how does Dickens present Scrooge as an outsider to society?

Scrooge is presented as a outcast by Dickens via clever use of language. Even those who really need help do not like to ask him for advice. Repetition is cleverly used to tell us more about him too. In the text Scrooge is portrayed as a miserly character who is essentially a hermit and really cut off from the real world. Use some of the quotes to back your points up and as a source of fodder for your literature essay. Aim to write at least two paragraphs here for higher marks.

Remember in Victorian times the poor were basically living on air. In other words there were fewer support schemes available in those days. And often they became very desperate to get money in any way they could. Poverty was common. There were no laws in England either that aimed to protect children.
You could even mention this in your essay. In stave two the author tries to influence us to demonstrate kindness and empathy towards Scrooge however. Write about the literary devices and techniques that are employed by Dickens to make the readers feel sorry for Scrooge here and how they actually work.
Again you could examine the language used in the text at that time in addition. Consider the entire impact that it may have upon the reader. Identify any such themes. Make up a complete list. Explore the relationship between Scrooge and Marley. Look at some examples that demonstrate the strength of their relationship as business partners. Aim to present them as a list. Quote from the text. Can you find any good examples? Do look beyond the lines of the text in addition to uncover what is only implied by Dickens. See if you can find a few clues that tell you far more about how England was actually like in the eighteenth century on top of that.

Mine.


Dickens presents Scrooge as an outsider to society throughout the majority of the novella. This is influenced by his inwardly selfish mindset which was influenced by a combination of capitalism in the victorian era and his neglect as a child. Therefore it can be argued dickens are using Scrooge as a tool to criticize how the industrial revolution made people greedy for money and ignore the importance of family. Firstly, Dickens presents Scrooge as an outsider and a much loathed person by the way his neighbours react towards him. More than often they would circumvent Scrooge despite the circumstance.“No beggars….no children….no man or woman… would implore”. All the different varieties of people, low and high, would avoid Scrooge, for who he is and leave him completely alone despite the circumstance. Dickens has made Scrooge everyone who walks past filled with abhorrence - even the destitute would starve rather than ask Scrooge for money. This gives the reader a sense of loneliness and isolation. With the word “children” this can link to how Scrooge was divided from those when he was young and again rejected by children when he is older. This can link to the wider novella as Scrooge visits his past and can see he is different from the others his age. During the Victorian Era, Boys were sent to boarding school from a young age and as he was rejected from society when he was young, history seems to be repeating itself again as Scrooge is rejected from society all his life until his redemption.Secondly, Dickens presents Scrooge with a lack of sentimentality, in stave 1 it says” Nobody ever stopped him in the street”.Here dickens implies that Scrooge is not a member of the society and they make Scrooge feel , he in fact quite the opposite; he is a feared member of society. ‘No beggars implored him’ even people in desperate need would rather go without than to ask Scrooge for help. Again, Scrooge uses repetition of ‘no’ to emphasize that Scrooge is not only disliked, but people are intimidated by him, therefore making him an outsider of society. During the victorian era, the poor had very little and would go to extreme measures to get some money - here however it would seem they would rather let their family starve then talk to Scrooge which indicates to the reader that Scrooge must have been an outsider to society. In stave 2, Dickens makes the reader feel sympathetic to Scrooge when they learn his intentional isolation from society was undoubtedly influenced by the isolation he experienced as a child. Scrooge makes a visit to his former school where Scrooge meets his younger self. “solitary child neglected by his friends'' .Solitaire is repeated from stave 1 and this evokes pathos. As he was rejected from friends from a young age makes Scrooge not want friends in his future life. This shows why Scrooge is an outsider and the man he became. Scrooge tends to reject many people who want to be close to him for the rest of his life as isolating was all scrooge knew. Due to the industrial revolution Scrooge moved to the city for a job and these different factors changed him and made him feel more alone.There, was Scrooge upbringing was lonely and “solitaire” this could foreshadow that later in the Novella Scrooge redemption will include family and love.Dickens also describes Scrooge as an outsider, because he isolates himself away from everyone else. For example, the short sentence ‘I wish to be left alone’ shows that he is definitely an outsider not an outcast - it was Scrooge’s choice to be parted from society and nobody else’s. This side of Scrooge is structurally important as it makes the reader wonder why Scrooge is like this and question his actions. Although it seems that he is an outsider by the point of time the extract is set, the quote about him and Marley being ‘two kindred spirits’ suggests that he used to have friends before Marley died. Once again, in the Victorian era, business partners were almost like brothers and had a very close relationship. Once Marley had died this could have impacted scrooge's behavior.

Lol you copied that 🤣

Dickens presents Scrooge as an outsider in this extract by the way he is described. He uses the weather in the first paragraph to show how Scrooge is ‘colder’ than anything the weather can throw at him: heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet’. The listing of four types of bad weather intensifies the description of Scrooge being naturally isolated and cold, as if he is, like bad weather, naturally cold. Dickens then goes on to give examples of normal social behaviour in order to show that Scrooge is outside of society. He uses examples of direct address: ‘My dear Scrooge, how are you?’ in order to highlight how unusual it would be for anyone to address Scrooge like this. This is then summarised by stating that Scrooge doesn’t want to be sociable and in fact likes his isolation: it was the very thing he liked’.

This attitude is shown later when Scrooge is visited by the charitable gentlemen. Even though it is Christmas, the season of goodwill, Scrooge sends them away very rudely and shows no concern for the fact that some people could really benefit from just a little bit of charity. Furthermore, his nephew cannot get him to come to dinner, even though it would mean he is on his own at Christmas. It is as if Scrooge cares nothing for the whole idea of Christmas; he is like the ‘external cold’ but on the inside.

It is only when the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge his lonely, cold funeral, that Scrooge finally realises that his loneliness and isolation from society will lead to nothing but misery. He has been shown lots of examples of the warmth and happiness of social people such as the Cratchits, and also been reminded of how happy he used to be as a member of society, before greed and loneliness made him ‘cold’.

Dickens presents Scrooge as an outsider in this extract by the way he is described. He uses the weather in the first paragraph to show how Scrooge is ‘colder’ than anything the weather can throw at him: heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet’. The listing of four types of bad weather intensifies the description of Scrooge being naturally isolated and cold, as if he is, like bad weather, naturally cold. Dickens then goes on to give examples of normal social behaviour in order to show that Scrooge is outside of society. He uses examples of direct address: ‘My dear Scrooge, how are you?’ in order to highlight how unusual it would be for anyone to address Scrooge like this. This is then summarised by stating that Scrooge doesn’t want to be sociable and in fact likes his isolation: it was the very thing he liked’.

This attitude is shown later when Scrooge is visited by the charitable gentlemen. Even though it is Christmas, the season of goodwill, Scrooge sends them away very rudely and shows no concern for the fact that some people could really benefit from just a little bit of charity. Furthermore, his nephew cannot get him to come to dinner, even though it would mean he is on his own at Christmas. It is as if Scrooge cares nothing for the whole idea of Christmas; he is like the ‘external cold’ but on the inside.

It is only when the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge his lonely, cold funeral, that Scrooge finally realises that his loneliness and isolation from society will lead to nothing but misery. He has been shown lots of examples of the warmth and happiness of social people such as the Cratchits, and also been reminded of how happy he used to be as a member of society, before greed and loneliness made him ‘cold’.

Fam he asked the question 2 years ago

Innit brev

Lol you’re agreeing with a one year old post about someone replying to a two year old thread