Jacob Marley Essay

A Christmas Carol is a Victorian tale that is loved by millions worldwide. It was written by Charles devil in 1843 and combines the harsh reality of p all overty in Victorian terms with the joy of Christmas and shadows. The reason why we honour at Christmas is due to Charles Dickens himself, with food, parties and the festive tactual sensation. The story also has a moral to it. It foc handlings around single man Ebenezer skinflint and his greed for money, his hate for Christmas and a journey through past, present and future.Throughout the smart Charles Dickens uses a number of techniques to get across the message of poverty and differences in class and he aims to stimulate the readers social conscience and draw attention to the plight of the poor in Victorian London. One of the main techniques that Dickens uses is to mickle the story around Christmas. Christmas is a time of happiness and celebration and Dickens emphasizes the merriness of this festive time by describing it as a joyous precedent.Dickens goes into great detail when describing the feast that is had at Christmas using phrases like its tenderness and flavor and in that location never was such a goose. But the main reason for the story to be set at Christmas is that Scrooge is the exact opposite of a festive person. He refers to Christmas as a time for paying bills without money and whenever and wherever its mentioned the famous m evince of Bah Humbug is stubbornly given as a reply. In the story Charles Dickens nephew plays a major part in trying to dribble his uncle Scrooge that Christmas time is a kind, forgivable, charitable, and pleasant time.The word charitable though, has no rigorousing any(prenominal) to Scrooge as when he is approached by two charity collectors and asked whether he would donate some money, his warm reply was to say ar there no prisons, are there no work bases? and that judgment shows his utter lack of Christmas spirit, but I bet he wish he never said that as that line comes subscribe to haunt him. Scrooge a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching covetous old sinner Hard and scheming as a flint , from which no steel had ever struck out generous raise secret and self contained, and solitary as an oyster. some other of Dickens techniques used is his detailed suit exaggeration of Scrooge. The way in which Scrooge is describe and the words used are so Dickens like, as sentence after sentence of in depth words and phrases are used. In his school days, he was very serious and was more interested in his education than Christmas. Later in his life he had a fianci e and he used to enjoy the festivities. Money then took over his life and he has rejected everyone ever since and because of this, even though he is financially richer, his life is overmuch poorer. Scrooges house isnt his it is the late Marleys.He just hasnt changed the name. As described in the book he keeps the house sort of neat. He checks each room, and from his description he keeps the house in pristine condition. In a sense his house reflects his personality. The way Dickens conveys the message, the house is quite dull. Scrooge is an accountant and manages his own rail line. Accountancy can sometimes be seen as quite dull and boring again the occupation could reflect the person within. He treats his employees in a mean way. He gives them small wages and when it is bitterly cold, he wont let them have ember for the fire.The firm is a cold dark place at any time of the year. The whole business is cold and described using words of that nature. Scrooge really believes that his business is very successful and he is undoubtedly wealthy because of its success. Surely though he has neglected the social side of life and must not be very rich emotionally. One way to describe this portrayal is by use of the weather to reflect the vitrines mood. At the beginning, cold words are used to eviscerate Scrooge, such as froze and foul weather, giving th e feeling to the reader of his coldness as a character.At the end of the novella, in contrast, he is described with warm words, for example, golden sunlight and smoked. This gives the impression to the reader that Scrooge has under gone and complete transformation from being a cold, stubborn character into a warm, caring, compassionate person. Everything he now does is in direct opposition to his actions at the beginning of the story. Another technique Dickens uses is his account of the ghosts and the metaphors he uses when describing them. The rootage supernatural being to visit Scrooge is the ghost of Jacob Marley Scrooges deceased working partner.The appearance of this spirit is directly similar to what Marley wore in his first life when he was a slave to money exactly like Scrooge. These same working habiliments show how he is still chained shoot down by the burden of money and that his afterlife has been do rather painful by being a slave to work. Marleys ghost is warnin g Scrooge that if he doesnt change his character, he will too be burdened in his afterlife. The spirit also foretells the appearance of three more ghosts. The chains clasped about his middle and all the different items that are wrought to the chain all symbolize money and greed of the spirit.The cash-boxes and the keys all represent the hiding apart of money and keeping the wealth to themselves and not sharing the abundance of money. The imagery of heavy objects such as the padlocks and steel purses show how laden the ghost is with the weight of the money. The ledgers and deeds show the detailed accounts of money and victorian ownership and this is a symbol that everything has to be accounted for, no money can pass by the testing of the accountant which is so true to Scrooges life. Apart from being immensely weighted down by his possessions of greed which held back his life, Marley was transparent.This was so obvious that Scrooge could see the two buttons on the back of his coat. This transparency conveys the sense that this person was never a normal human he was a chill figure who lacked some human qualities that most usual persons have. This is a ghost which freezes the presence around him with his shoemakers last cold eyes and his chilling influence, he is cold, like his life. He has no real centerfield and the only apparent clear images Scrooge can see of this spirit are the symbols of hoarding, selfishness and greed.