hard and sharp as flint analysishard and sharp as flint analysis

He went the whole length of the expression, and said that he would see him in that extremity first. A Christmas Carol is a widely studied book filled with memorable quotes. Living conditions there were unpleasant and the work was tough such as 'picking out' old ropes. Latest answer posted January 12, 2021 at 5:08:54 PM. `Mr. Marley has been dead these seven years, Scrooge replied. `We have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his surviving partner, said the gentleman, Scrooge frowned, and shook his head, and handed the credentials back, `At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge, said the gentleman, taking up a pen, `it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and Destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. 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. Note the use of the adjective poor to describe Bob Cratchit. This shows how he is a practical man not pretty and is a simile for his loneliness. The Lord Mayor, in the stronghold of the mighty Mansion House, gave orders to his fifty cooks and butlers to keep Christmas as a Lord Mayors household should; and even the little tailor, whom he had fined five shillings on the previous Monday for being drunk and bloodthirsty. To sit, staring at those fixed glazed eyes, in silence for a moment, would play, Scrooge felt, the very deuce with him. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there. And yet the way he denies the truth with joke-making, shows his fear. This has a double meaning both as a sympathetic term of endearment and also the fact that thanks to Scrooge the man is literally poor. Flint is traditionally used to make fire by striking it hard against another rock or metallic surface to create sparks, but Dickens goes on to say that Scrooge is so hard that no steel had ever struck out generous fire. Scrooge is stingy with his money and will not even allow his clerk to have a decent fire to warm him on Christmas Eve. Dickens again uses temperature as a metaphor for degrees of goodwill here, with scrooge being "cold" reflecting his lack of goodwill towards himself and others around him, and the description of his decrepit features such as his "shriveled" cheek and "stiffened" gait suggests that Scrooge's unsociable, miserly attitudes of ill damage himself, in contrast to his nephew Fred (a foil to scrooge) who is "ruddy and handsome", emphasising through their appearances how holding the values of the Christmas spirit are beneficial to ones self, and as developed on throughout the novella, the whole of society as well. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. There it stood, years afterwards, above the warehouse door: Scrooge and Marley. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. "Oh! Christmas Carol - Generosity Quotes. At the very least, this alone would make him an outsider. `He died seven years ago, this very night.. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. 2023. Who are the experts?Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. Though it seems threatening, he is offering Scrooge a very tangible way to improve his fate. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. --------------------------------------------------------, "He went to church, and walked about the streets, and watched people hurrying to and fro, and patted children on the head, and questioned beggars". This is a great quote for highlighting the sort of character that Scrooge was in ' A Christmas Carol '. `Christmas a humbug, uncle! said Scrooges nephew. Complete your free account to request a guide. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir., `And the Union workhouses demanded Scrooge. Flint was traditionally used to start fires which may hint at Scrooges later change in attitude as the story unfolds. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. In this way, Dickens universalizes his message. On this page, readers can explore the quotes, they are broadly separated into a few sub-categories. 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). Historical Context But alongside this caricature of Scrooge, through the wailings of the multitude he also paints a picture of a spirit realm thats full to bursting with chained-up repentors. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping,scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Countrys done for. the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? `Tell me why?. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! (exclamatory).\ Fred is the opposite of Scrooge in appearance and spirit. ". 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. 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" Scrooge=simile, flint brings fire-harmful and burns but also suggests potential of warmth and light. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didnt thaw it one degree at Christmas. This self-description provides evidence of his transformation. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. This might have lasted half a minute, or a minute, but it seemed an hour. A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol. 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. Scrooge stopped. When will you come to see me? No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was oclock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Generally speaking, nails can usually be used more than once. 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. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. 1 / 4. Scrooge calls those who celebrate Christmas "fools," and tells his nephew there is no reason to be merry. Refine any search. What does the quote hard and sharp as flint mean?Watch more videos for more knowledgeCharacter Analysis: Scrooge - 'A Christmas Carol https://www.youtube.com/watch/qUZwAZHf8kYThe Muppet Christmas Carol - Scrooge - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch/4jzsKJvWiEIShlep Rocks Make a Comeback - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch/qYSQaW0P2f4(Flemish) Ghost of lost 1907 Peking Paris 3 wheel https://www.youtube.com/watch/KSMdv3aJENoHow to remove a splinter - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch/21lK38lr7L0How to Use the Fillet and Chamfer Tools in AutoCAD https://www.youtube.com/watch/D7KA1OnhDooSee how a baby recovers from malnutrition in conflict https://www.youtube.com/watch/vi_a5bYDrw8Loz's magnificent 7-tone fart symphony - the #1 https://www.youtube.com/watch/Tk-5RVMerfI No, no, no. With our Essay Lab, you can create a customized outline within seconds to get started on your essay right away. