GCSE English LiteratureCharles Dickens, 1843

A Christmas Carol quotes, explained

The quotes from A Christmas Carol worth knowing best include “solitary as an oyster”, “Humbug!”, “Are there no prisons?”, “I wear the chain I forged in life”, “God bless us every one!” and “I am not the man I was.”

Below are 75 quotes, stave by stave, each with who says it, what it means in plain words and what it shows. Start with the ten that matter most, or find quotes by character or theme.

Start with the ten Find a quote

Stave 1The narrator

“Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.”

1Simile: hard as flint, never a spark of warmth
2Hissing s sounds: cold and secretive
3An oyster is shut tight, but may hold a pearl

What an annotated quote looks like

01 / If you only learn tenTap one to read it

Ten Carol quotes to learn first

Between them they cover Scrooge before and after, Marley’s Ghost, the spirits, Belle and the Cratchits, and every stave of the story.

“secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster”The narrator · Stave 1
“Bah!” said Scrooge, “Humbug!”Scrooge · Stave 1
“Are there no prisons?”Scrooge · Stave 1
“I wear the chain I forged in life”Marley’s Ghost · Stave 1
“Mankind was my business.”Marley’s Ghost · Stave 1
“Another idol has displaced me”Belle · Stave 2
“God bless us every one!”Tiny Tim · Stave 3
“This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want.”The Ghost of Christmas Present · Stave 3
“I am not the man I was.”Scrooge · Stave 4
“I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel”Scrooge · Stave 5

02 / Quote finderBy stave, character or theme

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Revising one character or one theme? Tap a quote to jump straight to it.

By stave

Stave 1: Marley’s Ghost Stave 2: The First of the Three Spirits Stave 3: The Second of the Three Spirits Stave 4: The Last of the Spirits Stave 5: The End of It

By character

Scrooge

Ebenezer Scrooge, a rich, mean and lonely old businessman in London.

Oh! But he was a tight-fisted …Hard and sharp as flint, from …“If they would rather die,” said …Scrooge sat down upon a form …“Spirit,” said Scrooge, with an interest …I am as light as a …

Marley’s Ghost

Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s business partner, who died seven years before the story begins.

Marley was dead: to begin with.cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and …I wear the chain I forged …I made it link by link …Mankind was my business. The common …I am here to-night to warn …

The three spirits

The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come, who each show Scrooge a different time.

It was a strange figure, like …from the crown of its head …a jolly Giant, glorious to see …If he be like to die …This boy is Ignorance. This girl …It was shrouded in a deep …

Fred

Scrooge’s nephew, the son of his sister Fan: cheerful, kind and poor compared with his uncle.

Christmas a humbug, uncle!What right have you to be …a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time …and to think of people below …His offences carry their own punishment …Who suffers by his ill whims? …

The Cratchits

Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s poorly paid clerk, his wife and their children, including the sick little boy, Tiny Tim.

He told me, coming home, that …God bless us every one!I’ll give you Mr Scrooge, the …The Founder of the Feast indeed!My little, little child!Scrooge was better than his word …

Fan, Fezziwig and Belle

People from Scrooge’s past: Fan, his loving little sister; Fezziwig, his kind old employer; and Belle, the young woman he was going to marry.

Father is so much kinder than …In came a fiddler with a …He has the power to render …Another idol has displaced me You fear the world too much May you be happy in the …

By theme

Redemption and change

The whole story is about a man changing for the better. Dickens shows that it is never too late to change, as long as you act while you are alive.

I am here to-night to warn …Scrooge sat down upon a form …“Spirit,” said Scrooge, with an interest …I am not the man I was.Scrooge was better than his word …

Poverty and social responsibility

Dickens wanted his readers to see the poor as people, and to accept that the rich have a duty to help them. The book attacks the idea that the poor are someone else’s problem.

Are there no prisons?“If they would rather die,” said …Mankind was my business. The common …It may be, that in the …This boy is Ignorance. This girl …Not a farthing less. A great …

Greed and money

Scrooge’s love of money has cost him love, family and happiness. Dickens shows greed as a trap that the greedy person builds for themselves.

Oh! But he was a tight-fisted …Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it.cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and …Another idol has displaced me He frightened every one away from …

The spirit of Christmas

For Dickens, Christmas is a time of kindness, generosity and family. Keeping its spirit all year round is what the book asks of its readers.

