Characters
Protagonist: Ebenezer Scrooge
Antagonist: Marley’s Ghost
Point of View
Third Person Omniscient:
We are told everything about the story,
including the thoughts and feelings of all
the characters and even information in the
narrator’s mind which no one knows.
Conflict
 Internal (Man vs Self):
 Scrooge is forced to face his failures in life
 Interpersonal (Man vs Man):
 Scrooge vs Marley/ his nephew Fred
 Man vs Society

Scrooge despises Christmas and tries to ruin the spirit of
Christmas for everyone around him.
Setting
Victorian England (London)
Christmastime
Mid-1800s
Mood/Atmosphere
Warmth of nephew: “A merry Christmas, Uncle!” cried a
cheerful voice…He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the
fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge’s, that he was all in a glow;
his face ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath
smoked again.
Versus
Coldness of Scrooge: “The cold within him froze his old
features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his
gait, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and spoke out shrewdly in
his grating voice.
Symbolism
 Fog: Scrooge’s unclear thinking
 Marley’s Chain: Greed and materialism
 Fred: Joy/Christmas Cheer/Hope for second chance
 One lump of coal: stinginess
Theme
 As we go through life, our most important
job is to lighten the burdens of others and
reduce suffering.
 The spirit of Christmas, giving, and helping
others should always be with us.
Allusion
 “If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet’s father died
before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable
in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own
ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged
gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot-say
Saint Paul’s Churchyard for instance-literally to astonish his
son’s weak mind.” (Hamlet by William Shakespeare)
 “The fireplace was an old one…designed to illustrate the
Scriptures. There were Cains and Abels…Abrahams, Belshazzars,
Apostles putting off to Sea in butter boats, hundreds of figures
to attract his thoughts…” (Biblical references)
Similes/Metaphors
Similies
 “Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.”
 “…solitary as an oyster.”
Metaphors
 “…the houses opposite were mere phantoms.”
Parallelism
Repetition of grammatical pattern, which is
used to emphasize related ideas.
Example
 “Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What
reason have you to be merry? You’re poor enough.”
 “Come, then,” replied the nephew gaily. “What right have
you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You’re
rich enough.”
Repetition for Effect
 The word sole is repeated to emphasize the solitude and
loneliness of Scrooge.
 “Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole
administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary
legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner.”
 The word melancholy is repeated to emphasize the sadness
of Scrooge’s life.
 “Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual
melancholy tavern.”