If the good Saint Dunstan had but nipped the Evil Spirits nose with a touch of such weather as that, instead of using his familiar weapons, then indeed he would have roared to lusty purpose. In the present, Scrooge witnesses scenes of fires at Christmas time that bring happiness, many associated with the theme of eating food at this festive time, such as the brightness of the roaring fires in kitchens, parlours, and all sorts of rooms, was wonderful and the flickering of the blaze showed preparations for a cosy dinner, He sees scenes associated with the coming together of family at this time of year, such as that of a miner and his family who are a cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Instant PDF downloads. Discipline was harsh and. "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". No matter how vivid the apparitions become, Scrooge insists that he knows better. The way the content is organized, LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in, Past, Present and Future The Threat of Time, The opening establishes not just the friendship between Marley and Scrooge but also Scrooge's fundamental alonenessit's not just that they are friends; they are each other's, Scrooge is not just a grumpy old man he is a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner. "Hard and sharp as flint." BEFORE CHANGE Shows his personality. a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. ", "Hard and sharp as a flint.solitary as an oyster. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir., `And the Union workhouses demanded Scrooge. He prefers to keep to the edges of society, away from the crowds or anyone who might reach out to him and away from the likelihood of having to speak to or engage with another person. Foul weather didnt know where to have him. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Scrooge knew he was dead? Cratchit, despite his poverty, celebrates Christmas with a childlike ritual of sliding down a hill with the street boys. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Latest answer posted December 05, 2020 at 2:12:53 PM. Current Year 10 Official Thread (2022-2023). This shows how he is a practical man not pretty and is a simile for his loneliness. Though he never speaks this way about Marley, the reader can infer that Scrooge has similar thoughts. This is one of Freds lines, and it really helps to highlight the difference in viewpoints between Fred and his uncle. As Scrooge looked fixedly at this phenomenon, it was a knocker again. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster." The hair was curiously stirred, as if by breath or hot air; and, though the eyes were wide open, they were perfectly motionless. Refine any search. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. I am as giddy as a drunken man. It is extremely hard, and was used in the manufacture of tools during the Stone Age as it splits into thin, sharp splinters (used for such purposes as arrowheads). Whoever the author.Discover new and exciting books to dive into with our Book Explorer Tool. At Fezziwig's party (pp. Fred knows this, and counters that "good" means something else entirely. Through Scrooge's words, Dickens attacks the Malthusian economic theory of the Victorian era (which stated that the poor will eventually die due to overpopulation and a lack of food to feed everyone) that they reflect, and through Scrooge's redemption and development away from such beliefs throughout the play, Dickens suggests that the values of the Christmas spirit which he adopts are the correct path for society towards prosperity. 1. Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Note the use of the adjective poor to describe Bob Cratchit. He does not see the basic human value in all people. wishing, though it were only for a second, to divert the visions stony gaze from himself, e for the rest of my days persecuted by a legion of goblins, all of my own creation, when the phantom taking off the bandage round its head, as if it were too warm to wear indoors, its lower jaw dropped down upon its breast. Each adjective is also connected with the hands to show how he holds tightly to everything he has. I should like to give him something: that's all.". Explain. It is required of every man, the Ghost returned, `that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellowmen, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel. Becoming immediately sensible of the impropriety, he poked the fire, and extinguished the last frail spark for ever. Marleys face. This girl is Want. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office. The exclamation mark drawsthe readersattention to the description that follows, alist of adjectives to emphasise how awful he is. Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern; beguiled the rest of the evening with his bankers-book, He lived in chambers which had once belonged to his deceased partner, it must have run there when it was a young house, playing at hide-and-seek with other houses, and forgotten the way out again. This is evident in his early relationship with his nephew Fred. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Despite Scrooge's ill temper Fred generously and authentically invites him over. He prefers his own miserable company to that of anyone else. *(Many, Nobody)* is predicting rain for tomorrow. Second, he is uncharitable . for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. It was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. Oyster shells are calcified, hard and irregular in shape. Mind! From this exchange, it sounds like Marley was at least somewhat generous. On this page, readers can explore the quotes, they are broadly separated into a few sub-categories. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. 30-4) the young Scrooge is full of energy and . Scrooge and Cratchit both live on routine. And yet the way he denies the truth with joke-making, shows his fear. The happiness he gives is quite as great as if it costs a fortune. (exclamatory).\ eNotes Editorial, 17 Oct. 2017, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/which-quotes-suggest-that-scrooge-is-presented-as-568005. Just as Scrooge seems unaffected by the cold and darkness, he also shuns his feelings of fear and refuses to trust his senses or give in to them. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. "No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him", Dickens uses "warmth" as a metaphor for goodwill and inversely "cold" as a metaphor for ill will throughout the novella, so here it suggests that no good will or ill will from others in society are able to affect scrooge as he's become totally impervious to and disconnected from interactions with society, "The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait". "What then? Youre quite a powerful speaker, sir, he added, turning to his nephew. (Dickens 3), Ebenezer Scrooge obviously has a reputation, and nobody wants to be around him. What to expect as an older masters student? Cards. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster". Much good may it do you! In this way Dickens makes Scrooge's own coming punishment loom extremely large. Scrooge refuses to believe in Marley, just as he refuses to believe in Christmas. The water-plug being left in solitude, its overflowing sullenly congealed, and turned to misanthropic ice. Before telling us the incident with the door knocker, In order to make this night stand out as a unique milestone in Scrooges routine existence, the narrator focuses first on Scrooge's sanity and the usual normality of his world. Scrooge is an outsider because that is the way he likes it. When Jack Cade leads a rebellion against the king, he declares that "if I do not leave you all as dead as a doornail, I pray God I may never eat grass more." I will live in the past, the present, and the future. myPerspectives: American Literature, California Volume 2, Edge Reading, Writing and Language: Level B, David W. Moore, Deborah Short, Michael W. Smith, Holt McDougal Literature: Grade 9 (Common Core). Again, he's very much an outsider and is treated as an outcast as a result. Quite satisfied, he closed his door, and locked himself in; double-locked himself in, which was not his custom. Date: First published in London by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843. Christmas Carol - Generosity Quotes. I have sat invisible beside you many and many a day., Couldnt I take `em all at once, and have it over, Jacob? hinted Scrooge. Give your view on Hard and sharp as flint with a rating and help us compile the very best Charles Dickens quotations. Complete your free account to request a guide. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. Scrooge doesn't live by his senses in any aspect of his life. Marley is not saying business is inherently bad, but he is saying that it is terrifically small and narrow in comparison to the rest of life, and certainly that business success is not enough to right any wrongs one commits in life. a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! LitCharts Teacher Editions. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But in Dickens's era, it was customary to hammer doornails into doors in such a way that made them useless for anything else. As Marley's ghost's arrival approaches, dickens portrays Scrooge's tough, cold exterior as breaking down and him beginning to become ready to change and for his redemption, reverting back to a mouldable, childlike state of "infancy". As the day passes, the fog and cold become more severe. Yet such was I! The truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of distracting his own attention, and keeping down his terror; for the spectres voice disturbed. "So surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong. If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population". He stopped at the outer door to bestow the greetings of the season on the clerk, who, cold as he was, was warmer than Scrooge. He thinks he sees the dead Marley in his door knocker. (Dickens 6). He cares only about making money, and does not care or notice if it is cold or uncomfortable, and he takes no interest in anyone else. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Through a visit one Christmas Eve by the ghost of Marley and three subsequent spirits, Scrooge is awakened to his meanness and the impact it has on others. It is extremely hard, and was used in the manufacture of tools during the Stone Age as it splits into thin, sharp splinters (used for such purposes as arrowheads). Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. It contrasts sharply with the narrator's initial description, as these positive similes differ greatlyfrom ones like "as hard and sharp as flint" or "solitary as an oyster." Dickens fills this first Stave with superlative and vivid descriptions of Scrooges miserly character and in so doing sets him up for quite a transformation. It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. It is through your support of visiting Book Analysis that we can support charities, such as Teenage Cancer Trust. Latest answer posted December 11, 2020 at 10:52:15 AM. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other old city, town, or borough, in the good old world.". Latest answer posted December 03, 2020 at 4:13:31 PM. Come! As Scrooge begs forgiveness from the ghost of Christmas yet to come, he makes it clear the he shall embrace the Christmas spirit and its values ("honour Christmas in my heart") and try and keep its values such as generosity, goodwill and sociability all year round ("try to keep it all the year."). The mention of Marleys funeral brings me back to the point I started from. This almost prompts a realization in Scrooge as he catches on to the fact that his wealth provides him (and indeed Fezziwig) with the power to make people happy. `You dont mean that, I am sure?, `I do, said Scrooge. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call `nuts to Scrooge. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping,scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! When they were within two paces of each other, Marleys Ghost held up its hand, warning him to come no nearer. hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire simile, he is hard and mean secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster sibilance, hissing, sinister, simile suggest he is hard to open up but may have a pearly within, foreshadowing Early in the chapter, the narrator says, "Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. "Spirit," said Scrooge with an interest he had never felt before, "tell me if Tiny Tim will live.". Marley really makes things clear for Scrooge. If the nails were hammered so their tips extended to the other side of the door, and then hammered flat against that side, they could not be extracted. Oh! PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. See in text(Stave One). (including. through the metaphor "fire", symbolizing goodwill and generosity (the values of the Christmas spirit), Dickens suggests that Scrooge, having "a very small fire" for himself, has little goodwill and generosity to be spent on himself, but, as suggested through Bob's fire being "so much smaller", he has even less goodwill and generosity for those around him. I defy himif he finds me going there, in good temper, year after year, and saying, Uncle Scrooge, how are you? If it only puts him in the vein to leave his poor clerk fifty pounds, thats something. Shows how he is, it sounds like Marley was at least somewhat generous for every!! ( exclamatory ).\ eNotes Editorial, 17 Oct. 2017, https: //www.enotes.com/homework-help/which-quotes-suggest-that-scrooge-is-presented-as-568005 the hard and sharp as flint analysis drawsthe. His door knocker view on Hard and sharp as flint. & quot Hard! 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