scrooge was the ogre of the family analysis

His wealth is of no use to him. To Scrooges horror, looking back, he saw the last of the land, a frightful range of rocks, behind them; and his ears were deafened by the thundering of water, as it rolled and roared, and raged among the dreadful caverns it had worn, and fiercely tried to undermine the earth. He has given us plenty of merriment, I am sure, said Fred, and it would be ungrateful not to drink his health. Mrs. Cratchit said that now the weight was off her mind, she would confess she had had her doubts about the quantity of flour. Design changes: Please bear with us if you come across anything that may look a little disjointed. Its feet, observable beneath the ample folds of the garment, were also bare; and on its head it wore no other covering than a holly wreath, set here and there with shining icicles. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die., No, no, said Scrooge. The very gold and silver fish, set forth among these choice fruits in a bowl, though members of a dull and stagnant-blooded race, appeared to know that there was something going on; and, to a fish, went gasping round and round their little world in slow and passionless excitement. And now two smaller Cratchits, boy and girl, came tearing in, screaming that outside the bakers they had smelt the goose, and known it for their own; and basking in luxurious thoughts of sage and onion, these young Cratchits danced about the table, and exalted Master Peter Cratchit to the skies, while he (not proud, although his collars nearly choked him) blew the fire, until the slow potatoes bubbling up, knocked loudly at the saucepan-lid to be let out and peeled. Stop! This toasting is "the first of the proceedings which had no heartiness" since no one else feels anything but resentment toward Scrooge. Forgive me if I am not justified in what I ask, said Scrooge, looking intently at the Spirits robe, but I see something strange, and not belonging to yourself, protruding from your skirts. The mention of his name cast a dark shadow on the party, which was not dispelled for full five minutes. In time the bells ceased, and the bakers were shut up; and yet there was a genial shadowing forth of all these dinners and the progress of their cooking, in the thawed blotch of wet above each bakers oven; where the pavement smoked as if its stones were cooking too. But this the Spirit said could not be done. Heaped up on the floor, to form a kind of throne, were turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, great joints of meat, sucking-pigs, long wreaths of sausages, mince-pies, plum-puddings, barrels of oysters, red-hot chestnuts, cherry-cheeked apples, juicy oranges, luscious pears, immense twelfth-cakes[2], and seething bowls of punch, that made the chamber dim with their delicious steam. Do go on, Fred, said Scrooges niece, clapping her hands. The chimes were ringing the three quarters past eleven at that moment. The Daughters of the Late Colonel: VI, 181. Never mind so long as you are come, said Mrs Cratchit. They were not a handsome family; they were not well dressed; their shoes were far from being water-proof; their clothes were scanty; and Peter might have known, and very likely did, the inside of a pawnbrokers. How is the theme of isolation presented in A Christmas Carol? Scrooge was the Ogre of the family. It was his own room. Here is a new game, said Scrooge. That was the pudding! Without venturing for Scrooge quite as hardily as this, I dont mind calling on you to believe that he was ready for a good broad field of strange appearances, and that nothing between a baby and rhinoceros would have astonished him very much. Nobody knows it better than you do, poor fellow., My dear, was Bobs mild answer, Christmas Day., Ill drink his health for your sake and the Days, said Mrs Cratchit, not for his. The poulterers shops were still half open, and the fruiterers were radiant in their glory. "Are there no workhouses? Why, wheres our Martha? cried Bob Cratchit, looking round. Here is a glass of mulled wine ready to our hand at the moment; and I say, Uncle Scrooge! , A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to the old man, whatever he is! said Scrooges nephew. He believed it too!. Prior to this visit, Scrooge had declared that if poor people would rather die than go to the workhouse or poorhouse, then they should just do it and decrease the surplus population. He did not care about their lives, and he does not seem to have cared about anything other than money. Discover more quotations from A Christmas Carol. The sight of these poor revellers appeared to interest the Spirit very much, for he stood with Scrooge beside him in a bakers doorway, and taking off the covers as their bearers passed, sprinkled incense on their dinners from his torch. From the foldings of its robe, it brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. Sit ye down before the fire, my dear, and have a warm, Lord bless ye!, No, no! A tremendous family to provide for! muttered Scrooge. I have no patience with him, observed Scrooges niece. Down in the west the setting sun had left a streak of fiery red, which glared upon the desolation for an instant, like a sullen eye, and frowning lower, lower, lower yet, was lost in the thick gloom of darkest night. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Much they saw, and far they went, and many homes they visited, but always with a happy end. Come in! exclaimed the Ghost. Introduce him to me, and Ill cultivate his acquaintance. Whats the consequence? But this the Spirit said could not be done. Scrooge was the Ogre of the family. Bob Cratchit said, and calmly too, that he regarded it as the greatest success achieved by Mrs. Cratchit since their marriage. Why, wheres our Martha? cried Bob Cratchit, looking round. Such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the rarest of all birds; a feathered phenomenon, to which a black swan was a matter of courseand in truth it was something very like it in that house. It was the first of their proceedings which had no heartiness. They are Mans, said the Spirit, looking down upon them. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. What then? He felt that he was restored to consciousness in the right nick of time, for the especial purpose of holding a conference with the second messenger despatched to him through Jacob Marleys intervention. Uncle Scrooge had imperceptibly become so gay and light of heart, that he would have pledged the unconscious company in return, and thanked them in an inaudible speech, if the Ghost had given him time. God bless us every one! said Tiny Tim, the last of all. See!. Long life to him! And Martha warnt as late last Christmas Day by half-an-hour?. There might have been twenty people there, young and old, but they all played, and so did Scrooge; for wholly forgetting in the interest he had in what was going on, that his voice made no sound in their ears, he sometimes came out with his guess quite loud, and very often guessed quite right, too; for the sharpest needle, best Whitechapel, warranted not to cut in the eye, was not sharper than Scrooge; blunt as he took it in his head to be. But, they were happy, grateful, pleased with one another, and contented with the time; and when they faded, and looked happier yet in the bright sprinklings of the Spirits torch at parting, Scrooge had his eye upon them, and especially on Tiny Tim, until the last. Mrs. Cratchit voices her dislikes, and refers to Scrooge as an "odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man." The family feels this way toward Scrooge because Mr. Cratchit works hard as his employee but is paid little and treated poorly. Study Questions, Activities, and Resources, 172. Mrs Cratchitdressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap, and make a goodly show for sixpence. Passing through the wall of mud and stone, they found a cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire. I wish I had him here. How does Dickens show this to be true? Who is Belle in A Christmas Carol, and why was she important to Scrooge? He wouldnt catch anybody else. Hes a comical old fellow, said Scrooges nephew, thats the truth: and not so pleasant as he might be. All this time, he lay upon his bed, the very core and centre of a blaze of ruddy light, which streamed upon it when the clock proclaimed the hour; and which, being only light, was more alarming than a dozen ghosts, as he was powerless to make out what it meant, or would be at; and was sometimes apprehensive that he might be at that very moment an interesting case of spontaneous combustion, without having the consolation of knowing it. At the beginning of the story, Bob Cratchit is not real to Scrooge as a flesh-and-blood human being. He has given us plenty of merriment, I am sure, said Fred, and it would be ungrateful not to drink his health. It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor mans child. Awaking in the middle of a prodigiously tough snore, and sitting up in bed to get his thoughts together, Scrooge had no occasion to be told that the bell was again upon the stroke of One. Now, being prepared for almost anything, he was not by any means prepared for nothing; and, consequently, when the Bell struck One, and no shape appeared, he was taken with a violent fit of trembling. Man, said the Ghost, if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered What the surplus is, and Where it is. Ill give you Mr. Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast! They are always in earnest. To Scrooges horror, looking back, he saw the last of the land, a frightful range of rocks, behind them; and his ears were deafened by the thundering of water, as it rolled and roared, and raged among the dreadful caverns it had worn, and fiercely tried to undermine the earth. ", Thus chastised, Scrooge, "bent before the Ghost's rebuke," lifts his head as he hears his name. It ends to-night., To-night at midnight. And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. I know what it is!. Tiny Tim drank it last of all, but he didnt care twopence for it. He was not the dogged Scrooge he had been; and though the Spirit's eyes were clear and kind, he did not like to meet them. A Christmas Carol is a novella, or short story, written by Charles Dickens and first published in the Christmas of 1843. He felt that he was restored to consciousness in the right nick of time, for the especial purpose of holding a conference with the second messenger despatched to him through Jacob Marleys intervention. An old, old man and woman, with their children and their childrens children, and another generation beyond that, all decked out gaily in their holiday attire. I mean to give him the same chance every year, whether he likes it or not, for I pity him. I am sorry for him; I couldnt be angry with him if I tried. The Ghost was greatly pleased to find him in this mood, and looked upon him with such favour, that he begged like a boy to be allowed to stay until the guests departed. However, his offences carry their own punishment, and I have nothing to say against him., Im sure he is very rich, Fred, hinted Scrooges niece. If you had fallen up against him (as some of them did), on purpose, he would have made a feint of endeavouring to seize you, which would have been an affront to your understanding, and would instantly have sidled off in the direction of the plump sister. At last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the hearth swept, and the fire made up. Here, he takes it into his head to dislike us, and he wont come and dine with us. Whereat Scrooges nieces sisterthe plump one with the lace tucker: not the one with the rosesblushed. All this time the chestnuts and the jug went round and round; and by-and-bye they had a song, about a lost child travelling in the snow, from Tiny Tim, who had a plaintive little voice, and sang it very well indeed. It was a long night, if it were only a night; but Scrooge had his doubts of this, because the Christmas Holidays appeared to be condensed into the space of time they passed together. Hurrah! If a question does not contain a vocabulary word from the lesson's word list, use one in your answer. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as . Joining their horny hands over the rough table at which they sat, they wished each other Merry Christmas in their can of grog; and one of them: the elder, too, with his face all damaged and scarred with hard weather, as the figure-head of an old ship might be: struck up a sturdy song that was like a Gale in itself. After it had passed away, they were ten times merrier than before, from the mere relief of Scrooge the Baleful being done with. Ghost of Xmas Past "A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still - Scrooge sobbed." The Song of the Shirt: Mrs Biddell and an early victory in the Victorian court of public opinion. Are there no workhouses?. Sit ye down before the fire, my dear, and have a warm, Lord bless ye!, No, no! And bide the end!. Scrooge reverently did so. The Daughters of the Late Colonel: III, 178. Ebenezer Scrooge (/ b n i z r s k r u d /) is the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella A Christmas Carol.At the beginning of the novella, Scrooge is a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas.The tale of his redemption by three spirits (the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) has become a defining . It would have been flat heresy to do so. The Daughters of the Late Colonel: VIII, 183. There was nothing of high mark in this. The time is drawing near.. I dont think I have, said Scrooge. This work (A Christmas Carol: Stave 3 by Charles Dickens) is free of known copyright restrictions. Analysis. Nobody knows it better than you do, poor fellow!My dear, was Bobs mild answer, Christmas Day.Ill drink his health for your sake and the Days, said Mrs. Cratchit, not for his. He wears tattered clothes as he cannot afford a coat. Any Answers? And all for the want of money. Scrooge! said Bob; Ill give you Mr. Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast!The Founder of the Feast indeed! cried Mrs. Cratchit, reddening. After Bob Cratchit toasts Mr. Scrooge as "the founder of the feast," the person who made their Christmas dinner possible, Mrs. Cratchit follows with a sarcastic toast of her own. The old man, in a voice that seldom rose above the howling of the wind upon the barren waste, was singing them a Christmas songit had been a very old song when he was a boy!-and from time to time they all joined in the chorus. On Christmas Eve. They knelt down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment. The narrator calls Dickens an Ogre of the Cratchit Family. Now, being prepared for almost anything, he was not by any means prepared for nothing; and, consequently, when the Bell struck One, and no shape appeared, he was taken with a violent fit of trembling. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. Bob Cratchit said, and calmly too, that he regarded it as the greatest success achieved by Mrs Cratchit since their marriage. The Daughters of the Late Colonel: I, 176. 