Christmas Carol by Charles DickensScrooge has become one of the most commonly know characters fromCharles Dickens’s novels, in the respect that he is the most horribleand callus of all his characters, this dastardly individual was usedto convey a serious social message about the extreme neglect ofVictorian employees.
The first chapter of ‘A Christmas Carol’ prepares the reader for therest of the novel. Dickens does this by creating antipathy for scroogeand by introducing gothic elements to prepare the reader for thearrival of the spirits later on in the book. In the 18th centuryCharles Dickens was one of the most important and listened to socialcommentators. ‘A Christmas Carol’ was written to convey Dickens’ssocial message to the rich.
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Dickens creates antipathy for scrooge because he wants his readers todislike scrooge and reject his way of life. Scrooge representedeverything Dickens hated in the rich and this dislike is conveyedusing Dickens own didactic voice; through the way scrooge behavestowards others; and through the description of scrooges house andhome.
By using his own didactic voice Dickens directs the readers thoughts.Charles Dickens portrays Scrooge as inhuman and unfeeling. This isshown through the author’s use of the comparison of Scrooge to theweather:
“No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was moreintent upon its purpose, no pelting rain was less open to entreaty”
The fact Scrooge is said by Dickens to be ‘bitterer’ than the windgets across the idea of the coldness of Scrooges nature. By comparing…
…emorse for anyone noteven himself. This is shown in the way he won’t buy a candle to lighthis house by saying ‘Darkness was cheap, and Scrooge liked it’. Eventhough Scrooge has money he refuses to enjoy it he just keeps it.
In chapter one dickens really sets the reader up for the rest of thenovel by getting across the message he is trying to convey in hisbook, by creating antipathy for scrooge and also by using elements ofgothic horror to prepare the reader for the spirits. Charles Dickenswanted to change the way the Victorian poor were treated by the rich.Dickens achieved this to a certain extent but its hard to see how muchDickens’s novels actually helped changed peoples preconceptions.However, the novels must of done something to enlighten people to thesuffering that was happening all around them.
