‘The First Miracle’ by Jeffery Archer, ‘Memories Of Christmas’ by Dylan Thomas and ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens
'The First Miracle' by Jeffery Archer, 'Memories Of Christmas' by Dylan Thomas and 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens
Turkey, Santa and presents are just a few of the things we associate with Christmas. There are also many stories that have been written about or set around Christmas-We have read three: 'The First Miracle' by Jeffery Archer, 'Memories Of Christmas' by Dylan Thomas and 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens. This is a summary of what these particular stories are about.
'The First Miracle' is about a young boy in roman times, living with his mother and father in Bethlehem, He goes to the market to do some shopping and on his way home he witnesses the birth of Jesus. When he gets home he experiences a miracle when his dad beats him because he doesn't believe the boys story, the boy is completely unharmed.
'Memories Of Christmas' is a collection of Dylan Thomas' own Christmas memories from when he was a child living in Wales all rolled into one slightly poem-like story. And 'A Christmas Carol' is about a mean wealthy man called Scrooge who pays his workers badly and doesn't like Christmas at all until one night (Christmas eve) three ghosts appear to him as predicted by another ghost (his dead business partner) They show him the past, present and future Christmases of his family and friends and the progress of a small cripple boy Tiny Tim. Scrooge is so moved by this experience that he changes into a kind, generous man who enters into the spirit of Christmas.
These stories are all similar in many ways, but also very different. They are all the same in that they are all about children and the role they play in their family. They all give out a message of some sort: Dylan Thomas ,The magic that children feel at Christmas. Jeffery Archer, The miracle of Jesus' birth and that Christianity is for everybody. And Charles Dickens, that bad people can change and that Christmas is for the rich and the poor.
They are all very different in the way they are written. This is because of the way and in what period the author was brought up and also the motivation of the authors is clearly different. Jeffery Archer is simply cashing in on Christmas but also giving a message at the same time. Dylan Thomas is the want to share his happy memories with everyone and to make them happy. Charles Dickens is using Christmas as a lively happy atmosphere to give his story the right feel and to get his message across more easily.
'The first miracle'
Jeffery Archer was once an M.P and deputy chairman of the conservative party he now lives in Cambridge with his wife and two sons. He has written many books and a fictitious play called 'The accused' in which he plays himself in a legal battle to clear himself of murder .At the end of the play the audience must vote if he is guilty or not and the evidence is stacked so they will find him innocent. He is a populist writer -writing for the masses .He has been in the newspaper a lot recently as he is going to court again because new evidence has been given against him and it has been found out that he lied whilst under oath. He may go to prison.
The mother in this Roman family (Mater) seems a kind, caring sort of person. She is very understanding and protective especially of her son. She is also very pragmatic this is shown when she chooses to wear the clothes of the locals to keep cool but she changes back into imperial dress before her husband comes home from work because she doesn't want to disrespect his wishes. This shows how much she respects and wants to obey her husband .It also shows her secret respect for Bethlehem and its people.
She must love her husband because she came away from Rome to Bethlehem where her husband has been sent by the emperor to govern .She also feels a bit frightened of him as though he over power her "His mother followed and stood silently drying her eyes just inside the door "-This is when the father is beating the boy.
She has a lot of power in the family Although she is living in a patriarchal society .She seems to have a lot of control over her son and she is very aware of everything going on around her .She is the sort of 'peace keeper ' in the family and she holds the family together.
She knows that her son is mischievous and does punish him. She sometimes gets angry "Go and play outside, she had snapped " But she knows he is good at heart. At the end of the story she tells her son not to mention the miracle to his father because she knows him and she knows he wouldn't believe it and that he may punish them both because he will want to show that he is powerful. This shows that she knows her husband well enough to know how he will react to certain things, this shows that they must be quite a close family.
