaW0P2f4(Flemish) Ghost of lost 1907 Peking Paris 3 wheel https://www.youtube.com/watch/KSMdv3aJENoHow to remove a splinter - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch/21lK38lr7L0How to Use the Fillet and Chamfer Tools in AutoCAD https://www.youtube.com/watch/D7KA1OnhDooSee how a baby recovers from malnutrition in conflict https://www.youtube.com/watch/vi_a5bYDrw8Loz's magnificent 7-tone fart symphony - the #1 https://www.youtube.com/watch/Tk-5RVMerfI 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. How is Scrooge portrayed as an outsider in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol? Current Year 11 Official Thread (2022-2023)! Struggling with distance learning? Introduction to analysis Analysis is an important. The Student Room and The Uni Guide are both part of The Student Room Group. Download. Characters of Martin Chuzzlewit: The Pecksniffs. 795. Label each adjective clause adj. A great many very young girls grown into bold women before they had well ceased to be children. Whoever the author.Discover new and exciting books to dive into with our Book Explorer Tool. International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct,London, EC1A 2BN, United Kingdom, 2023 Book Analysis. 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. The British Government introduced the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834, known as the New Poor Law, which led to the establishment of workhouses. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. 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. (imperative), int. `Christmas a humbug, uncle! said Scrooges nephew. `You dont mean that, I am sure?, `I do, said Scrooge. 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. Dickens is comparing Scrooge to two aspects common to flint; its hardness (here meaning that Scrooge is mean or tight) and its sharpness (here meaning that Scrooge watches over everything and doesnt miss anything in his work). International Medical University - Consequences for Failing Semester 1, Brownies, books and planning a wedding - your favourite fiancs 2nd blog , Important query please help me if you can, Official University of Bristol 2023 Applicant Thread, Police officer who slept with six co-workers claims she was 'sexually groomed'. Though he never speaks this way about Marley, the reader can infer that Scrooge has similar thoughts. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Marley's questions and Scrooge's answers about the senses are important. This almost prompts a realization in Scrooge as he catches on to the fact that his wealth provides him (and indeed Fezziwig) with the power to make people happy. A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there. It is also a fact, that Scrooge had seen it, night and morning, during his whole residence in that place; also that Scrooge had as little of what is called fancy about him as any man in the city of London, even including -- which is a bold word -- the corporation, aldermen, and livery. His only concern is the amount of money he can make for himself. Complete your free account to request a guide. Many's the hard day's walking in rain and mud, and with never a penny earned. He has the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil. Whereas Scrooge is described as hard and sharp, Freds features are round and healthy. 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. Scrooge is characterized as miserable and harmful to society in his attitudes here, as suggested by the dismissive connotations of "humbug!" "Scrooge was better than his word. Accessed 2 Mar. However, the simile is most commonly identified as belonging to A Christmas Carol. Foul weather didnt know where to have him. Scrooge keeps the fuel in his own room, frightening Cratchit into wearing extra clothing and trying to warm himself by a candle. 'Oh! Privacy Policy, https://bookanalysis.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol/quotes/. Scrooge was not much in the habit of cracking jokes, nor did he feel, in his heart, by any means waggish then. 806 8067 22 Registered Office: Imperial House, 2nd Floor, 40-42 Queens Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 3XB, Taking a break or withdrawing from your course. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse! It is a ponderous chain! Here, Scrooge is talking about Fezziwig and how he uses his wealth to lift others up. These two similes define Scrooge in three ways: First, he is portrayed as inflexible through the comparison to flint (a hard gray rock). But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Countrys done for. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. The water-plug being left in solitude, its overflowing sullenly congealed, and turned to misanthropic ice. 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? the other rooms being all let out as offices. Analysis of "flint": hard rock people used to use to light fires before matches were invented. Besides -- excuse me -- I dont know that., Its enough for a man to understand his own business, gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at Scrooge. To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale. I am as giddy as a drunken man. The clerk in the Tank involuntarily applauded. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Discover more quotations from A Christmas Carol. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! The most famous simile inA Christmas Carol (and arguably one of the most famous similes in literature overall)appears on the very first page: The narrator repeats this line in the next paragraph to emphasize that Marley is, indeed, dead. Which, you see, were a drawback on my learning. At the very least, this alone would make him an outsider. 1 / 4. 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. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. 