“Bah!” said Scrooge, “Humbug!”a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time …The happiness he gives, is quite …God bless us every one!I will honour Christmas in my …it was always said of him …

Family

Family is shown as the source of real happiness. Scrooge has pushed his away, and getting it back is part of his reward.

Christmas a humbug, uncle!a solitary child, neglected by his …May you be happy in the …God bless us every one!My little, little child!Scrooge was better than his word …

Isolation

Scrooge has shut himself off from other people, and the book shows how much that costs him. His loneliness began in childhood but grew through his own choices.

Hard and sharp as flint, from …But what did Scrooge care! It …a solitary child, neglected by his …He lay, in the dark empty …read upon the stone of the …

The supernatural

Ghosts and spirits drive the story, but they are there to teach, not only to frighten. The book is a ghost story told as a moral lesson.

I wear the chain I forged …You may be an undigested bit …The misery with them all was …a jolly Giant, glorious to see …It was shrouded in a deep …

Past, present and future

Past, present and future are the shape of the book. Scrooge has to face all three to change, and the future is shown as something that can still be changed.

no space of regret can make …I was bred in this place …My life upon this globe, is …Are these the shadows of the …I will live in the Past …

03 / Stave 126 quotes

Stave 1: Marley’s Ghost

Stave 1The narrator

Marley was dead: to begin with.

The very first sentence of the story.

In plain words: Marley was dead, to start with.
What it shows: The story opens bluntly with a death, and the narrator insists on it, because Marley’s ghost will soon appear. The chatty, direct voice is like a storyteller reading aloud by the fire.

Themes Death · The supernatural

Stave 1The narrator

Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grind-stone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!

The narrator introduces the main character.

In plain words: He was a mean, money-grabbing old sinner.
What it shows: The list of harsh “-ing” words piles up like Scrooge grabbing at money. “Tight-fisted” means mean with money, and “sinner” adds a religious weight: greed is shown as a sin from the very start.

Themes Greed and money · Isolation

Techniques Listing · Metaphor · Alliteration

Stave 1The narrator

Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.

The narrator introduces the main character.

In plain words: He was as hard as a stone that never gives off a spark, and as closed off and lonely as an oyster.
What it shows: Flint only gives off sparks when struck: nobody has ever drawn warmth or generosity out of Scrooge. An oyster is shut tight, but may hold a pearl, a hint that there is good in Scrooge waiting to be found. The hissing “s” sounds make him sound cold and secretive.

Themes Isolation · Greed and money · Cold and warmth

Techniques Simile · Metaphor · Alliteration · Listing

Stave 1The narrator

The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait;

The narrator describes the main character.

In plain words: The coldness inside him showed on his face and in the stiff way he walked.
What it shows: His coldness is inside him, and it shows on the outside. The list of harsh verbs makes his unkindness physical, part of his body.

Themes Cold and warmth · Isolation

Techniques Listing · Personification · Metaphor

Stave 1The narrator

But what did Scrooge care! It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance,

The narrator describes how people react to the main character in the street.

In plain words: He did not care at all. He liked pushing through life keeping other people’s kindness away.
What it shows: Scrooge chooses to be alone. The image of him edging through crowds while keeping sympathy at a distance shows that his isolation is his own choice, which makes his change later more striking.

Themes Isolation

Techniques Metaphor · Personification

Stave 1Scrooge

“Bah!” said Scrooge, “Humbug!”

The counting-house on Christmas Eve, answering a cheerful Christmas greeting.

In plain words: Nonsense! Rubbish!
What it shows: His famous reply dismisses Christmas as a fraud. The short, harsh words are his answer to warmth and good wishes, and they become his catchphrase.

Themes The spirit of Christmas · Isolation

Stave 1Fred

Christmas a humbug, uncle!

The counting-house on Christmas Eve, as an argument about Christmas begins.

In plain words: You call Christmas nonsense, Uncle?
What it shows: Fred’s shocked, cheerful reply shows his warmth. Calling Scrooge “uncle” reminds him of the family he ignores.

Themes The spirit of Christmas · Family

Stave 1Fred

What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You’re rich enough.

The counting-house on Christmas Eve, a family argument about Christmas.

In plain words: Why should you be gloomy? You have plenty of money.
What it shows: Fred turns Scrooge’s complaint about him being poor back on him. Fred is poor but happy, Scrooge is rich but miserable, which shows that money does not bring happiness.

