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“We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices.”

Stave 1

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“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”

Stave 5

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‘“Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were all my business.”’

Stave 1

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‘”They are Man’s,” said the Spirit, looking down upon them. “And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers.”’

Stave 3

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“He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew.”

Stave 5

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"If they would rather die...they had better do it and decrease the surplus population"

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“The cold within him froze his old features.”

Stave 1

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“It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal”

Stave 1

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“If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!”

This quote is a prime example of Scrooge's initial miserly and bitter attitude towards Christmas and those who celebrate it.

This quote introduces scrooge and establishes his character as a hard-hearted character and an uncharitable man. Dickens uses a hyperbole to emphasise Scrooge’s severe dislike for christmas and the festive spirit.

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‘as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time…when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely’

Stave 1

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“tight-fisted hand at the grindstone”

Stave 1

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“Keep Christmas in your own way and let me keep it in mine.’

Stave 1

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“He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions…’

Stave 5

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“My dear sir,” said Scrooge, quickening his pace, and taking the old gentleman by both his hands.”

Stave 5

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“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”

Stave 5

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“And every man on board, waking or sleeping, good or bad, had had a kinder word for another on that day than on any day in the year.”

Stave 3

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“No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial…Golden sunlight.”

Stave 5

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‘”I want nothing from you; I ask nothing of you; why cannot we be friends?”’

Stave 1

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‘Father is so much kinder than he used to be, that home’s like Heaven!’

Stave 2

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“when he thought that such another creature, quite as graceful and as full of promise, might have called him father, and been a spring-time in the haggard winter of his life, his sight grew very dim indeed.

Stave 2

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‘he might have cultivated the kindness of life for his own happiness with his own hands…’

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“They were not a handsome family…But, they were happy, grateful, pleased with one another, and contented with the time...”

Stave 3

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“I fear you more than any spectre I have seen. But as I know your purpose is to do me good…”

Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

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The finger pointed from the grave to him, and back again.”

Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

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“its sparkling eye, its open hand, its cheery voice, its unconstrained demeanour, and its joyful air”

Ghost of Christmas Present

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The Spirit stood beside sick beds, and they were cheerful…he left his blessing, and taught Scrooge his precepts.”

Ghost of Christmas Present

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“Sparkled”,

“glittered”,

“voice was soft and gentle”,

“its gentle touch”

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““Without their visits,” said the Ghost, “you cannot hope to shun the path I tread.”’

Jacob Marley

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“but though Scrooge pressed it down with all his force, he could not hide the light…”

Ghost of Christmas Past

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“I wear the chain I forged in life,”

Jacob Marley

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"Your lip is trembling," said the Ghost. "And what is that upon your cheek?"

This moment is significant because it suggests that Scrooge, despite his hardened exterior, still has emotions. The fact that the Ghost points out a tear shows that Scrooge is beginning to feel remorse for his past choices. It marks an early step in his redemption as Scrooge begins acknowledging his emotions rather than repressing them.

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"There was a boy singing a Christmas carol at my door last night. I should like to have given him something"

As Scrooge revisits his lonely childhood, he remembers how he once felt abandoned and neglected. This realization sparks his first regret. The fact that he now wishes he had shown kindness to the boy outside his office door suggests that his transformation is already beginning.

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In A Christmas Carol, Dickens uses external forces including supernatural beings: ghosts to help bring about the transformation of Scrooge. This novella is didactic in that it tought the Victorian audience of the time the impact that simple grace and good deeds could have on society. With Scrooge, who's life is eventually turned around, he faces four ghosts, one of which being his former work partner who appears to wear the chain he fordged in life due to his lack of care 0 society. Scrooge is warned t if his behaviour continues, he wd suffer the same, or even a worse fate. The encounters t follow with the remaining three ghosts show Scrooge his life from the past and present, along with the future outcome assuming Scrooge did not change.

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"Tell me if Tiny Tim will live"

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Fred generates a positive atmosphere throughout the play, which will eventually have an everlasting, positive effect on Scrooge. Dickens presents Scrooge as a cold character, and we learn this through the quote “external heat and cold has little influence on Scrooge.” This also suggests that Fred’s behaviour and attitude is greater than Scrooge’s, potentially implying that Fred has a closer and better relationship with his family. This emphasises the power and importance of family, and why Scrooge’s eventual change is due to how he sees a family will suffer with the death of a loved one, Tiny Tim.

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"I will live in the past, the present, and the future"