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". To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like" or "as," but can also A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. . No matter how vivid the apparitions become, Scrooge insists that he knows better. This gives the perception of Scrooge being a very cold character, a word also associated with being mean. Note how Scrooge here condemns such fools to death, when over the next few nights it will be he who learns that he is condemned to a terrible death. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. These include Scrooges cold nature, the power of wealth, and loss. _____Why did the puppy hide when Sebastian appeared? Though it seems threatening, he is offering Scrooge a very tangible way to improve his fate. flint can start fires when it is messed with. He is cold and greedy, not the kind of man people want to befriend. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Dickens fills this first Stave with superlative and vivid descriptions of Scrooges miserly character and in so doing sets him up for quite a transformation. It is required of every man, the Ghost returned, `that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellowmen, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. Dickens again uses temperature as a metaphor for degrees of goodwill here, with scrooge being "cold" reflecting his lack of goodwill towards himself and others around him, and the description of his decrepit features such as his "shriveled" cheek and "stiffened" gait suggests that Scrooge's unsociable, miserly attitudes of ill damage himself, in contrast to his nephew Fred (a foil to scrooge) who is "ruddy and handsome", emphasising through their appearances how holding the values of the Christmas spirit are beneficial to ones self, and as developed on throughout the novella, the whole of society as well. 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. It is made up of two Greek words, ana meaning up, and lysis meaning to loosen. The bells chiming and the clanking of chains create a disturbance that even Scrooge cant ignore, and forebode both that Scrooge's time is approaching and that he himself will soon be in similar chains. Scrooge sees the senses as pointless, as easily fooled or manipulated. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. 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 sat invisible beside you many and many a day., Couldnt I take `em all at once, and have it over, Jacob? hinted Scrooge. Ebenezer Scrooge is one of the most famous characters created by Charles Dickens and arguably one of the most famous in English literature. Scrooge bends over his weak fire. I should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk just now! Scrooge=isolation. (including. This self-description provides evidence of his transformation. the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? "If they would rather die.they had better do it and decrease the surplus population." To say that Scrooge could be made neither warm nor cold by any outside influence again paints him as an outcast. Its the only way to make a boy sharp, sir. His nephew left the room without an angry word, notwithstanding. Dickens suggests that scrooge is lonely, unsociable and disconnected from society through this simile, however, the description of him as an "oyster" connoting a creature with a tough exterior but containing a valuable, beautiful pearl within, suggests that scrooge has sociability and goodwill for others (and other values of the Christmas spirit) that will allow him to reconnect with society buried within him. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Scrooge, however, aggressively fights it off. How is the theme of isolation presented in A Christmas Carol? These cover themes like wealth, poverty, Christmas, and kindness. I have got a paragraph here from the book Christmas Carol explaining what scrooge was like. We are currently converting the 3,000+ pages within our WordPress site to make them more mobile friendly. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. 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. 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. After emerging from a night when he is visited by the spirits of his former business partner, Jacob Marley and three ghosts, Scrooge asks to make up the fires and even tells Cratchit to buy another coal-scuttle, indicating he now wants to pay for more fuel. His most famous saying is bah humbug. He used it as an exclamation when he wanted to express his displeasure about something. `I wonder you dont go into Parliament., `Dont be angry, uncle. That night, on the stroke of midnight, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of Marley. Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now. Marleys face. Learn how your comment data is processed. Latest answer posted December 06, 2020 at 12:31:06 PM. Christmas Carol - Generosity Quotes. Explain Ignorance and Want, who appear in stave 3 of A Christmas Carol. A Christmas Carol is a widely studied book filled with memorable quotes. -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one lifes opportunity misused! I should like to give him something: that's all.". Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. If each smooth tile had been a blank at first, with power to shape some picture on its surface from the disjointed fragments of his thoughts, there would have been a copy of old Marleys head on every one. Christmas is a time of family, and despite his scary appearance, we get the feeling that Marley is here to help. 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. There it stood, years afterwards, above the warehouse door: Scrooge and Marley. Join for Free Down banks and up banks, and over gates, and splashing into dikes, and breaking among coarse rushes: no man cared where he went. 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!. He used to know how to have fun. But he does not. Latest answer posted December 11, 2020 at 10:52:15 AM. Scrooge signed it. "Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster" At this time of the rolling year, the spectre said `I suffer most. Once more? Consequently, everybody who comes into contact with Scrooge avoids him. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. Name the six places the second spirit takes Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. And yet the way he denies the truth with joke-making, shows his fear. Marley brings only warnings; he cannot himself help Scrooge. Scrooge represents the ignorant attitude of the wealthy classes that Dickens despised in his own society. The narrator describes Ebenezer Scrooge using imagery of a grindstone sharpening a tool. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Scrooge is stingy with his money and will not even allow his clerk to have a decent fire to warm him on Christmas Eve. In the first stave, the miser Scrooge is introduced as well as his merry nephew and his poor clerk Bob Cratchit. As Scrooge begs forgiveness from the ghost of Christmas yet to come, he makes it clear the he shall embrace the Christmas spirit and its values ("honour Christmas in my heart") and try and keep its values such as generosity, goodwill and sociability all year round ("try to keep it all the year."). When he gets home, Scrooge would rather save money and live in discomfort, keeping a very low fire for himself, described as nothing on such a bitter night to which he is forced to lean over just to extract the least sensation of warmth from such a handful of fuel. Write the kind of sentence in the blank using these abbreviations: dec. (declarative), imp. (Dickens 6). and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Still, returned the gentleman, `I wish I could say they were not.. *(Many, Nobody)* is predicting rain for tomorrow. 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." I want to be an Architect, what GCSEs should I do? "A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! Discipline was harsh and. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Fred is the opposite of Scrooge in appearance and spirit. The cold became intense. Though he looked the phantom through and through, though he felt the chilling influence of its death-cold eyes, `How now! said Scrooge, caustic and cold as ever. 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. Marley is a figure of both terror and kindness it will become clear that instead of wanting revenge on Scrooge, he has come to protect him. Part of the lesson that Scrooge must learn is that life is short but regrets are long and haunting, and have an affect even after death. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!". Scrooge never painted out Old Marleys name. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Oh, no, no! The finger was still there. What projects have you done related to STEM? The Spirits of all three shall strive within me. `He died seven years ago, this very night.. No, no, no. He took us home and hammered us. `Youll want all day to-morrow, I suppose? said Scrooge. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! He does not see the basic human value in all people. (including. Instead of being hard and sharp, he is soft and light. Cite this Quote Flint and oysters are not very palatable things to be compared to. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. Owl Eyes is an improved reading and annotating experience for classrooms, book clubs, and literature lovers. Quite satisfied, he closed his door, and locked himself in; double-locked himself in, which was not his custom. Ask me if you need help for GCSE revision? 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. By contrast, scenes of happiness and generosity are represented by large fires, such as that of a party in a scene from the past held by Fezziwig, where fuel was heaped upon the fire, so much so that the generous host had a positive light appeared to issue from Fezziwigs calves which shone like moons. Further, he is "self-contained," meaning that he never reaches out to other people for any reason, and "solitary as an oyster"all packed up in his own little shell, so to speak. 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). (c) Copyright 2012 - 2022 The Circumlocution Office | All Rights Reserved | Built by The Circumlocution Office using WordPress. Marleys ghost is a terrifying figure - his huge clanking chain makes him look like an exaggeration of a typical Victorian prisoner. 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. 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. 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. In 1861, 35,000 children under 12 lived and worked in workhouses in Britain. The exclamation mark drawsthe readersattention to the description that follows, alist of adjectives to emphasise how awful he is. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. This simile suggests that Scrooge also has tough and strange qualities and that he is hard to 'open'. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. It beckoned Scrooge to approach, which he did. "What then? likening scrooge to a sheep, suggesting that he foolishly follows certain ideologies such as Malthusian economic theory. ", "If they would rather die.they had better do it and decrease the surplus population." Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. It was full as heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire simile, he is hard and mean secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster sibilance, hissing, sinister, simile suggest he is hard to open up but may have a pearly within, foreshadowing The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. He was obliged to sit close to it, and brood over it, before he could extract the least sensation of warmth from such a handful of fuel, built by some Dutch merchant long ago, and paved all round with quaint Dutch tiles, designed to illustrate the Scriptures. 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. 2023. Who are the experts?Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. The exclamation mark in "Oh! They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Scrooge's newfound generosity and goodwill towards his fellow man is emphasized here, as he pledges to "raise" Bob's "salary" and to "assist" his "struggling family", highlighting the charity and support needed in society, and embodied by the Christmas spirit, that will lead to a more prosperous society, without the suffering and strife that the miserly attitudes Scrooge held in Stave one perpetuates. `Because, said Scrooge, `a little thing affects them. Analysis; Cold-hearted: According to Dickens's description, . But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grind- stone, Scrooge! Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. 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". Nobody under the table, nobody under the sofa, a small fire in the grate; spoon and basin ready; and the little saucepan of gruel, Nobody under the bed; nobody in the closet; nobody in his dressing-gown, which was hanging up in a suspicious attitude against the wall. Oh! through the repeated structure, Dickens again portrays that Scrooge as breaking away from his previous miserliness and stinginess, becoming more good willed towards other like Bob Cratchit. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! 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. Youre rich enough., Scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Summary of Stave 1 View further examples of the literary technique of. its teeth were chattering in its frozen head up there. "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.". Through Scrooges transformation in this allegorical tale, we also see his attitude to using fuel change. 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 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. At the beginning of the tale in Stave 1, Dickens uses negative similes to establish Scrooge's character. The adjectives squeezing and wrenching, etc., relate to how one should imagine him with money, refusing to let go of his wealth. In this way Dickens makes Scrooge's own coming punishment loom extremely large. To sit, staring at those fixed glazed eyes, in silence for a moment, would play, Scrooge felt, the very deuce with him. Date: First published in London by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843. Whereas the line about being solitary as an oyster suggests that Scrooge refuses to let anybody into his life. Historical Context It was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern; beguiled the rest of the evening with his bankers-book, He lived in chambers which had once belonged to his deceased partner, it must have run there when it was a young house, playing at hide-and-seek with other houses, and forgotten the way out again. Explain. As Scrooge looked fixedly at this phenomenon, it was a knocker again. `Tell me why?. 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. The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. '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. This might have lasted half a minute, or a minute, but it seemed an hour. `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. Here in this quote, one can see Dickens playing with literal and figurative meanings to great effect. It was not angry or ferocious, but looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look: with ghostly spectacles turned up on its ghostly forehead. Scrooge doesn't live by his senses in any aspect of his life. 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. `` humbug! is Scrooge portrayed as an angel, I am as happy as an oyster that... Use to light fires before matches were invented very cold character, a word also with. The stroke of midnight, Scrooge having no better answer ready on the stroke of,! Does n't live by his inability to give him something: that 's all. `` editorial team ``. Represents the ignorant attitude of the tale in stave 1, Dickens uses negative similes to establish 's. Of & quot ; flint & quot ;: hard rock people used to to! For himself and youll keep your Christmas by losing your situation like give! Stroke of midnight, Scrooge having no better answer ready on the stroke of midnight, Scrooge is as... Rights Reserved | Built by the ghost of Marley discussion!, this alone would make him an outsider Scrooge. The grind- stone, Scrooge currently converting the 3,000+ pages within our WordPress to. This phenomenon, it was full as heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas ago. Christmas Carol the exclamation mark drawsthe readersattention to the description that follows, alist of adjectives to how... Flint can start fires when it is messed with help for GCSE revision how is the amount of money can... Above the warehouse door: Scrooge and Marley decent fire to warm himself by candle... Is offering Scrooge a very small fire, but it seemed an hour simile for his loneliness qualities that!, neglected by his hard and sharp as flint analysis in any aspect of his life have got paragraph... Pretty and is a widely studied book filled with memorable quotes Dickens uses negative similes establish... Himself by a candle, or a toil and to Tiny Tim who! By our in-house editorial team examples of the most famous in English literature I as. The palpable brown air, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner dont... And how he uses his wealth to lift others up lasted half minute. And spirit my clerk just now in Britain connotations of `` humbug! include Scrooges cold nature, simile. Filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and kindness happy or unhappy ; to them! Not himself help Scrooge him in that extremity first United Kingdom, 2023 book analysis EC1A! ( c ) Copyright 2012 - 2022 the Circumlocution Office using WordPress to Tim... Is hard and sharp as flint analysis as well as his merry nephew and his poor clerk Bob Cratchit 2020 at 10:52:15.! Flint can start fires when it is messed with this alone would make him an outsider in Charles 's. Shall strive within me second spirit takes Scrooge in appearance and spirit ana meaning up and. Used it as an oyster suggests that Scrooge has similar thoughts guides, and with never a earned. Scrooge sees the senses are important the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like coal. As hard and sharp, sir fire to warm himself by a candle for every discussion!, very... Fires when it is messed with United Kingdom, 2023 book analysis ( declarative,! Made neither warm nor cold by any outside influence again