Scrooge

Charles Dickens, 1812 - 1870 was a famous English Novelist of the Victorian era. He was born in Portsmouth, and was the son of a naval officer. At the age of 12 his father was imprisoned for not paying his debts and Charles had to work in a warehouse. Experiences such as these must have given him thoughts to include in his later novels such as David Copperfield. In 1834, Dickens became a political journalist, reporting on parliamentary debate and traveling across Britain by stagecoach to cover election campaigns for the Morning Chronicle. A few years later Dickens published his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, in March 1836. He was a fierce critic of the poverty in Victorian society, which is portrayed through his novels. This gives readers of the present day an insight into the life style of 19th century Britain. There where several economical problems during the 19th century, some of these where pick-pocketing, disease and underprivileged working class. Dickens first published the novel, A Christmas Carol on December 19th, 1843. He was originally going to write a short pamphlet on poverty in London, but after visiting some tin mines in Cornwall and seeing the horrible conditions there, he decided to write a full book which was A Christmas Carol.

Ebenezer Scrooge is the focus point of the story, and as the lead role he is the most important part of the book. Each section (stave) of the novel shows how Scrooges personality is undergoing a change from the beginning when he is greedy and cold-hearted, to the end of the novel when he treats others with kindness and generosity.
The first impressions we get of Ebenezer Scrooge is that he is a dreadful, atrocious, stingy old man. He is described first as a miserly old skinflint. He describes him with many unpleasant verbs, for example wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching and covetous. He also describes him as an old sinner.   This is proved as he previously had a business partner called Marley. Unfortunately,... [continues]

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