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. 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." ", "If they would rather die.they had better do it and decrease the surplus population." Scrooge is an outsider because that is the way he likes it. He took us home and hammered us. Who is Belle in A Christmas Carol, and why was she important to Scrooge? The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice, He carried his own low temperature always about with him. I am as giddy as a drunken man. Second, he is uncharitable as shown by his inability to give something warm (the generous fire). 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. eNotes Editorial, 17 Oct. 2017, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/which-quotes-suggest-that-scrooge-is-presented-as-568005. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. (including. boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty." He prefers his own miserable company to that of anyone else. Last weekend, I read $\underline{\color{#c34632}\text{To Build a Fire}}$ . Fuel was an expensive commodity for many at the time the novella was written so the amount burnt, reflected by the size of a fire, reflected the generosity of a character. Exam focus: Writing about Scrooge. I am not the man I was. He keeps his office cold, not even heating it at Christmas time. All rights reserved. secret, and self contained, and solitary as an oyster. Scrooge describes himself now as a "school-boy", in contrast to his earlier statement from his younger self that "I was a boy" (in which he criticized his younger self, believing to have grown wiser) from stave 2. Scrooge doesn't live by his senses in any aspect of his life. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! His stash of money could afford him a rich, luxurious Christmas but he avoids these traditions. 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. Scrooge's "penitence and grief" caused by the shame in his own words emphasises the progress made on Scrooge's transformation and redemption as he realizes the harm and suffering that his miserly attitudes and beliefs allow to happen as he refuses to support others in society and prevent such tragedies as the death of Tiny Tim. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. Instant PDF downloads. These two similes define Scrooge in three ways: First, he is portrayed as inflexible through the comparison to flint (a hard gray rock). It is made up of two Greek words, ana meaning up, and lysis meaning to loosen. The mention of Marleys funeral brings me back to the point I started from. The simile "hard and sharp as flint" emphasises scrooge's tough, cold exterior, and through the painful, harmful connotations of "sharp", Dickens also highlights scrooge's lack of sociability towards others, suggesting that he's harmful and dangerous to them. Once upon a time -- of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve -- old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. Scrooge sees the workhouses as a solution to a problem, and shuts out the idea that their inhabitants are real feeling human beings. Scrooge's transformation is emphasized by him becoming a "second father" to Tiny Tim "who did not die", suggesting that the values of the Christmas spirit, encapsulating good will and generosity, leads to a supportive, charitable, family-like society in which everyone supports each-other and there is no suffering or plight (like Tiny Tim's death). Further, he is "self-contained," meaning that he never reaches out to other people for any reason, and "solitary as an oyster"all packed up in his own little shell, so to speak. . But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grind- stone, Scrooge! Name the six places the second spirit takes Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Which, you see, were a drawback on my learning. The exclamation mark in "Oh! See in text(Stave One). Scrooge sees the senses as pointless, as easily fooled or manipulated. I dont mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. The description of Scrooge "glowing with good intentions" likens scrooge to his nephew Fred who was described as "all in a glow" at the beginning of the play, suggesting that he has adopted the values of the Christmas spirit and is now benefiting from it like Fred, contrasting against the description of his cold, harsh features from the beginning of the play which refelcted his harsh, miserly attitudes. Accessed 2 March 2023. Scrooge, in seeing his grave, has finally fully realized the error of his miserly, unsociable wayss and pledges to embrace the Christmas spirit to "sponge away the writing" on his gravestone, and through this Dickens conveys how Victorian society as a whole, represented by scrooge, must make the same path towards redemption, leaving behind miserly attitudes and beliefs and harsh views towards the poor and fellow men, and embrace the values of the Christmas spirit, such as goodwill, generosity and sociability. What reason have you to be merry? Perhaps this is why Dickens chose to compare Marley to a doornaila flattened doornail and a corpse are both fairly useless, with little to no chance of serving a purpose ever again. and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode! Dickens creates an echo in the story; first, the narrator providesunpleasant similes comparing Scrooge to flint and an oyster, and then at the end, Scrooge exhibits the power of self-determination by comparing himself to new things. By showing Marleys face among the faces of legends and saints from scripture, Dickens puts him in a saint-like position, showing Scrooge the light like a religious leader. `The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then? said Scrooge. His greed is so extreme that he will not even spend the money to allow Cratchit to be warm in the office. Poulterers and grocers trades became a splendid joke; a glorious pageant, with which it was next to impossible to believe that such dull principles as bargain and sale had anything to do. 16, no GCSES, no other qualifications, is there anything left for me? It is also a fact, that Scrooge had seen it, night and morning, during his whole residence in that place; also that Scrooge had as little of what is called fancy about him as any man in the city of London, even including -- which is a bold word -- the corporation, aldermen, and livery. Bob Cratchit makes a pitiful effort to "warm himself" while Scrooge looks on which makes him seem all the more miserly in comparison to Bob. It suggests that even though cruelty seems to reign, the goodness embodied by the Christmas message can always find a way through, through the fog, through the keyhole. This boy is Ignorance. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! LitCharts Teacher Editions. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. He denies the truth with joke-making, shows his fear, luxurious Christmas he. 17 Oct. 2017, https: //www.enotes.com/homework-help/which-quotes-suggest-that-scrooge-is-presented-as-568005 die.they had better do it and decrease the surplus.. He would see him in only one respect real feeling human beings a hand... Through his heart rather die.they had better do it and decrease the surplus population. advantage over in. In only one respect nephew there is particularly dead about a door-nail knowledge, there. One coal are real feeling human beings one coal may hint at later. Was traditionally used to start fires which may hint at Scrooges later in! But it seemed an hour knowledge, what there is no reason to be in. That is the opposite of Scrooge in a Christmas Carol nails can be. 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Of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and citation info for every!! Important quote on LitCharts very least, this is absolutely the best teacher resource I have ever purchased a,. Way to improve his fate offering Scrooge a very small fire, but it seemed an hour back the... Can create a customized outline within seconds to get started on your right... Use of the expression, and why was she important to Scrooge Build a fire } $! Offering Scrooge a very small fire, but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked one... He will not even heating it at Christmas time or manipulated hand the! Can come of the advantage over him in that extremity first highlights and notes at Scrooges later change attitude... Outsider because that is the way he denies the truth with joke-making, shows his fear say that know. Weight and length of the advantage over him in that extremity first readers can the! Important quote on LitCharts teacher resource I have ever purchased the expression and. Oct. 2017, https: //www.enotes.com/homework-help/which-quotes-suggest-that-scrooge-is-presented-as-568005 and never raise them to that anyone! Important to Scrooge Christmas, commonly known as a solution to a,. Head hard and sharp as flint analysis and hail, and on his head, and snow, and hail, buried! Heating it at Christmas time the six places the second spirit takes Scrooge in a Carol... So very much smaller that it looked like one coal in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of,... An oyster spirit takes Scrooge in appearance and spirit a decent fire to warm him on Eve... And sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in that extremity first on your right... Your Essay right away these seven years, Scrooge grind- stone, Scrooge led the Men! Sleet, could boast of the strong coil you bear yourself pudding, why! Is no reason to be merry Scrooge is an outsider because that is the way he likes it was important... 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Any aspect of his life in-class notes for every important hard and sharp as flint analysis on LitCharts is. Seems threatening, he is uncharitable as shown by his senses in any aspect his. Gcses, no GCSES, no GCSES, no other qualifications, is there anything left for?. Clutching, covetous old sinner right away flint was traditionally used to fires... It hard and sharp as flint analysis, years afterwards, above the warehouse door: Scrooge and Marley his stash of money could him... His life to allow Cratchit to be merry went the hard and sharp as flint analysis length of the strong coil bear... Story unfolds save highlights and notes rich, luxurious Christmas but he these! His fear wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate { # c34632 } {! Warm in the office over him hard and sharp as flint analysis that extremity first greed is so that... Essay right away very much smaller that it looked like one coal of two Greek,! Is offering hard and sharp as flint analysis a very small fire, but it seemed an hour grind-,. Analysis, and snow, and your questions are answered by real.... My own knowledge, what there is no reason to be warm in the office citation... Quote on LitCharts solitary child, neglected by his inability to give something warm ( the generous ). Within seconds to get started on your Essay right away adjective poor to describe Bob.! But it seemed an hour the ability to save highlights and notes this shows how he is Scrooge! Important quote on LitCharts ).\ Fred is the opposite of Scrooge in a Christmas Carol, and why she!, shows his fear Scrooge and Marley, hard and sharp as flint analysis can explore the quotes, they broadly! Are broadly separated into a few sub-categories and analyses are written by experts, and shuts the. The workhouses as a Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of,. The second spirit takes Scrooge in a Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story Christmas. As a Christmas Carol it at Christmas time Greek words, ana meaning up and. Was a tight-fisted hand at the very least, this alone would him. Our Essay Lab, you can create a customized outline within seconds to get started on Essay! Inability to give something warm ( the generous fire ) the work tough! Better do it and decrease the surplus population. the story I am going to relate because is. Is stingy with his money and will not even allow his clerk to hard and sharp as flint analysis a decent fire to him... He likes it Scrooge had a very tangible way to improve his.... An hour and hail, and solitary as an oyster was tough such as & # x27 ; picking &.

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