Themes Greed and money · The spirit of Christmas

Techniques Rhetorical question · Repetition

Stave 1Scrooge

What’s Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money;

The counting-house on Christmas Eve, a family argument about Christmas.

In plain words: What is Christmas to you except a time for having bills you cannot pay?
What it shows: Scrooge sees Christmas only in terms of money and debt. The question is meant to mock Fred for being poor.

Themes The spirit of Christmas · Greed and money · Poverty and social responsibility

Techniques Rhetorical question · Repetition

Stave 1Scrooge

every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.

The counting-house on Christmas Eve, a family argument about Christmas.

In plain words: Anyone who says “Merry Christmas” should be boiled in their own pudding and buried with holly through their heart.
What it shows: The violent, comic exaggeration shows how much Scrooge hates Christmas cheer. A stake through the heart is how folk tales destroy vampires, so he treats cheerful people like monsters. It is so over the top that it is funny.

Themes The spirit of Christmas · Isolation

Techniques Hyperbole

Stave 1Fred

a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely,

The counting-house on Christmas Eve, a family argument about Christmas.

In plain words: Christmas is a kind, forgiving, generous time, the one time of year when everyone opens up their hearts.
What it shows: Fred sets out what Christmas means to Dickens: a time of kindness, when people open hearts that are usually shut. His list of gentle words is the opposite of the harsh list used for Scrooge.

Themes The spirit of Christmas · Poverty and social responsibility

Techniques Listing · Metaphor

Stave 1Fred

and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.

The counting-house on Christmas Eve, a family argument about Christmas.

In plain words: And to think of poorer people as fellow travellers on the same journey to death, not a different kind of creature.
What it shows: Fred says rich and poor share the same journey through life to death, so they should treat each other as equals. This is the heart of Dickens’s message about social responsibility.

Themes Poverty and social responsibility · The spirit of Christmas · Death

Techniques Metaphor · Antithesis

Stave 1Scrooge

Are there no prisons?

The counting-house on Christmas Eve, as two visitors ask for money for the poor.

In plain words: Aren’t there prisons to deal with the poor?
What it shows: Scrooge suggests the poor belong in prisons and workhouses, not in anyone’s care. The cold question shows his cruelty, and in Stave 3 the Ghost of Christmas Present throws these words back at him.

Themes Poverty and social responsibility · Greed and money

Techniques Rhetorical question

Stave 1Scrooge

“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

The counting-house on Christmas Eve, on hearing that many poor people would rather die than go to the workhouse.

In plain words: If they would rather die, they should get on with it, and reduce the number of spare people.
What it shows: Scrooge echoes the ideas of the economist Thomas Malthus, who argued that population would outgrow the food supply. Dickens makes the view sound heartless, and the Ghost of Christmas Present uses these words against Scrooge when he asks about Tiny Tim.

Themes Poverty and social responsibility · Greed and money · Death

Stave 1Scrooge

It’s enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people’s.

The counting-house on Christmas Eve, refusing to give to the poor.

In plain words: A man should mind his own business and not get involved in other people’s.
What it shows: Scrooge believes he owes nothing to anyone else. Marley’s Ghost answers this directly later in the stave: “Mankind was my business.”

Themes Poverty and social responsibility · Isolation · Greed and money

Stave 1Scrooge

a poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December!

The end of the working day on Christmas Eve, talking about a clerk’s day off tomorrow.

In plain words: Christmas is just an excuse to rob employers once a year.
What it shows: Scrooge sees paying his clerk for a day off as being robbed. He treats Christmas only as a cost to his business.

Themes Greed and money · The spirit of Christmas

Techniques Metaphor

Stave 1The narrator

Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it.

Christmas Eve, going up the dark stairs at home.

In plain words: Darkness costs nothing, and Scrooge liked that.
What it shows: Scrooge likes darkness because it costs nothing. The short sentence links his meanness with darkness, while light and warmth are linked with kindness throughout the story.

Themes Greed and money · Light and darkness · Isolation

Techniques Symbolism

Stave 1The narrator

cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel.

Christmas Eve at night, describing what a ghost’s chain is made of.

In plain words: Money boxes, keys, padlocks, account books, legal papers and heavy purses made of steel.
What it shows: The chain is made of the tools of money-making. The list shows that the things Marley valued in life are now the things that weigh him down.

