Analysis of A Christmas Carol

SIMPLIFIED BOOK REPORT

A CHRISTMAS CAROL ANALYSIS

Arranged by :

Mutiara Pratama Putri (1500026038)

ENGLISH LITERATURE

FACULTY OF LITERATURE, CULTURE, AND COMMUNICATION

AHMAD DAHLAN UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

A CHRISTMAS CAROL ANALYSIS

A.           THEME

Theme in "A Christmas Carol" is the power of human relationships. On one level, the theme seems quite obvious. The miserly Scrooge rejects the love and companionship of others and lives a miserable life; the former self of Scrooge embraces his humanity and finds joy in becoming a part of others’ lives. It is shown in the vision of Christmas Past where Scrooge was in Fezziwig’s party.

“During all this time, Scrooge had acted like a man out of his wits. His heart and soul were in the scene – with his former self. He remembered everything, enjoyed everything, and was quite excited.” –Chapter 5, Pages 33.

In the visions of Christmas past and Christmas present, those who are happy are those who relate to friends and family.

B.            CHARACTER

There are two kinds of characters in this story:

1.     Main Character :

·         Ebenezer Scrooge

He is a man who lost the enjoyment in christmas, but because of many things, he becomes a man who honor christmas in the end. It is also said that Scrooge is a stingy, hard, and unfeeling man at first, but becomes a good man in the end.

The bad side of Scrooge is shown in pages 45, chapter 6, “Only on Christmas day would anyone drink to the health of such a stingy, hard, unfeeling man as Mr.Scrooge”. And the good side of Scrooge is shown in pages 78, chapter 10.

2.    Minor Characters :

•       Jacob Marley

Marley is a man who is Scrooge’s partner for a long time in his life. He is the one who warns Scrooge about the coming of the ghost. It is shown in chapter 3.

•       Ghosts

They are the ghosts of christmas who give Scrooge many lessons in his life, and make Scrooge change the way of his life. They are shown in chapter 4 until chapter 9.

-          The Ghost of Christmas Past

He is the first ghost who comes to Scrooge

-          The Ghost of Christmas Present

He is the second ghost who comes to Scrooge

-          The Ghost of Christmas Future

He is the last ghost who comes to Scrooge

•       Cratchit family

They are another minor character who help the author tells the story. They are shown in chapter 6, pages 42.

-          Bob Cratchit

He is Scrooge’s clerk.

-          Mrs. Cratchit

She is Bob’s wife.

-          Martha

She is the first daughter in Cratchit family.

-          Miss Belinda

She is the second daughter in Cratchit family.

-          Master Peter Cratchit

He is the first son in Cratchit family.

-          Tiny Tim

He is the second son in Cratchit family

There are also another smaller Cratchit in the family. They are a boy and a girl who are the smaller children in Cratchit family.

•       Scrooge Family

There are another two people of Scrooge family that is shown in the story. They are Fan and Fred. It is shown in chapter 5, pages 29.

-          Fan

She is Scrooge’s sister who has died before Scrooge.

-          Fred

He is Scrooge’s nephew, and also Fan’s son.

•       Fezziwig

He is the first boss of Scrooge where he had the first job. It is shown in chapter 5, pages 30.

•       Dick Wilkins

He is Scrooge’s fellow apprentice in the past. It is shown in chapter 5, pages 31.

•       Bella

She is the first love of Scrooge, but unfortunately she is not the last love of Scrooge. It is shown in chapter 5, pages 31.

C.            SETTING

There are many settings in the story :

General Place :

§  In London, England.

It is shown in pages 81, paragraph 2, line 2, “the Stingiest man in all London”.

Spesific Place :

§  In his office

It is the place where Scrooge works. It is shown in pages 4, chapter 1, in the title of the chapter, “Scrooge’s office”.

§  At Scrooge’s bed room

It is shown in pages 22, paragraph 3, first line, “Scrooge went back to bed again and started to think”.

Time :

§  In Desember 19th Century

It is based on the note of author, when Christmas Carol novel was published.

§  3:00 p.m

“The city clock said it was 3:00 p.m.” –Chapter 1, pages 6.

§  At morning

“... men sputtered, “Good morning. sir! A Merry Christmas to you!””

–Last chapter, pages 75.

§  At afternoon

“”Good afternoon!” barked Scrooge.” –Chapter 1, pages 10

§  At night

“”I am here tonight to...”” –Chapter 3, pages 20.

D.           PLOT

·         Exposition

Ebenezer scrooge is a petulant, stingy, hording his money and very hates a Christmas day.

·         Conflict

Because of his bad personalities, he becomes an isolated person, and hated by many people. Even he quarrels with his nephew that wants to invite him to having a dinner at Christmas eve.

·         Complication

The live people around him can not change him or make him aware, so his dead friend, Marley come to him as a ghost to telling scrooge that he will meet 3 spirits that will make him aware.

·         Climax

One by one the spirits of Christmas past, present and yet come to show up to remind scrooge that he was once a normal person. When the third spirit show his future and his grave, scrooge was very scared and determined to change his life.

·         Resolution

Finally scrooge woke up and it was the Christmas day. He becomes a completely upstanding, excellent, generous, and friendly fellow all around.

E.            POINT OF VIEW

The point of view in this story is Third – person – omniscient (Mr or Miss know all).

F.            ATMOSPHERE OR TONE

The author tell the story realistically and with a bit of fantasy in it. It is realistic because the story represents the life in the era where the author write it. But the author write the story with a bit of fantasy to make the reader becomes interested in reading the story. It also makes the reader  doesn’t even realize that the story is the representation of life in an era.

G.            SYMBOL

This story is written in Victorian Era at that time. Age of Victoria was the highlight of the Industrial Revolution, a period of social change, the economy, and technology that very important in the United Kingdom. At that time, the British Empire reached its peak and became a super power country.

Beyond his personal reasons for writing A Christmas Carol, Dickens felt a strong need to comment on the enormous gap between the rich and poor in Victorian Britain.

H.           MORAL VALUE

·         Don’t easily give up on something. Just try harder.

In this story, it’s shown that Scrooge become a person who reject companionship of others because he always leave alone since in the past. So, he just give up to make relationship with people around him.