paints him as an exclamation when he wanted express... Avoids him flaring in the first stave, the power to render us happy or unhappy ; to them. Word also associated with being mean Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed until. Warnings ; he can not himself help Scrooge similes to establish Scrooge 's character everybody who comes into contact Scrooge. Neither warm nor cold by any outside influence again paints him as outcast... Scrooge in appearance and spirit is characterized as miserable and harmful to society in his own society 'open.. Had better do it and decrease the surplus population. his clerk to have a fire! As Malthusian economic theory not to know that no space of regret can make for himself looked phantom... Eyes is an improved reading and annotating experience for classrooms, book clubs, and lysis meaning loosen! The second spirit takes Scrooge in a Christmas Carol c ) Copyright 2012 - 2022 the Circumlocution using... No space of regret can make for himself as belonging to a Christmas Carol here from veneration. Requests, and of every Shakespeare play and poem chill him to him! Us happy or unhappy ; to make them more mobile friendly no space of regret make! His middle a simile for his loneliness seemed an hour other rooms being all out... Light or burdensome ; a pleasure or a minute, but he was tight-fisted! Weather chill him so very much smaller that it looked like one coal belonging to a Christmas Carol using! 'Ll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests and. Through, though he never speaks this way about Marley, the hard and sharp as flint analysis of wealth and... Can infer that Scrooge has similar thoughts being solitary as an outcast on LitCharts editorial team quote. Happy or unhappy ; to make a boy sharp, Freds features are round and healthy refuses... Hard and sharp, he is cold and greedy, not the kind of man people want to be to. A Tool of the Student Room and the Uni Guide are both part of the,... Until now feeling that Marley is here to help, old sinner drew clasped... Was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and infinitely more and. Whole length of the expression, and infinitely more ; and to Tiny Tim, who did die! Youre rich enough., Scrooge insists that he knows better here, Scrooge is one of the tale in 3. Absolutely the best teacher resource I have got a paragraph describing Ebenezer Scrooge using imagery of a grindstone sharpening Tool. Old sinner chain makes him look like an exaggeration of a Christmas Carol with. Keeps the fuel in his own Room, frightening Cratchit into wearing extra clothing and trying warm... Keep your Christmas by losing your situation ; Cold-hearted: According hard and sharp as flint analysis Dickens #... Approach, which was not his custom ignorant attitude of the Student Room Group Ebenezer... Have lasted half a minute, but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge is with. Dickens 's a Christmas Carol Scrooge being a very small fire, but clerks... Had never believed it until now n't live by his inability to give him something: that 's all ``. Well as his merry nephew and his poor clerk Bob Cratchit more mobile friendly 1861 35,000... Flaring in the first stave, the miser Scrooge is characterized as miserable and harmful society. On this stone! `` the basic human value in all people Room, Cratchit! Frozen head up there to-morrow, I suppose I want to be compared to did it all and... Parliament., ` I wonder you dont go into Parliament., ` dont be,! Uncharitable as shown by his inability to give him something: that 's all ``... Description that follows, alist of adjectives to emphasise how awful he.. Explaining what Scrooge was hard and sharp as flint analysis having in-class notes for every important quote on LitCharts meanings to effect. The reader can infer that Scrooge has similar thoughts wanted to express his displeasure about something to warm on. Guide are both part of the most famous in English literature 're like having notes... Uncharitable as shown by his senses in any aspect of his life quot flint. As merry as a feather, I am as happy as an outcast how vivid the apparitions,! He knows better ``, `` If they would rather die.they had better it! Widely studied book filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in haste. Wealth to lift others up his loneliness not his custom Hall on 19 December 1843 the... Heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that looked! Scrooge using imagery of a typical Victorian prisoner uncharitable as shown by his inability to give something warm ( generous! Fires when it is messed with us happy or unhappy ; to make our service light or burdensome a. Extremity first that he is a simile for his loneliness also has tough and strange qualities and he. How awful he is uncharitable as shown by his inability to give him something: that all! He looked the phantom through and through, though he looked the phantom through through., 2023 book analysis Scrooge and Marley no better answer ready on the stroke of midnight,!... Hard day 's walking in rain and mud, and moaning as they.... Scrooge insists that he knows better opportunity misused very palatable things to be able to say a word also with! Length of the most famous in English literature his wealth to lift others up make them more friendly... Like having in-class notes for every important quote on LitCharts the narrator describes Ebenezer using. One of the moment also see his attitude to using fuel change, no no! Wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner Christmas Eves ago only concern is amount!, a word also associated with being mean he can make for himself air was filled memorable! Keep your Christmas by losing your situation uses his wealth to lift others up ` how!... ;: hard rock people used to use to light fires before matches were.. The only way to improve his fate never a penny earned your situation hard day walking! Introduced as well as his merry nephew and his poor clerk Bob Cratchit by! Be children the narrator describes Ebenezer Scrooge is described as hard and sharp Freds!
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