Themes Greed and money · The supernatural

Techniques Listing · Symbolism

Stave 1Marley’s Ghost

I wear the chain I forged in life,

Christmas Eve at night, a visitor explains the chain it wears.

In plain words: I wear the chain I made while I was alive.
What it shows: Marley made his own chain through his choices. “Forged” suggests a blacksmith’s hard work: every selfish act added a link. It warns Scrooge that his own chain is growing.

Themes Greed and money · The supernatural · Redemption and change

Techniques Metaphor · Symbolism

Stave 1Marley’s Ghost

I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.

Christmas Eve at night, a visitor explains the chain it wears.

In plain words: I made it bit by bit, and I chose to put it on and wear it.
What it shows: The repetition stresses that Marley chose this. Because his suffering came from free choices, Scrooge can still choose differently.

Themes Greed and money · Redemption and change

Techniques Repetition · Metaphor

Stave 1Marley’s Ghost

Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business.

Christmas Eve at night, a ghost answers the praise “a good man of business”.

In plain words: Other people were what I should have cared about: their welfare, and showing charity, mercy, patience and kindness.
What it shows: Marley takes Scrooge’s word “business” and gives it a new meaning: our real business is caring for others. The repetition hammers home Dickens’s message about social responsibility.

Themes Poverty and social responsibility · Redemption and change · The spirit of Christmas · Greed and money

Techniques Repetition · Listing

Stave 1Scrooge

You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato.

Christmas Eve at night, refusing to believe in a ghost.

In plain words: You might just be caused by indigestion: some beef, mustard, cheese or potato I ate.
What it shows: Scrooge tries to explain the ghost away as an upset stomach. The comic list shows him clinging to what is rational, and the joke hides how frightened he is.

Themes The supernatural

Techniques Listing · Alliteration

Stave 1Marley’s Ghost

no space of regret can make amends for one life’s opportunity misused!

Christmas Eve at night, a ghost explains why it suffers.

In plain words: However long you regret it, nothing can make up for wasting your life.
What it shows: Regret after death is too late to put things right. It is a warning that Scrooge must change now, while he still can.

Themes Redemption and change · Past, present and future

Editions differ: Dickens later changed “opportunity” to “opportunities”, and some editions follow the later text.

Stave 1Marley’s Ghost

I am here to-night to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate.

Christmas Eve at night, a ghost explains why it has come.

In plain words: I have come tonight to warn you that you still have a chance to avoid my fate.
What it shows: This is the key moment of Stave 1: Scrooge can still be saved. It presents the coming visits of the three spirits as a chance of redemption, not a punishment.

Themes Redemption and change · The supernatural

Stave 1The narrator

The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever.

Christmas Eve at night, looking out of the window at many restless ghosts.

In plain words: They suffered because they wanted to help people, and could no longer do it.
What it shows: The ghosts suffer because they want to do good now, when it is too late. It shows Scrooge that the time to help others is while you are alive.

Themes Redemption and change · Poverty and social responsibility · The supernatural · Past, present and future

Stave 1Scrooge

I wish to be left alone,

The counting-house on Christmas Eve, asked what to put down as a gift for the poor.

In plain words: I want people to leave me alone.
What it shows: His answer to the charity collectors sums up his isolation: he chooses to be cut off from other people and from their needs. By the end of the story he is welcomed into his nephew’s home, the opposite of this wish.

Themes Isolation · Poverty and social responsibility

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04 / Stave 213 quotes

Stave 2: The First of the Three Spirits

Stave 2The narrator

It was a strange figure, like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man,

The first spirit appears by the bed.

In plain words: It was an odd figure, like a child, but even more like an old man.
What it shows: The Ghost of Christmas Past is both young and old, like memory itself, which holds both childhood and old age.

Themes The supernatural · Past, present and future

Techniques Simile · Antithesis

Stave 2The narrator

from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light,

The first spirit appears by the bed.

In plain words: A bright, clear beam of light shot up from the top of its head.
What it shows: The light is the light of memory and truth, showing Scrooge the past clearly. Later Scrooge tries to put it out, because the truth hurts.

Themes The supernatural · Light and darkness · Past, present and future

Techniques Symbolism

Editions differ: Some editions print “sprang” instead of “sprung”.

Stave 2Scrooge

I was bred in this place. I was a boy here!

Arriving in the countryside of long ago.

