Introducing Scrooge & Marley

Stave 1: Introducing Scrooge and Marley

At the start of the novella, Charles Dickens focuses on introducing his protagonist (the main character), Ebenezer Scrooge.

Scrooge's character

At the start of Stave 1, we learn a lot about Scrooge’s character and how he has treated people in the past.
This introduction to Scrooge helps the reader to really understand his character and his selfish attitude before the story starts – this helps to build an image of the man and emphasise his horrible nature before we see him change later on.

Jacob Marley

We learn that Jacob Marley (Scrooge’s old business partner) is “dead to begin with”.
The author also reveals that Scrooge had been Marley’s only friend, his “sole mourner”. Dickens uses the start of the novella to emphasise that Jacob Marley died before the story began.
The adjective “sole” shows that Scrooge and Marley were each other's only friends. Dickens immediately establishes Scrooge as a man with no living friends and hints that Jacob Marley will play an important role later on.

Scrooge and the cold

Scrooge is described as being cold and sharp, with physical features as “hard and sharp as flint”. His appearance represents his personality – he is unfriendly (hard) and dismissive (sharp).
Scrooge’s office is always cold – he doesn’t even put the heat on in the winter.
“No warmth could warm, nor wintry weather chill him.” The author suggests that heating the office would be useless anyway, as Scrooge is so unfeeling and cold-hearted that he would not even be able to feel the heat from the fire.

Reactions to Scrooge

We learn that everybody who ever meets Scrooge avoids any contact or discussion with him. Even beggars do not dare to approach him – they know that he will refuse to help them.
However, before the reader can feel too much sympathy for this lonesome character, the narrator informs us that this fear and dislike of Scrooge “was the very thing he liked” – he enjoys the fact that people dislike him and that they are too scared of him to ask him for help.

1Plot Summary

1.1Plot Summary

1.1.1Outline

1.1.2Introducing Scrooge & Marley

1.1.3Stave 1

1.1.4Stave 2

1.1.5Stave 3

1.1.6End of Topic Test - Staves 1-3

1.1.7Stave 4

1.1.8Stave 5

1.1.9End of Topic Test - Staves 4-5

2Key Characters & Quotes

2.1Ebenezer Scrooge

2.1.1Outline & Stave 1

2.1.2Stave 2

2.1.3Stave 3

2.1.4Stave 4

2.1.5Stave 5 & Key Quotes

2.1.6End of Topic Test - Ebeneezer Scrooge

2.2Other Characters

2.2.1Bob Cratchit

2.2.2Tiny Tim

2.2.3Fred

2.2.4The Ghosts Pt 1

2.2.5The Ghosts Pt 2

2.2.6End of Topic Test - Other Characters

2.3Grade 9 - Key Characters

2.3.1Grade 9 - Key Characters

2.3.2Grade 9 - Extract Analysis

3Key Ideas

3.1Key Ideas

3.1.1Inequality, Ignorance & Want

3.1.2Duality, Family & Love

3.1.3Christianity & Redemption

3.1.4End of Topic Test - Key Ideas

3.1.5Grade 9 - Key Themes

4Context

4.1Context

4.1.1Dickens & Victorian England

4.1.2Poverty & Victorian Christmas

4.1.3Exam-Style Questions - Poverty

4.1.4Gothic Fiction

4.1.5Gothic Fiction & Victorian England

4.1.6End of Topic Test - Context

5Authorial Method

5.1Structure & Techniques

5.1.1Structure & Time

5.1.2Time Frame & Pace

5.1.3Narrative Voice & Tone

5.1.4Settings, Similes & Metaphors

5.1.5End of Topic Test - Authorial Method

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