Narrative Voice & Tone

Narrative Voice

The narrative voice is engaging and entertaining. It seems to describe Scrooge as a villain, which the reader agrees with, and so the reader comes to trust the narrative voice.

Chatty and humorous

Charles Dickens uses a fairly chatty narrative voice in this story.
The narrator comes across as humorous. He says things like "Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail". This allows the reader to warm to the narrator.

Opinionated about Scrooge

We quickly get the sense that the narrator has a negative opinion of Scrooge. Some of the opinions he injects into Stave 1 include:
- “Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand.”
- “A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!”
Because we warm to the narrator early on, we trust the narrator's view of Scrooge.

Tone

The narrator's voice dictates the tone throughout the novella.

Entertaining tone

The narrator injects humour and sarcasm into the start of the novella, which creates an engaging tone.
- Humour: "Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail".
- Sarcasm: he calls Scrooge an "excellent man of business" amid many negative comments.
This gives the start of the novel a light-hearted feel.

Sad and sympathetic tone

As the story delves into Scrooge's sad past, the tone becomes less lively and more sad.
- From insulting Scrooge in Stave 1, the narrator moves to pitying Scrooge: “a solitary child, neglected by his friends”.
- The narrator speaks tenderly when describing Tiny Tim and the other Cratchits: "Alas for Tiny Tim, he bore a little crutch, and had his limbs supported by an iron frame".

Jovial

But in the final stave, once Scrooge has vowed to change his ways, the narrator's tone turns jovial.
This reflects both Scrooge's own happiness at his transformation, and reinforces the positivity of the novella's message about his transformation.
The stave contains many exclamations, e.g. "Oh, glorious, glorious!"

Darker tone

Dickens dampens the mood when he wants to stress the ignorance of his society and the importance of social responsibility:
- Ignorance and Want are described as “wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable” to emphasise how ugly these problems are for society.
- Dickens emphasises how awful the poverty is in parts of London with descriptions like "reeked with crime, with filth and misery".

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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