In plain words: I grew up here. I was a boy here!
What it shows: Seeing his childhood home, Scrooge is suddenly moved. The short, excited sentences show a feeling he has not shown before, the first sign that he can change.

Themes Past, present and future · Redemption and change

Techniques Repetition

Stave 2The Ghost of Christmas Past

a solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still.

Outside an old school at Christmas, long ago.

In plain words: A lonely child, forgotten by his friends, is still left there.
What it shows: Scrooge as a boy was left alone at school over Christmas. It suggests his coldness began with loneliness and neglect, which makes the reader feel some sympathy for him.

Themes Isolation · Family · Past, present and future

Stave 2The narrator

Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be.

Inside an old school at Christmas, long ago.

In plain words: Scrooge sat on a bench and cried to see his lonely younger self.
What it shows: Scrooge cries for the boy he was. Tears are the first real sign that his heart is not frozen after all.

Themes Isolation · Redemption and change · Past, present and future

Editions differ: Some editions print “as he had used to be”.

Stave 2Scrooge

There was a boy singing a Christmas Carol at my door last night. I should like to have given him something: that’s all.

After watching a lonely boy reading at school long ago.

In plain words: A boy sang a carol at my door last night. I wish I had given him something.
What it shows: Remembering his own lonely childhood makes Scrooge regret driving away a carol singer. It is his first wish to be generous, showing the spirit’s lesson already working.

Themes Redemption and change · The spirit of Christmas · Poverty and social responsibility

Stave 2Fan

Father is so much kinder than he used to be, that home’s like Heaven!

The old school at Christmas, long ago, as a brother and sister meet.

In plain words: Our father is so much kinder now that home feels like heaven.
What it shows: The words hint that Scrooge’s father had been harsh before. Fan’s love for her brother contrasts with his loneliness, and her son Fred later shows the same warmth.

Themes Family · The spirit of Christmas

Techniques Simile

Stave 2The narrator

In came a fiddler with a music-book, and went up to the lofty desk, and made an orchestra of it, and tuned like fifty stomach-aches.

A warehouse long ago, cleared for a Christmas party.

In plain words: A fiddler came in, climbed up to the high desk as if it were a stage, and tuned up with a terrible noise.
What it shows: The comic simile and the run of “and” create the lively, noisy fun of Fezziwig’s party. It shows an employer who makes Christmas joyful for everyone who works for him.

Themes The spirit of Christmas

Techniques Simile · Hyperbole

Stave 2Scrooge

He has the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil.

After watching a Christmas party long ago, defending the man who gave it.

In plain words: An employer has the power to make his workers happy or miserable, and their work easy or hard.
What it shows: Scrooge sees that an employer’s kindness matters more than money. The pairs of opposites show the choice every employer has, and Scrooge, an employer himself, has made the wrong one.

Themes Greed and money · The spirit of Christmas · Redemption and change · Poverty and social responsibility

Techniques Antithesis · Listing

Stave 2Scrooge

The happiness he gives, is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.

After watching a Christmas party long ago, defending the man who gave it.

In plain words: The happiness he gives is worth as much as if he had spent a fortune.
What it shows: Fezziwig spent little money but gave great happiness. Scrooge, who measures everything in money, is starting to see that kindness is worth more.

Themes The spirit of Christmas · Greed and money · Redemption and change

Stave 2Belle

Another idol has displaced me;

Years later, a young couple talk as their engagement ends.

In plain words: Something else you worship has taken my place.
What it shows: An idol is a false god. Belle means that money has replaced her in Scrooge’s heart, showing what his greed cost him: love and a family of his own.

Themes Greed and money · Family · Isolation

Techniques Metaphor

Stave 2Belle

You fear the world too much,

Years later, a young couple talk as their engagement ends.

In plain words: You are too afraid of what the world can do to you.
What it shows: Belle sees that Scrooge’s love of money comes from fear of being poor. It explains his greed, but does not excuse it.

Themes Greed and money · Isolation

Stave 2Belle

May you be happy in the life you have chosen!

Years later, the last words before an engagement ends.

In plain words: I hope you are happy with the life you have picked.
What it shows: The parting words stress that Scrooge chose money over love. The blessing sounds kind but is sad, because the reader knows he has not been happy.