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; and had shared to some extent in its festivities; and had remembered those he cared for at a distance, and had known that they delighted to remember him. You know he is, Robert! He wouldnt take it from me, but may he have it, nevertheless. All this time the chestnuts and the jug went round and round; and by-and-bye they had a song, about a lost child travelling in the snow, from Tiny Tim, who had a plaintive little voice, and sang it very well indeed. This garment hung so loosely on the figure, that its capacious breast was bare, as if disdaining to be warded or concealed by any artifice. But, if you had judged from the numbers of people on their way to friendly gatherings, you might have thought that no one was at home to give them welcome when they got there, instead of every house expecting company, and piling up its fires half-chimney high. The Daughters of the Late Colonel: II, 177. He wouldnt catch anybody else. Oh, I have! said Scrooges nephew. I wish I had him here. That was the cloth. This appears to bother Scrooge a great deal. And at the same time there emerged from scores of bye-streets, lanes, and nameless turnings, innumerable people, carrying their dinners to the bakers shops[5]. What we're witnessing here is a remarkable change in attitude. Scrooge's eyes are well and truly opened by the sight of the Cratchits' homelife. Oh, perfectly satisfactory. Why, bless your heart alive, my dear, how late you are. said Mrs Cratchit, kissing her a dozen times, and taking off her shawl and bonnet for her with officious zeal. Mrs Cratchit said that now the weight was off her mind, she would confess she had had her doubts about the quantity of flour. I went forth last night on compulsion, and I learnt a lesson which is working now. Martha didnt like to see him disappointed, if it were only in joke; so she came out prematurely from behind the closet door, and ran into his arms, while the two young Cratchits hustled Tiny Tim, and bore him off into the wash-house, that he might hear the pudding singing in the copper. The text says that he is considered the "ogre" of the family. But he raised them speedily, on hearing his own name. Altogether she was what you would have called provoking, you know; but satisfactory, too. The pudding was out of the copper. But when at last, he caught her; when, in spite of all her silken rustlings, and her rapid flutterings past him, he got her into a corner whence there was no escape; then his conduct was the most execrable. There are some upon this earth of yours, returned the Spirit, who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. But she joined in the forfeits, and loved her love to admiration with all the letters of the alphabet. He watches as Bob Cratchit takes Tiny Tim's, . This garment hung so loosely on the figure, that its capacious breast was bare, as if disdaining to be warded or concealed by any artifice. Himself, always. I was only going to say, said Scrooges nephew, that the consequence of his taking a dislike to us, and not making merry with us, is, as I think, that he loses some pleasant moments, which could do him no harm. His wealth is of no use to him. I mean to give him the same chance every year, whether he likes it or not, for I pity him. asked Mrs Cratchit, when she had rallied Bob on his credulity, and Bob had hugged his daughter to his hearts content. Bob held his withered little hand in his, as if he loved the child, and wished to keep him by his side, and dreaded that he might be taken from him. There are some upon this earth of yours, returned the Spirit, who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all out kith and kin, as if they had never lived. After it had passed away they were ten times merrier than before, from the mere relief of Scrooge the Baleful being done with. Is there a peculiar flavour in what you sprinkle from your torch? asked Scrooge. Well! To-night, if you have aught to teach me, let me profit by it.. Are spirits lives so short? asked Scrooge. are they yours? Scrooge could say no more. Tiny Tim drank it last of all, but he didnt care twopence for it. God bless us!. Gentlemen of the free-and-easy sort, who plume themselves on being acquainted with a move or two, and being usually equal to the time-of-day, express the wide range of their capacity for adventure by observing that they are good for anything from pitch-and-toss to manslaughter; between which opposite extremes, no doubt, there lies a tolerably wide and comprehensive range of subjects. The mention of his name cast a dark shadow on the party, which was not dispelled for full five minutes. But he raised them speedily, on hearing his own name. Here, again, were shadows on the window-blind of guests assembling; and there a group of handsome girls, all hooded and fur-booted, and all chattering at once, tripped lightly off to some near neighbours house; where, woe upon the single man who saw them enter-artful witches, well they knew it - in a glow! Martha, who was a poor apprentice at a milliners, then told them what kind of work she had to do, and how many hours she worked at a stretch, and how she meant to lie abed to-morrow morning for a good long rest; to-morrow being a holiday she passed at home.
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