Dickens uses a lot of dialogue especially when the ghost of Marley appears which builds up the atmosphere and tension; this keeps us on the edge of our seat wondering what was going to happen next.
Dickens is very good at catching the readers’ imagination mainly for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Dickens manages to keep the suspense through most of the Staves especially in Stave One, this is very hard to maintain particularly throughout a whole stave but some how Dickens manages to do this. This is probably shown best when the spectre of Marley appears in Stave One.
“How now!” said Scrooge, caustic and cold as ever,
“What do you want with me?”
“Much!” Marley’s voice, no doubt about it.
“Who are you?”
“Ask me who I was.”
“Who are you then?” said raising his voice.
This maintenance of suspense catches the reader’s imagination by keeping the reader guessing what was going to happen next and who the spectre is, therefore keeping the reader engrossed in the story
Dickens uses quite a lot of vivid details and images which is a good asset to possess as a writer as it is really fine catcher of imagination because it creates a strong impression of a character or a scene. He also uses descriptions which appeals to different senses which is a very hard technique to learn, ‘The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice.’ This is a perfect example of vivid details as you can imagine the facial expression of Scrooge and how the features of his face would seem, it builds a strong image of how petrified Scrooge was.
Dickens uses quite a lot of dialogue in ‘A Christmas Carol’, the quality which I noticed that it contributes to the story, is that it makes you believe as if you are there watching them interacting with each other. Also you get to see how the characters speak and act while they are in the presence of other characters in the story, so you get to know the character better and who they regard highly and respect and those who they don’t regard so high. Dickens uses dialogue to create atmosphere especially when the spirit of Marley confronts Scrooge and they begin to talk to each other, this changes the whole mood at that moment, it makes the reader impatient to see what they will say to each other and what they will do especially in the later stages of the dialogue where the spirit of Marley confronts Scrooge,
‘“You must have been very slow about it, Jacob,” Scrooge observed, in a business-like manner, though with humility and deference.
“Slow!” the Ghost repeated.
“Seven years dead,” mused Scrooge. “And travelling all the time?”
“The whole time,” said the Ghost. “No rest, no peace. Incessant torture of remorse.”’
This dialogue shows how Dickens uses dialogue to create atmosphere but it also tells something about Scrooge, Scrooge seems to be observing Marley even though they had been great friends for a long time this tells us that either that he doesn’t trust Marley or that he doesn’t believe the thing that he is speaking is real, this is where the atmosphere is coming from.
Dickens uses short and long sentences to create tension in his writing. Here is a short sentence, ‘The chain he drew was clasped around his middle.’ This sentence describes the ghost of Marley but very directly so not to lose the tension or suspense, another good short sentence is, ‘He looked out.’ This tells he looked out by it is expressed very sharply making you jump because of the quick action therefore maintaining the tension and suspense. Here is a long sentence, ‘To sit, staring at those fixed glazed eyes, in silence for a moment, would play, Scrooge felt, the very deuce with him.’ This long sentence constructs the suspense and atmosphere of what is going to happen next, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat and also variety in length creates interest. But even though it is a long sentence it has a lot of pauses which is produced by the repeated use of commas therefore maintaining the tension in the sentence. A way which you could look at it is the merging of many short sentences like ‘He looked out.’ Therefore creating one long sentence.
Dickens introduces humour into ‘A Christmas Carol’ for example, ‘… a ghost so transparent might find him self to take a chair…’ some people may say it is wrong to introduce humour into a story but I don’t think Dickens meant for it to be a full on ghost story because introducing humour into the story, it lightens up the mood thus varying the atmosphere. Also you have to look at the audience which Dickens was aiming for, I don’t think he wrote the story for die hard ghost story readers but for children, Christmas story but most importantly to put the point across of the appalling plight of the children of the poor.