Themes Greed and money · Family · Isolation · Past, present and future

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05 / Stave 318 quotes

Stave 3: The Second of the Three Spirits

Stave 3The narrator

a jolly Giant, glorious to see; who bore a glowing torch, in shape not unlike Plenty’s horn,

The second spirit appears in a room full of food and light.

In plain words: A cheerful giant, wonderful to look at, holding a torch shaped like the horn of plenty.
What it shows: The Ghost of Christmas Present is huge, joyful and generous. The horn of plenty stands for abundance, and the torch spreads light and goodwill.

Themes The spirit of Christmas · The supernatural · Light and darkness

Techniques Alliteration · Symbolism

Stave 3The Ghost of Christmas Present

Come in! and know me better, man!

A room full of food and light, welcoming a nervous visitor.

In plain words: Come in and get to know me better!
What it shows: The spirit is warm and welcoming, the opposite of Scrooge in Stave 1. It invites Scrooge to get to know the spirit of Christmas.

Themes The spirit of Christmas · The supernatural

Techniques Imperative

Stave 3Bob Cratchit

He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see.

At home on Christmas Day, just back from church, asked how a small son behaved.

In plain words: On the way home he said he hoped people noticed his disability in church, because it might remind them of Jesus healing the sick.
What it shows: Tiny Tim hopes his disability reminds people of Jesus’s miracles. His goodness and faith make him a symbol of the innocent poor. “Cripple” was an everyday word in Dickens’s time; today it is offensive, so say “disabled” in your own writing.

Themes The spirit of Christmas · Family · Poverty and social responsibility

Stave 3Tiny Tim

God bless us every one!

The end of a Christmas toast in a small, poor house.

In plain words: May God bless all of us!
What it shows: Tiny Tim blesses everyone, even people who do not deserve it. The same words close the whole story, showing that his goodness has spread to Scrooge.

Themes The spirit of Christmas · Family

Stave 3Scrooge

“Spirit,” said Scrooge, with an interest he had never felt before, “tell me if Tiny Tim will live.”

Watching a poor family’s Christmas dinner, unseen.

In plain words: Spirit, tell me if Tiny Tim will live.
What it shows: For the first time Scrooge cares about someone else’s future. The narrator points out that this is a new feeling for him, a clear sign of change.

Themes Redemption and change · Poverty and social responsibility · Family

Techniques Imperative

Stave 3The Ghost of Christmas Present

“I see a vacant seat,” replied the Ghost, “in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved.”

Asked whether a sick child will live.

In plain words: I see an empty seat by the fire, and a crutch kept carefully, with nobody to use it.
What it shows: The empty seat and the unused crutch stand for Tiny Tim’s death. The quiet details make the loss heartbreaking.

Themes Death · Poverty and social responsibility · Family · Past, present and future

Techniques Symbolism

Stave 3The Ghost of Christmas Present

If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.

Asked again to say that a sick child will be spared.

In plain words: If he is going to die, he should get on with it and reduce the number of spare people.
What it shows: The Ghost throws Scrooge’s own words back at him. Now the “surplus population” has a face, Tiny Tim’s, and Scrooge is filled with shame.

Themes Poverty and social responsibility · Redemption and change

Techniques Irony

Stave 3The Ghost of Christmas Present

“Man,” said the Ghost, “if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered What the surplus is, and Where it is.”

After throwing someone’s cruel words back at him.

In plain words: If you have a human heart, not a heart of stone, stop saying such wicked things until you know who the “surplus” people are.
What it shows: Adamant is an unbreakable stone. “Cant” means hollow, hypocritical talk. The Ghost tells Scrooge to stop repeating heartless sayings about the poor until he understands who they really are.

Themes Poverty and social responsibility

Techniques Imperative · Metaphor · Repetition

Stave 3The Ghost of Christmas Present

It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man’s child.

After throwing someone’s cruel words back at him.

In plain words: It may be that, in God’s eyes, you are worth less than millions of poor children like this one.
What it shows: The Ghost turns Scrooge’s judgement around: in God’s eyes, the rich miser may be worth less than a poor child. It is one of Dickens’s sharpest attacks on the heartless rich.

Themes Poverty and social responsibility · Redemption and change

Stave 3Bob Cratchit

I’ll give you Mr Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast!

A small, poor house on Christmas Day, proposing a toast.

In plain words: Let’s drink to Mr Scrooge, who made this feast possible!
What it shows: Bob toasts his mean employer, kindly calling him the founder of their feast. His generosity of spirit contrasts sharply with Scrooge’s.

