Dickens uses the weather to show that Scrooge is a dark person and he made everything surrounding him became miserable. He carried the coldness with him always, wherever he went. He spent his life in a cold nature.
At the start of the novel, Dickens emphasizes that Scrooge is a cool, friendless and alone person:
“Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry?”
“I don’t make merry myself at Christmas, and I can’t afford to make idle people merry.”
These two quotes show that Scrooge cared nothing for the people around him. He just cared about money only. His life is lonely. His life is sad. And he didn’t like Christmas, he hate it very much.
Dickens also uses the church bell to further show that Scrooge is a cold person:
“The ancient tower of a church, where gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at Scrooge out of a gothic window in the wall, become invisible, and stuck the hours and quarters in the clouds, with tremulous vibrations afterwards, as if its teeth were chattering in its frozen head up there.”
This not only shows that Scrooge is a cold person, it also means that Scrooge is not important in other people’s eyes as Dickens use the word ‘invisible’ to describe the church bell.
In the final chapter of this novel, Scrooge’s character is extremely changed. This is because of the happenings in chapter 2, 3 and 4. There were 3 ghosts in Scrooge’s dream. The ghost were of the “Past, the Present and the Future” of Scrooge. The “Past” described Scrooge as a positive and active person. The “Present” described Scrooge as a miser. The “Future” described Scrooge as a forgotten being as no one cared for his grave.
At the end of the novel, Dickens writes:
“I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel; I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world! Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!”
This quote shows that Scrooge is changing. He was relaxing himself as a child, who is easily amused. This use of similie makes him sound positive and relaxed. He was a man who was cold and humorless before and now he was a warm-hearted man. And Scrooge understands that Christmas is important. He knows that Christmas Day is only once a year and it is festive season.
Dickens also describes the church bell:
“the lustiest peals he had ever heard. Clash, Clang, hammer, ding, dong, bell. Bell, dong, ding, hammer, clang, clash! Oh, glorious, glorious!
He uses word such as “lustiest”, and “glorious” to make the reader think that he is feeling happy for Scrooge and it shows a big contrast at the start. In the first chapter, Dickens describes the church bell is abandoned and no one cares about it whilst in the final chapter Dickens describes the bell is merry bells.
Another contrast between the start of the novel and the end is Scrooge is generous at the end. He is warm and kind.
I can tell this because Dickens writes:
“Come back with him in less that five minutes, and I’ll give you half-a-crown!”
It shows that Scrooge understands that he had to care about people. He knew that he is rich but it doesn’t mean he is better than everyone else. He had completely charged, he enjoyed himself and he is generous.
After reading this novel, I‘ve learnt that living in this world can be happy and positive. One shouldn’t demand too much in money and possession. As long as we’re happy, how much money we earn and how much possessions we could have doesn’t really matter.
I think that this novel wouldn’t be as attractive for modern readers. This is because; this novel is based on superstitions. For modern readers, advanced technology and science would explain many things that Victorian issues couldn’t explain about.
However, I think that this novel reflects Christmas in a positive way. Everybody should be in a festive mood instead acting as Scrooge and being unhappy about everything in life. I think that there is lots of things to feel happy about in life. If we want to live a happy life, love each other. It can bring happiness to us and make the world a better place to live.
