Scrooge in A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens Essay example -- Charl

A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens Scrooge is represented from the beginning as a miserable old man being described as a "squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!" I think this a perfect description of him in one sentence. People know Scrooge well and avoid him, this suites Scrooge because he does not like other people and not a big fan of being sociable. The name 'Scrooge' was created by Dickens and is now well known in the dictionary as someone that is mean, this is basically what Scrooge is in the novel, a symbol of meanness. It is described that the people know Scrooge well and avoid him as much as possible. Although this suites him well because he does not like other people, and is not sociable in any way. Dickens makes you dislike Scrooge from the very beginning by using a number of methods such as, the described setting and Scrooge, how he treats the poor, the language used etc. The setting he's in is just like him, cold, gloomy, small and cheap. His treatment to the poor is appalling as when he is asked to give a donation for them he replies, "Are there no prisons?" "And the Union Workhouses?" this is very harsh and selfish, because he is basically saying they should be put in prison instead of trying to get money off of him, this instantly creates bad impression on him. His counting house is described by Dickens to be like a "dismal little cell", this gives the impression that it is cheap, dark and cold because the fire he describes is so small its as if it only has one coal. Being so cheap and not wanting to spend anymore money than he has to he only employs one person Bob Cratchit (... ...ery clear that, is you are not kind to people then you will have something bad happen to you in your afterlife. This is proved clear when Marley's ghost appears, and explains to Scrooge that there is "'No rest, no peace. Incessant torture of remorse'" as he when he was living acted just as Scrooge does. Dickens portrays Scrooge in many different but excellent ways and makes you feel a real sense of hatred for him by doing this. By setting the novel in the Victorian era it helps to create an image of the destitute poor and how badly people like Scrooge treat them. The actual setting he is in is similar to Scrooges personality and features, the use of similes and other descriptive language all add to Scrooges nasty nature. To sum up what the reader is encouraged to feel in the first chapter is basic hatred for Scrooge.