Themes The spirit of Christmas · Family · Greed and money

Techniques Alliteration

Stave 3Mrs Cratchit

The Founder of the Feast indeed!

A small, poor house on Christmas Day, hearing a toast to an employer.

In plain words: Some founder of the feast he is!
What it shows: Mrs Cratchit repeats the title with sarcasm. She is angry at Scrooge for paying so little, showing the real effect of his meanness on a family.

Themes Greed and money · Poverty and social responsibility · Family

Techniques Irony · Alliteration

Stave 3Fred

His offences carry their own punishment, and I have nothing to say against him.

A lively Christmas party, talking about someone who turned down an invitation.

In plain words: His faults punish him, so I won’t speak against him.
What it shows: Fred sees that Scrooge’s meanness mostly hurts Scrooge himself. His refusal to hold a grudge shows the forgiving spirit of Christmas.

Themes Family · Isolation · Redemption and change · The spirit of Christmas

Stave 3Fred

Who suffers by his ill whims? Himself, always.

A lively Christmas party, talking about someone who turned down an invitation.

In plain words: Who is hurt by his bad moods? Only himself.
What it shows: Fred asks and answers his own question: Scrooge’s bad moods hurt only Scrooge. It shows that his isolation punishes himself most.

Themes Isolation · Family

Techniques Rhetorical question

Stave 3The Ghost of Christmas Present

This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want.

Near the end of the second visit, two children are revealed.

In plain words: This boy stands for ignorance, and this girl for poverty.
What it shows: Two starving children hidden under the Ghost’s robe stand for ignorance and want (poverty). The Ghost says “They are Man’s”: they are the result of society’s neglect.

Themes Poverty and social responsibility · The supernatural

Techniques Personification · Symbolism

Stave 3The Ghost of Christmas Present

Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.

Near the end of the second visit, two children are revealed.

In plain words: Beware of both of them and all like them, but especially the boy, because he will bring ruin unless something is done.
What it shows: Ignorance is the greater danger, because it leads to crime and ruin. Dickens believed education for poor children was the answer, which is why the “writing” can still be “erased”.

Themes Poverty and social responsibility · The supernatural · Past, present and future

Techniques Imperative · Repetition · Metaphor

Editions differ: Some editions print “Beware of them both”.

Stave 3The narrator

Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility.

Near the end of the second visit, describing two children.

In plain words: Sickly, thin, ragged, scowling and wild like wolves, but also humble.
What it shows: The list of harsh adjectives shows children damaged by poverty, half-starved and almost like animals. Yet they are also humble, which makes society’s neglect of them more shameful.

Themes Poverty and social responsibility

Techniques Listing · Metaphor

Stave 3Scrooge

Have they no refuge or resource?

Near the end of the second visit, looking at two starving children.

In plain words: Is there nowhere for them to go and no one to help them?
What it shows: Now Scrooge asks if anyone helps these children, the opposite of his attitude in Stave 1. The Ghost answers with Scrooge’s own cruel words: “Are there no prisons?”

Themes Poverty and social responsibility · Redemption and change

Techniques Alliteration

Stave 3The Ghost of Christmas Present

My life upon this globe, is very brief,

Answering a question about how long spirits live.

In plain words: My life on earth is very short.
What it shows: The spirit lives for only one Christmas Day. It reminds Scrooge, and the reader, that the present is short and must be used well.

Themes Past, present and future · The spirit of Christmas · The supernatural

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06 / Stave 410 quotes

Stave 4: The Last of the Spirits

Stave 4The narrator

The Phantom slowly, gravely, silently, approached.

The third spirit arrives.

In plain words: The phantom came closer, slowly, seriously and silently.
What it shows: The three adverbs slow the sentence down and build fear. “Gravely” hints at the grave: the last spirit is silent and serious, like death itself.

Themes The supernatural · Death

Techniques Listing

Stave 4The narrator

It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand.

The third spirit arrives.

In plain words: It was wrapped in a black robe that hid its head, face and body, except for one pointing hand.
What it shows: The spirit looks like the figure of Death, wrapped as if in a shroud. Only its pointing hand shows, directing Scrooge to what will happen if he does not change.

Themes The supernatural · Death · Light and darkness

Techniques Listing · Symbolism · Repetition

Stave 4The charwoman

He frightened every one away from him when he was alive, to profit us when he was dead!