The boys father (Pater) is a Roman governor in Bethlehem and he looks down on the villagers and has a reputation to keep up this is why he doesn't like his wife dressing like them .He is very prejudice against the villagers which rubs off on his wife "Never forget that the people here are all thieves " He is very forceful and likes to be in control. This is because of his job, which is to keep order in Bethlehem and to count each inhabitant and tax them accordingly. These is why the locals don't like him and are even scared of his son when he goes to the market ,"The boy handed him a few of the worthless Herod coins. The man was about to protest but the boy gave him a look he had seen his father give someone once and walked off," (This is probably that they don't want to anger him by arguing with his family)
I think he is good at his job because he is in control of the locals -they obey him and the boy respects his father and wants to be like him because he sees how much power he has and he sees him as an important ruler that Rome just couldn't live without. When the boy goes to market -"I haven't got all day said the boy, trying to sound like his father The only problem is that he brings his job home with him. This is shown by the text still referring to him as the governor when he's at home "The governor rose from his chair and removed the leather belt from around his waist "this is why he is often a bit overpowering on his family.
He loves his wife very much and his son but he doesn't really understand his son and likes them both to know that he is in charge in the family even though it sometimes seems that the mother has more control over their son. He often gets angry with the boy and thrashes him because he wants him to grow up as 'the governors son' and serve the emperor just like him and the boy is often naughty.
He doesn't believe his sons story because he doesn't like to think that one of the locals is special and it's not really a very believable story, also the boy has pomegranate juice on him showing that he has eaten a pomegranate -the father thinks that he must have eaten the rest of the food too and that's what really happened to the boy. This shows that he doesn't entirely trust his son and he doesn't want to believe that there is another king better than Caesar.
The boy is mischievous and sometimes naughty "He had to ...
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He doesn't believe his sons story because he doesn't like to think that one of the locals is special and it's not really a very believable story, also the boy has pomegranate juice on him showing that he has eaten a pomegranate -the father thinks that he must have eaten the rest of the food too and that's what really happened to the boy. This shows that he doesn't entirely trust his son and he doesn't want to believe that there is another king better than Caesar.
The boy is mischievous and sometimes naughty "He had to admit he'd been naughty that day, even by the standards of a normal 13 year old." but he does mean well. He is very thoughtful and daydreams a lot as a result of this as he does at the beginning of the story .He is like his dad in what he does this is probably because he has been brought up to respect his father and he knows how powerful his dad is and so tries to be like him. He is also like his mum in the way he thinks because he probably spends the majority of his time with her and so he has come to see things her way. He prefers to use brains than Braun: When his friend says, "I'll conquer them and you can govern them "the boy replies: "A sensible division between brains and Brawn "
It is the boy that sees the real Christmas story because he still has his childhood innocence and is willing to learn. Also, he is Roman -The invader-and most people disliked the Romans so the fact that a Roman witnesses the birth of Christ is a symbol that Christianity is for everybody and so is Christmas. His experience does change him: It broadens his mind and opens him up to see there are other things in the world and good things about Bethlehem .He doesn't see these things before because his father has told him terrible stories about it and he would rather be back home with all his friends in Rome.
The description in this particular part of the story is very vivid., "Mezmarised" Archer has mixed the language of a child with the thoughts of a child in a more adult language which gives a very good description "The woman was very fat" He doesn't see that she is actually pregnant and this shows his childhood innocence and thoughts.
It is easy to imagine because he has used lots of short, one-word descriptions and sentences so that the text is easier to understand and we can get a better picture of the family. There is also a lot of speech to get over the characters personalities.
We are shown that this is a Roman family by the way they think of the locals -They are prejudiced against them, this is shown also by the diction of the family "That useless Herod!"
The market scene makes the story seem more real because it's the sort of thing that happens every day to everybody showing that for the boy it's just an ordinary day until he sees the Christmas story-taking place.
I think that Archers aims for the story -apart from money - were to convey a moral message that Christmas and Christianity are for everybody. I think that this story is for older children and adults because a small child may struggle to understand it. I like this story and think that it's a really good modern way of writing the Christmas story. A really good picture of the family is built up - they are quite close and understanding. It seems like the boy is an only child but this just brings the family even closer.
'Memories of Christmas'
Dylan Thomas writes in a poetic style. He was born in Wales and sets a lot of his stories there. He uses an impressionable technique and uses many Christian references in his stories but has never wholly renounced Christianity and does not remain in an organized religion.
