At this time of the rolling year, the spectre said `I suffer most. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his. Scrooge represents the ignorant attitude of the wealthy classes that Dickens despised in his own society. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. 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. Once more? Just as Scrooge seems unaffected by the cold and darkness, he also shuns his feelings of fear and refuses to trust his senses or give in to them. Scrooge is an outsider because that is the way he likes it. "no beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock". Whoever the author.Discover new and exciting books to dive into with our Book Explorer Tool. Tiny Tim's survival also contrasts against the beginning of the play, in which Marley is "as dead as a door nail", bringing the novella to a close in a cyclical structure with society improving from the death and suffering under Scrooge's miserly, stingy, ill willed attitudes, to the survival and prosperity of society under the Christmas spirit. ", "If they would rather die.they had better do it and decrease the surplus population." He becomes nearly inebriated with joy. Cards. What reason have you to be morose? "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." Marley's questions and Scrooge's answers about the senses are important. Dickens highlights Scrooges newfound sociability as him having "patted children on the head, and questioned beggars" alludes and directly contrasts against the description from stave one that "no beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock", emphasising how Scrooge has reconnected with society in embracing the Christmas spirit. The bells chiming and the clanking of chains create a disturbance that even Scrooge cant ignore, and forebode both that Scrooge's time is approaching and that he himself will soon be in similar chains. External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. What reason have you to be merry? its teeth were chattering in its frozen head up there. 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." Privacy | Terms of Service, Endpaper from Journeys Through Bookland, Charles Sylvester, 1922, "Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster". *(Many, Nobody)* is predicting rain for tomorrow. Near the beginning of the book, as we are being introduced to Scrooge, we read, Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, 'My dear Scrooge, how are you? The Spirit pointed from the grave to him, and back again. 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. A merry Christmas to everyone.". 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. How is Scrooge portrayed as an outsider in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol? Whether these creatures faded into mist, or mist enshrouded them, he could not tell. Give your view on Hard and sharp as flint with a rating and help us compile the very best Charles Dickens quotations. That, and its livid colour, made it horrible; but its horror seemed to be in spite of the face and beyond its control, rather than a part or its own expression. Scrooge is especially disgruntled when Fred mentions his wife, for example. a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! `What do you want with me?. The truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of distracting his own attention, and keeping down his terror; for the spectres voice disturbed. Marley's purgatorial afterlife is described as a wasteland of endless journeying. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grind- stone, Scrooge! His stash of money could afford him a rich, luxurious Christmas but he avoids these traditions. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! **Example 1**. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty." Complete your free account to access notes and highlights, A doornail was a kind of nail or stud that was often used in Dickens's time tobothaesthetically adorn, The simile first appeared in Shakespeare's. Scrooge's "interest" in Tiny Tm's well being and whether "Tiny Tim will live" highlights Scrooge's changing attitudes towards the poor - in contrast to earlier, Scrooge does not want the deserving poor Tiny Tim to die. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. 30-4) the young Scrooge is full of energy and . It is extremely hard, and was used in the manufacture of tools during the Stone Age as it splits into thin, sharp splinters (used for such purposes as arrowheads). Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. It is a ponderous chain! The dark, wintry night, and the approach of Christmas Day, should provide the conditions for some seasonal camaraderie between Scrooge and his clerk, but Scrooges misery wins out over all. The Student Room and The Uni Guide are trading names of The Student Room Group Ltd. Register Number: 04666380 (England and Wales), VAT No. A squeezing, wrenching, grasping,scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!" - Narrator. Scrooge is Hard and sharp as flint (p. 2). Whatever the book. Historical Context 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. God save you! cried a cheerful voice. If the nails were hammered so their tips extended to the other side of the door, and then hammered flat against that side, they could not be extracted. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct,London, EC1A 2BN, United Kingdom, 2023 Book Analysis. for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. This is an example of the figurative language Charles Dickens uses in his works, here using hyperbole (exaggerated language) in the form of a simile to compare Scrooge to flint. 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. "Scrooge was better than his word. Accessed 2 March 2023. 795. All rights reserved. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Nobody under the table, nobody under the sofa, a small fire in the grate; spoon and basin ready; and the little saucepan of gruel, Nobody under the bed; nobody in the closet; nobody in his dressing-gown, which was hanging up in a suspicious attitude against the wall. `What right have you to be dismal? Flint is a form of the mineral quartz, which occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalk and limestones. There is no doubt whatever about that. Analysis; Cold-hearted: According to Dickens's description, . "Oh! Scrooge bends over his weak fire. through the repeated structure, Dickens again portrays that Scrooge as breaking away from his previous miserliness and stinginess, becoming more good willed towards other like Bob Cratchit. No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Scrooge was not much in the habit of cracking jokes, nor did he feel, in his heart, by any means waggish then. Though it seems threatening, he is offering Scrooge a very tangible way to improve his fate. "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. `You dont believe in me, observed the Ghost. Again, he's very much an outsider and is treated as an outcast as a result. 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. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call `nuts to Scrooge. This makes me think that Scrooge would have very sharp features, a pointy nose and always has a scowl on his face. What does the quote hard and sharp as flint mean?Watch more videos for more knowledgeCharacter Analysis: Scrooge - 'A Christmas Carol . ragged men and boys were gathered: warming their hands and winking their eyes before the blaze in rapture. 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. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster." In other words, Scrooge is stingy and tough: he has no . Whereas the line about being solitary as an oyster suggests that Scrooge refuses to let anybody into his life. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. Scrooge fell upon his knees, and clasped his hands before his face. Analysis, Pages 4 (801 words) Views. What lesson does Scrooge learn from each spirit in A Christmas Carol? In the beginning of the novella he is portrayed as a cold, icy, solitary character, the very opposite of the warmth and friendship that fire represents. ", "Hard and sharp as a flint.solitary as an oyster. He is smug and condescending about the poor, and refuses to listen to the gentlemens reasoning. 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. It was double-locked, as he had locked it with his own hands, and the bolts were undisturbed. wander through the world -- oh, woe is me! a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? Cratchit, despite his poverty, celebrates Christmas with a childlike ritual of sliding down a hill with the street boys. Though Fred is poor (though not as poor as Cratchit), his attire is colorful and he is generous and sociable with his Christmas provisions. Marley represents a kind of family for Scrooge, even though they are not blood-related. _____Why did the puppy hide when Sebastian appeared? This boy is Ignorance. the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? A flint.solitary as an oyster childlike ritual of sliding down a hill with the street boys and... Into mist, or mist enshrouded them, he 's very much an outsider in Charles 's. Though they are not blood-related better do it and decrease the surplus population ''... Rolling year, the spectre said ` I suffer most he is smug and condescending about the poor and... The grave to him, and try to keep it all the...., a pointy nose and always has a scowl on his face him... 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