Admin Table of Contents
- 1 What similes are used to describe Scrooge?
- 2 What does the simile Scrooge was solitary as an oyster mean?
- 3 What 2 similes are used to describe Scrooge in stave 5?
- 4 What does a solitary child neglected by his friends is left here still mean?
- 5 Why is Scrooge described as hard and sharp as flint?
- 6 What is the effect of the simile Secret and self contained and solitary as an oyster think of the imagery of this oyster?
- 7 How did Charles Dickens use the simile solitary as an oyster?
- 8 What does Scrooge say at the end of A Christmas Carol?
What similes are used to describe Scrooge?
Evidence and explanation of the language used
| How? | |
|---|---|
| Clear narrative voice | Dickens uses a narrative voice that offers opinions on the characters. For example ‘Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge!’ |
| Simile | When Dickens first presents Scrooge he describes him as ‘Hard and sharp as flint’. |
How is Scrooge presented as isolated?
The theme of isolation is presented in A Christmas Carol through the character of Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge is isolated from the rest of society by his selfishness and lack of humanity. Dickens wants to convey to his readers the message that we all have obligations to each other.
What does the simile Scrooge was solitary as an oyster mean?
‘solitary as an oyster’ – oyster shells are calcified, hard and irregular in shape. This simile suggests that Scrooge also has these tough and strange qualities and that he is hard to ‘open’.
Who says Scrooge is solitary as an oyster?
Ten years after A Christmas Carol, Dickens would compare another of his literary characters to an oyster when the scheming and secretive lawyer Mr. Tulkinghorn in the novel Bleak House is described as an oyster of the old school whom nobody can open.
What 2 similes are used to describe Scrooge in stave 5?
Dickens employs a list of similes to convey Scrooge’s delight at being given time and opportunity to live “an altered life”. Scrooge claims to feel “as light as a feather” and “as happy an angel.” What is the symbolic significance of these similes? The words “light” and “happy” convey Scrooge’s feelings to the reader.
What are three similes that Scrooge compares himself to at the beginning of Stave 5?
“I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man.” Similes are comparisons using the words like or as. Scrooge is so joyful that his similes overflow: he can’t stop at just one.
What does a solitary child neglected by his friends is left here still mean?
“A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still.” This quote could suggest why Scrooge is the way he is now. He was neglected by society as a child so feels he can’t join society now, as he’s afraid of rejection. By seeing himself as a young boy, he starts to feel empathy towards others.
How is Scrooge presented at the start of the novella?
Scrooge is the main character of Dickens’s novella and is first presented as a miserly , unpleasant man. He rejects all offerings of Christmas cheer and celebration as ‘Humbug! According to Dickens’s description, Scrooge is cold through and through. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him.
Why is Scrooge described as hard and sharp as flint?
Dickens also uses the simile ‘hard and sharp as flint’ to describe Scrooge. The adjective ‘hard’ suggests that he lacks warmth, empathy and compassion while the adjective ‘sharp’ suggests pain, implying that Scrooge has no mercy towards others.
Is solitary as an oyster a simile?
What is a simile? Scrooge is described as being ‘solitary as an oyster’ (p. 2). This simile suggests he is shut up, tightly closed and will not be prised open except by force.
What is the effect of the simile Secret and self contained and solitary as an oyster think of the imagery of this oyster?
‘secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.” Dickens uses this simile to emphasise how Scrooge locks himself away from society, alone and unwelcoming. The use of sibilance adds a sinister tone.
Why was Ebenezer Scrooge called solitary as an oyster?
‘solitary as an oyster’ – oyster shells are calcified, hard and irregular in shape. This simile suggests that Scrooge also has these tough and strange qualities and that he is hard to ‘open’.
How did Charles Dickens use the simile solitary as an oyster?
Dickens uses the simile ‘solitary as an oyster’ to colour the reader’s view of Scrooge. An oyster lives alone at the bottom of the seabed and this echoes Scrooge’s solitary existence. He abhors human contact preferring to eat ‘his melancholy dinner’ alone in his ‘melancholy tavern’.
How does Dickens describe the character of Scrooge?
Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Dickens’s description of Scrooge How does Dickens introduce the character of Scrooge? ‘Oh!
What does Scrooge say at the end of A Christmas Carol?
“Every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.” Scrooge’s response is comical, but unpleasant. He cannot accept the generosity that is offered him and instead turns images of Christmas into images of violence.