This story about Dylan Thomas' family is clearly set in Wales. This is shown by his references to Wales in the story, particularly when creating metaphors "Welsh speaking sea " "All the cats in Wales standing on a wall This shows that he must have liked living in Wales when he was a child and was probably quite close to his family and friends because he wants to remember them. Something else that shows that they are a welsh family is the use of 'old Britain ' expressions and welsh traditions throughout the story e.g. "Nuts in May " "Mother goose." This creates a close family atmosphere and shows how important family is, especially around Christmas time. The language he uses and the way he mentions the family constantly also show this "Aunt Bessie had been frightened twice by a clockwork mouse." This also gives you the feeling that they are living in the countryside because of the way he describes the hills and the little houses and a lot of things he talks about "We tobogganed down the seaward hill all afternoon." wouldn't happen in the middle of a town or city.
The aim of this story is for Dylan Thomas to recall his childhood memories of Christmas and share them with the readers because this may help them to recall their own happy memories or, for those who don't have happy memories it provides a kind of pre-packaged memories to make them feel good. He wants other people to be as happy he is about his childhood and feel the child like innocence in them like he has. Another good thing about the way he writes is that he gives an idea of children's values and what they were like at the time of his childhood by telling the story as if he were a child again "Look, Jack said, I'm eating snow pie."
The language Dylan Thomas uses often creates blurred, dreamlike impressions with its long, descriptive passages . He uses a lot of similes "Like a snowball, growing whiter and bigger and rounder" He often uses commas instead of full stops to build up an excited atmosphere. He has also included metaphors and alliteration" cats calling " "Fish freezing." These are used to help people picture sights, smells and sounds that add excitement and feeling to the story.
This story has much more feeling in it than 'The First Miracle ' this is possible because the story is personal to him so he can just write down his own feelings whereas Jeffery Archer had to try to imagine how a made up character would be feeling.
The children in the story seem a lot like the boy in 'the first miracle'. They are all mischievous and sometimes get into trouble. They also have the same way of thinking although at the time the first miracle is set, children were given a lot more responsibility (like going to market to shop)
`This story is personal to Dylan Thomas -it's autobiographical. This is unlike 'the first miracle' which is a fictional story created for the money and so that the masses will like it.
Memories of Christmas uses a childlike perspective of time -everything changes very slowly "Eternal snow -since Wednesday" His family stay almost exactly the same throughout the story even though different parts of it are from many different Christmases often years apart. It is written like this because that is how a child would see things , they wouldn't notice the changes.
As in 'the first miracle' the family in memories of Christmas is a loving, protective unit where everyone can feel safe and warm "The front room was lovely and bright, Uncles and aunts sat by the fire, everything was good again "This is why family is an important part of every story. Although it seems that things are changing really slowly, it also seems that things are happening very quickly, so quickly that in some parts it is like a list, quickly jumping from one memory to the next. This is very different to the first miracle because everything in that moves quite slowly -it's one whole story about one whole day. I think that in a way this makes 'memories of Christmas' more exciting than the first miracle .It has been written in this way because Dylan Thomas is remembering things so quickly-and that makes more memories come flooding back and he has to quickly write them all down before he forgets them again, It seems that they pour out onto the page all at once so that things all seem blurred "I can't remember if it snowed for six nights when I was twelve or twelve nights when I was six" this gives a good exciting effect.