In ‘A Christmas Carol’ there is many characters some major and others minor from Scrooge to Belle. The first major character is obviously Ebenezer Scrooge who is a hard, cold miser who spends his days counting his profits and wishing the world would leave him alone. He doesn't believe in charity, and he is certain that those who do are just lazy bums looking for a handout. Scrooge's entire life is his business and he shuts out his nephew who is the only relative he has. But Scrooge is visited by his old business partner, Jacob Marley, who warns him that if he continues to live his life in such an unchristian way, he will spend all eternity trying to make up for it. Three spirits also visit him who shows him that the errors of his ways turn everyone against him and therefore losing the respect of others making him a lonely old man. Because of what he sees and learns, Scrooge opens his heart to the people around him and learns charity and love and saves himself from the doom of which Marley warned him. Bob Cratchit another main character is an accountant who works for Scrooge, and he is a kind and loving family man. Scrooge generally mistreats Cratchit, but the accountant bears his employer no ill will because he believes that Scrooge's life is lonely. The greatest sorrow in Cratchit's life is that his young son, Tiny Tim, is very ill. Because Bob's salary is so meager, the family cannot afford treatment for Tim. When Scrooge sees their situation during one of the ghostly visitations, he realizes that he must be more generous to his employee and help save Tiny Tim. Jacob Marley was once Scrooge's business partner, but he died seven years ago and now he returns as a ghost to warn Scrooge of the horrors that await him unless he changes his ways. Marley appears to Scrooge on Christmas Eve to tell him of the cumbersome burden that he bears in death because he neglected his duty toward others in life. Marley must walk around and watch people and regret that he did not help anyone or touch anyone during his lifetime. His burden is incessant remorse for his own greed during life. He warns Scrooge that unless he becomes a more charitable person, he will also bear that weight. Marley tells Scrooge of the three ghosts who will visit him. They are Scrooge's only chance for salvation. After the warning, Marley flies out the window and joins the other ghosts who drag their chains of duty. The Ghost of Christmas Past is the epitome of the contradictions of youth and age as well as winter and spring. The ghost has a beam of light jetting from his head and Scrooge extinguishes the light when he feels that he is unable to bear any of the other memories that the ghost is showing him. By showing Scrooge his past, the ghost has makes him realize that he has changed drastically from who he was when he was young and that his interests have turned from people to money. The Ghost of Christmas Present is a friendly, generous giant who shows Scrooge the homes of Bob Cratchit as well as Scrooge's nephew, Fred. In both homes, good will is extended toward Scrooge although he has never shown the same good will to either his clerk, or his nephew. As the time passes the ghost, who was young when he first appeared to Scrooge, seems to age in the way that the present changes to the past with the passing of time. Then, just as he is approaching his last moments, the ghost shows Scrooge that want and ignorance are two products of society that will destroy it if not combated against by those who can prevent both social ills. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is a dark phantom, and the only part of this ghost that Scrooge sees, beyond his black robe, is a hand with which he points at the things Scrooge is to take notice of. This ghost shows Scrooge how he will die, and it is a sad scene. Scrooge begs the ghost to tell him that this fate can be changed if he changes his ways, but the ghost doesn't answer him. Scrooge is left only with the knowledge that he must change and become a more charitable person if he is to alter the fate that the ghost revealed to him. Last of the major characters is Tiny Tim who is Bob Cratchit's youngest son. He is a lame boy with a cheerful nature despite his ailments and symbolises hope. At the Christmas church service, Tim hopes that people will look at his ailment and be reminded of how Christ healed the lame and blind. Tiny Tim's guileless nature impresses Scrooge, and when he learns from the Ghost of Christmas Present that Tiny Tim will die soon, Scrooge is saddened. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come also shows the Cratchit house without Tiny Tim, and the vision is a sad one. Scrooge is touched by the gentleness of the little boy and wishes to prevent this fate from occurring.
There are also some minor characters in ‘A Christmas Carol’ but who also play an important part of the story. Firstly there is Fred, Scrooge's nephew (his deceased sister's son), is a pauper, but a cheerful man nonetheless. He comes to the counting house to wish Scrooge a merry Christmas and invite his uncle to dine with himself and his wife on Christmas Day. Scrooge, however, refuses to associate with his nephew. Fred actually pities his miserly uncle because although he has all that money, he is still alone and unhappy. Fred insists that he will visit Scrooge at Christmas every year no matter whether or not Scrooge ever agrees to dine with Fred and his wife. After his visitation by the three ghosts of Christmas, Scrooge attends the Christmas dinner at Fred's home and enjoys himself immensely. Secondly there is Mr. Fezziwig who was Scrooge's kind and generous employer. He revisits the memory of his employment with Fezziwig when the Ghost of Christmas Past shows him Fezziwig's great Christmas party. The memory of this kind employer makes Scrooge feel a twinge of regret at how poorly he treats Bob Cratchit, his own employee. Last of the minor but nonetheless important characters is Belle, the young woman who once loved and was loved by Scrooge. Unfortunately, his love for her was replaced by his love for money, and she did not want to be second in favour to gold. She left him and went her own way after that and married. Scrooge remained alone. The Ghost of Christmas Past reminds him of why Belle left him and shows him where his life began going the wrong direction
While reciting ‘A Christmas Carol’ I noticed some themes that were entwined within the story, the most important themes of the story are stated more or less clearly by characters in it. The first of these might be Marley's saying, “Business...Mankind was my business”. Where Scrooge sees business in the familiar sense of trade and finance, Marley now sees that one's “business" is what one should do in life, duty or obligation. Mankind is or was not just Marley's business of course, but Scrooge's business, your business and mine, in fact, everyone's. Secondly, Scrooge's unkind remark that poor people should die and “reduce the surplus population" brings us to another theme of the story. When Scrooge asks if Tiny Tim will die he is reminded of these words. Why? Because the “surplus population” is not an abstraction but real individuals. Scrooge is told by the Ghost of Christmas Present to find out “What the surplus is, and where it is” before making such statements. Another theme is that change is possible however set we are in our ways. Dickens imagines the most miserable and hard-hearted man he can, and shows how he can be reformed if he sees his responsibilities.
The message that Dickens is trying to get across is one of happiness. If you live your life in seclusion, only speaking to those who you must and always being nasty, you can never be truly happy. Dickens uses Scrooge as the epitome of selfishness and we are supposed to realise this and contrast it with Tiny Tim’s attitude of caring and sharing. Tiny Tim is the epitome of joy and hope; he is the person in the book with who we are supposed to learn from. The ghosts are the conduit from which we are to understand the past, present, and future of an unhappy man.
