2.1.4
Stave 4
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Scrooge: Stave 4
This Stave shows Scrooge the personal impact of his actions – he cannot escape this horrible fate unless he changes the way he lives.
Submissive
- When Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, he bends "down upon his knee” before the Ghost.
- Scrooge seems to get lower every time he meets the Ghosts. This could link into the idea that every time they visit him, they show him things which make him feel more lowly and regretful.
- Alternatively, this could also be a submissive action from Scrooge, as he has stopped fighting the Ghosts and is willing to learn whatever they want to teach him.
Highlights his ignorance
- Showing Scrooge's ignorance of the city and society in which he lives, Dickens tells us how Scrooge and the Ghost enter a part of London where “Scrooge had never penetrated before, although he recognised its situation, and its bad repute”.
- Scrooge has been living an ignorant life, basing all of his ideas about poorer people on his ideas and assumptions about where they live and what they do. He has never even been to this particular part of London before, but he knows it by its bad reputation.
Learns what others think of him
- Throughout this part of the story, Scrooge hears how badly other people think of him – in reality, it is doubtful that anyone has ever told them what they think about him to his face, but now he hears how no one cares for him, how people think he is selfish, and how he (in his possible future) will die alone.
Scrooge: Stave 4
This Stave shows Scrooge the personal impact of his actions – he cannot escape this horrible fate unless he changes the way he lives.
Learns truth about wealth
- Scrooge sees how his wealth will not save him, or be useful to him after death.
- If he continues living as he has been, the Ghost shows Scrooge that nobody will be sad when he dies. Scrooge is horrified and begs the Ghost: “Let me see some tenderness connected with a death” – he wants someone to have cared about him.
- He will die alone, and the only people who will care about him will be the people who can benefit from his death:
- Thieves who steal from his dead body and his home.
- People he has wronged, who are glad that he has died.
Learns consequences of others
- The Ghost wants Scrooge to see the full impact of his actions – he wants Scrooge to see how his actions affect others.
- “He was very light to carry… and his father loved him so.”
- The way the family talk about Tiny Tim, using past tense verbs (“was” and “loved”) shows that something has happened to him. This is incredibly upsetting to Scrooge, and to the reader.
Finally learns lesson
- The revelation that Tiny Tim has died, and that Scrooge could have helped to prevent it, is the final piece of information Scrooge needs in order to declare that he has learnt his lesson:
- “I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been.”
- Scrooge vows to learn his lesson and change, to be a better man and a kinder person.
1Plot Summary
2Key Characters & Quotes
2.1Ebenezer Scrooge
2.2Other Characters
2.2.1Bob Cratchit2.2.2Tiny Tim2.2.3Fred2.2.4The Ghosts Pt 12.2.5The Ghosts Pt 22.2.6End of Topic Test - Other Characters2.2.7Diagnostic Misconceptions - Bob Marley2.2.8Diagnostic Misconceptions - Two Ghosts2.2.9Diagnostic Misconceptions - Ghost of Christmas2.2.10Diagnostic Misconceptions - The Cratchits
2.3Grade 9 - Key Characters
3Key Ideas
4Context
5Authorial Method
6Recap: Main Quotes
Jump to other topics
1Plot Summary
2Key Characters & Quotes
2.1Ebenezer Scrooge
2.2Other Characters
2.2.1Bob Cratchit2.2.2Tiny Tim2.2.3Fred2.2.4The Ghosts Pt 12.2.5The Ghosts Pt 22.2.6End of Topic Test - Other Characters2.2.7Diagnostic Misconceptions - Bob Marley2.2.8Diagnostic Misconceptions - Two Ghosts2.2.9Diagnostic Misconceptions - Ghost of Christmas2.2.10Diagnostic Misconceptions - The Cratchits
2.3Grade 9 - Key Characters
3Key Ideas
4Context
5Authorial Method
6Recap: Main Quotes
Practice questions on Stave 4
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- 4Who will care about Scrooge's death?True / false
- 5What does Scrooge vow to do at the end of Stave 4?Multiple choice
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