The members of his family are not described in much detail but I still get a good idea of the characters and their role in the family .It seems that he has quite a big family but he only mentions a few uncles and aunts "Aunts and uncles sat by the fire." He never mentions a mum or a dad, This may be because he was looked after by other members of the family as his parents were dead .This would have made his family especially important to him. There is uncle Arnold who comes over as quite a fat man "The mince pies finished uncle Arnold." But he seems a cheerful friendly old man who is quite close to the family. "Auntie Bessie playing 'pop goes the weasel' and 'Nuts in May' and 'Oranges and lemons' on the untuned piano." You get the impression that he only sees these aunts and uncles once a year at Christmas and yet they are still very important to him .It is hard to say their individual roles in the family as they are not very well defined .Only a few characteristics of each member are mentioned ,I think this is because he can only remember the main points of each person from certain things that they did. Mrs Griffiths appears to be a grumpy old woman who is not a member of their family and is not well liked by him and his friends "We tobogganed down the seaward hill, all the afternoon, on the best tea tray, and Mrs Griffths complained, and we threw a snowball at her niece." Mrs Prothero I think is Dylan Thomas' neighbour who he remembers vividly due to an incident with a fire that happened one Christmas Eve. Mrs Prothero was a very loud and fussy woman when the fire broke out "Fire, call the fire brigade, cried Mrs Prothero as she beat the gong." Mrs Prothero' husband -Mr Prothero is less concerned about the fire and seems not to realize how serious it is "Clouds of smoke and Mr Prothero stood in the middle of them, waving his slipper as though he were conducting." He is quite lazy and it seems that his wife does most of the work around the house -They must be living in a patriarchal society as in the first miracle. The final character mentioned in the story is Miss Prothero who is respected and considered very clever by Dylan Thomas and his friends but she is really quite weird and says very inappropriate things e.g. After the fire she says to the fireman "would you like something to read?"
They seem a very close-knit country community.
'A Christmas Carol'
Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth where he lived for 5 years while the other seven members of his family were in debtor's prison. Before he started writing he was a warehouse worker and a journalist he also reported debates in parliament He began to write shortly after he met his first love-Maria. Later he split with Maria and married Katherine Hogarth .He travelled the world giving readings of his books and making notes on things around him .He then divorced after meeting Ellen Turner .He died in 1870.
He was used to the clear division between the rich and poor and the disease and congested that surrounded Victorian London. This is the setting for his 1843 book 'A Christmas carol'
The style of the story is quite realistic with all the detailed descriptions, which are aided by similes and metaphors throughout the story. Yet it is also like a fairy story because everything is so ideal and Scrooge lives happily ever after at the end of it .Dickens himself is an intrusive narrator in this story, giving short summaries of the plot and reminding me of peoples characteristics as if he knew them .In doing this he is also giving us his own views and persuading us that he is right." If you happen by any unlikely chance to know a man more blest in a laugh that Scrooges nephew, all I can say is, I should like to know him too. Introduce him to me, and I'll cultivate his acquaintance." The story flows from one section to the next in a very well ordered fashion -unlike Dylan Thomas', which jumps from one memory to the next very quickly yet naturally.
We are examining stave three of the story because this part of the story gives good descriptions of two different families -one rich and one poor -These sections show well the role of the family in Victorian life and on Scrooge
The Cratchit family are a poor and quite large, close family. There is Bob and Mrs Cratchit and their six children -Peter, Martha, Belinda, Tiny Tim and two young "Cratchits, boy and girl." Scrooge is Bobs boss, Bob is Scrooges clerk who is paid very badly and not treated very well by Scrooge, who is a nasty old man who doesn't believe in Christmas and thinks that money is what makes people happy -this is why he is so tight when it comes to money.
Scrooge is like the ogre of the family -he decides their fate "A toast to Scrooge, The founder of the feast," "It was the first of their proceedings that had no heartiness. The mention of his name had cast a dark shadow on the party, which wasn't dispelled for a full five minutes!" when Scrooge hears this he is hurt and starts to realize how much people don't like him. Before stave three, at the beginning of the story we see Bob at work, asking Scrooge for more Coal on the 'office' fire and a day off for Christmas with his family. Scrooge refuses to give more Coal but grudgingly gives Bob Christmas off .Bob is very grateful for everything he gets from Scrooge and never gets angry for being treated so badly showing that he is probably used to it as he is poor and this is what being poor was like in the Victorian times.
Bob Cratchit is a caring person who is always thankful for what he's got .He makes as much effort as he can for Christmas day "His threadbare clothes darned up and brushed, to look seasonal." He compliments his wife on the delicious, big dinner even though it is very small. He tries to be brave "turning up his cuffs-as if, poor fellow they were capable of being made more shabby." He maintains a childlike innocence throughout the story .This is important because it shows that he is the innocent victim of Scrooge .It also shows the spirit of Christmas.
In the part of the story we are looking at the Cratchits are coming home from church to a lovely Christmas dinner -The best they can afford. They are very thankful for the dinner even though it's not really big enough for them all. They don't fight and try to let nothing spoil Christmas
The Cratchits are shown to scrooge by the ghost of Christmas present, who blesses the Cratchits house. Scrooge finds this very odd because he doesn't think that poor people are important enough to be blessed but soon begins to see that happiness isn't all about money it's about the time spent with people who care.
Mrs Cratchit also makes the best of what she has but she is more forward with her opinions on Scrooge and the suffering he's causing to their family e.g. When Bob proposes a toast to Scrooge she says she doesn't know why they are thanking him and if he was here now she'd give him a piece of her mind .She too is dressed up smartly for Christmas "In a twice turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap and make a goodly show," She puts on a brave face and worries about the appearance of the dinner even though it is only her poor family who will see it this shows that she likes to make her family feel special .
Tiny Tim is the other main character in the story .He is very brave and strong minded .He is thoughtful and tries to use his disability to get his messages through to other people "He hoped that people saw him in church as he was a cripple and it might be pleasant for them to remember upon Christmas day -who made lame beggars walk and blind men see." He has a plaintive little voice and enjoys being with his family; He is especially close to Bob.
Tim's illness and strong spirit has a big effect on Scrooge because when he finds out that Tim is going to die he wishes he could help him and then realizes that he can by paying Bob better and letting him have more time off to spend with his family, helping Tim back to health.
They are seen as an almost perfect family, yet they are quite poor. This is to show Scrooge that is isn't money that makes people happy, it's being around family and friends, enjoying yourself. You can see that they are supposed to be perfect as they are really close, and there is not one argument or negative comment between them. We know that they are also very poor, as Scrooge is surprised when the spirit blesses their house because "Bob earns but Fifteen bob a week" This is repeated a few sentences later so the message is definitely got across that he is poor yet still happy.
Dickens uses many different language techniques to get his message across, including metaphors "Scrooge cast a dark shadow on the party" (this is the only shadow.) This gets across that they don't like the very Scrooge that's making them so poor. "This boy is ignorance, this girl is want." This is used to illustrate a complex point in a way that it is made simpler to understand ,It shows that Scrooge has ignorance and want and he forces it onto others by paying and treating them so badly. He also uses similes "A smell like a washing day! That was the cloth and a smell like an eating house and a pastry cook next door to each other, with a laundrette next to that. That was the pudding." These help you to picture what's going on in the story and picture every detail of the surroundings and feelings of the characters the way that Dickens saw them when he wrote the story. "The sharpest needle, the best Whitechapel was as sharp as Scrooge blunt." This is a good comparison to just stress even more how blunt Scrooge is. He also used very vivid descriptions and long sentences ending with exclamation marks to show how excited the family are .The main descriptions that stand out to me are the ones of the families Christmas dinner because they are so thought provoking that you can picture every detail and it is all made to sound really big like a feast when it is really quite small and the cheapest there is "There never was such a goose cooked. It's tenderness and flavour, size and cheapness, were the themes of universal admiration. Eeked out by apple sauce and mashed potatoes."
There are lots of long sentences "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." This is because Dickens is trying to get over just how poor they are in a sort of 'summary sentence'-It builds up as it goes along like it's all spilling out so quickly that he has to write it down straight away and he can't stop -Like Dylan Thomas.
Just like 'The First Miracle' is clearly set in Roman times and 'Memories Of Christmas' in Wales, 'A Christmas Carol' clearly shows that this is a poor Victorian family by some of the phrases that are used in the story e.g. "Peter might have known and very likely did the inside of a pawnbrokers." Sending children to the pawnbrokers to pawn expensive items belonging to the poor family was a very common thing to do among poor people in the Victorian times. There are many other clues in the clothes they wear "Twice turned gown," The jobs they do "Milliners apprentice." And the money they use "Five-a-sixpence." They also have an open fire which was typical of the Victorian houses and nearer the beginning of the story it describes the villagers taking their Christmas turkeys and geese to the bakers to be cooked in the big ovens, as the Victorian ovens they had at home would not be big enough to cook a turkey in. This all gives the story a close Victorian community atmosphere, everyone seems to know and like everyone else except for Scrooge. By using words that we would not use nowadays we can get a feel of what life was like living in those times and it makes it more realistic.
The family have a huge impact on Scrooge, I think they were the main factor that changed him-At first he is shocked to even think that they can be happy and worthy of the ghosts attention when they are so poor, and Tiny Tim is so ill but then he is touched by Tiny Tims bravery and wants to know if he'll die. Later on when he sees that Tiny Tim might die he is really sorry that he treated Bob so badly and wants to help the family. This makes him realise that if he had helped them in the first place Tiny Tim may not have got so ill anyway. This is in many ways similar to the affect that the holy family have on the boy in 'the first miracle', because they were (in the boys opinion) his inferiors until he saw the miracle and realised that they were his equals and that they could also have good things happen to them.
Fred-Scrooges nephew also lives nearby with his family. They are much wealthier and are a contrast to the Cratchits but they are another happy family. In this scene the family have just eaten a much heartier Christmas dinner than the Cratchits. They are talking, playing games and having fun in the warm, cosy, Victorian house .All the aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers and cousins are there, apart from Scrooge who was invited by his nephew Fred, but refused to come. The aim of this is to get people to see that the poor can be happy and the rich happy also -but not necessarily because of money. This is to try and get Scrooge to change his ways and make himself and everyone else happier by doing good things with his money. This is similar to the Cratchits because they are doing much the same things: enjoying dinner, playing games, and enjoying Christmas with the family, but the Cratchits are doing this on a smaller scale because it's all they can afford. Fred and Scrooges other relatives think of Christmas as being about the family. They even invited Scrooge but he refused-even after this they repeatedly asked him to change his mind and said there would "always be a place at the table for you if you change your mind. It's what mother would have wanted." This shows that they're a caring family and they don't think Christmas is just about themselves and their money.
Fred himself, I think is Scrooges sisters' son .He has an incredibly contagious laugh, which he shares with his wife who is very pretty and a lot like Fred in many ways. Fred is very good tempered and seems to be the host and organiser of the party. Other members of the family include: Scrooges nieces' sisters (I believe that there are two) and a man called topper. There are also many other people at the party (about 20 all together) as it says in the text. These people are all in high spirits and are quick witted, they come across as a typical well-off, young family having a good time. They are clearly all making the most of Christmas and enjoying themselves.
Due to the visions that he sees with the spirits Scrooge eventually changes into a jolly, generous and giving man who enters into the spirit of Christmas. He even buys the Cratchits an enormous Christmas turkey and goes to his nephews party.
My impression of Victorian family life from these two scenes are good ones because everyone seems so happy and close to one another that it is almost too perfect .I think that the novel as a whole gives a better idea of what life was really like rather than these two scenes on there own however you can clearly see the divide between the rich and the poor of society. This is a bit like the clear divide between the locals and the Romans (invaders) in 'the first miracle' but in 'Memories of Christmas'; all of the people mentioned belong to one large group. There doesn't seem to be any divides in the community.
Conclusion
The part that struck me most about 'the first miracle' was the vivid section where the birth is actually taking place because the descriptions are so vivid that you can picture every detail and it gives it that extra thing it needs to make it realistic, and come to life. My favourite part of 'memories of Christmas' is when they go carol singing and the man behind the door is a scary old man with a funny voice. This is because I like the character of the old man and the way he is described in particular the description of his voice. The cratchits Christmas dinner is, in my opinion, the best part of the story 'a Christmas carol' because of the way I can picture it via clever usage of similes and metaphors I think that my favourite story is 'a Christmas carol' because it has a clear story line which I like in a story and it has some really good descriptive passages.
They all show the role of the family really well in different ways and it is interesting to see how different the roles of the families are in the different periods.