A filthy rag-and-bone shop, selling a dead man’s belongings.

In plain words: He scared everyone away while he lived, so now we can profit from him being dead!
What it shows: The woman has stolen the dead man’s things and laughs about it. His greed drove everyone away, so there was no one to protect his things, or to grieve.

Themes Greed and money · Death · Isolation

Techniques Antithesis

Stave 4The narrator

He lay, in the dark empty house, with not a man, a woman, or a child, to say that he was kind to me in this or that,

A dark room, where a dead man lies alone.

In plain words: He lay in the dark, empty house, with not one person to say he had been kind to them.
What it shows: No one in the world can remember a single kindness from the dead man. The list of “a man, a woman, or a child” shows he is cut off from everyone.

Themes Death · Isolation · Light and darkness

Techniques Listing

Editions differ: Some editions print “to say he was kind” without “that”.

Stave 4Bob Cratchit

My little, little child!

A small, quiet house in the future, coming home from a grave.

In plain words: My little child!
What it shows: Bob’s broken cry of grief for Tiny Tim. The repetition shows how deep his love is, and the scene shows Scrooge what poverty and neglect can cost.

Themes Family · Death · Poverty and social responsibility

Techniques Repetition

Stave 4Scrooge

Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only?

In a churchyard, before reading the name on a neglected grave.

In plain words: Are these things that will definitely happen, or only things that might happen?
What it shows: This is Scrooge’s key question: is the future fixed, or can it change? The capital letters on “Will” and “May” stress the difference, and the whole story rests on the hope that the future can be changed.

Themes Past, present and future · Redemption and change · The supernatural

Techniques Repetition · Antithesis

Editions differ: Some editions print “shadows of the things that May be”.

Stave 4The narrator

read upon the stone of the neglected grave his own name, EBENEZER SCROOGE.

A churchyard, following the spirit’s pointing hand.

In plain words: He read his own name on the forgotten grave: Ebenezer Scrooge.
What it shows: The final shock: the dead man nobody mourned is Scrooge. The “neglected grave” shows that nobody visits or cares, the loneliness he chose in life.

Themes Death · Isolation · Past, present and future

Stave 4Scrooge

I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.

Kneeling at a grave, pleading with the silent spirit.

In plain words: I will keep the spirit of Christmas in my heart all year round.
What it shows: The promise shows his change is meant to last. Keeping Christmas “all the year” means living with kindness every day, not just on one day.

Themes The spirit of Christmas · Redemption and change

Stave 4Scrooge

I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me.

Kneeling at a grave, pleading with the silent spirit.

In plain words: I will remember the lessons of the past, present and future. All three spirits will work inside me.
What it shows: Scrooge promises to keep what each spirit taught: the lessons of his past, kindness in the present, and the warning of a lonely future. The list of three echoes the three spirits.

Themes Redemption and change · Past, present and future · The supernatural

Techniques Listing

Stave 4Scrooge

I am not the man I was.

Clutching at the spirit’s robe beside a grave.

In plain words: I am not the man I used to be.
What it shows: A short, simple statement that sums up his change in seven words.

Themes Redemption and change · Past, present and future

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07 / Stave 58 quotes

Stave 5: The End of It

Stave 5Scrooge

I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man.

Christmas morning, waking up at home.

In plain words: I feel light, happy, merry and dizzy with joy.
What it shows: The string of similes, each starting “I am as”, shows Scrooge bursting with joy. He has become light-hearted, the opposite of the heavy chains of Stave 1.

Themes Redemption and change · The spirit of Christmas

Techniques Simile · Repetition · Listing

Stave 5The narrator

Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells. Oh, glorious! Glorious!

Christmas morning, opening the window.

In plain words: Golden sunshine, a beautiful sky, fresh air and happy bells. How wonderful!
What it shows: The weather now matches Scrooge’s new mood: bright, clear and joyful, the opposite of the fog in Stave 1. The short, excited phrases capture his delight.

Themes Redemption and change · The spirit of Christmas · Light and darkness

Techniques Listing · Pathetic fallacy · Repetition

Stave 5Scrooge

Not a farthing less. A great many back-payments are included in it, I assure you.

In the street on Christmas morning, speaking quietly to a man who asked for money for the poor the day before.

In plain words: Not a penny less. It includes a lot of payments I owe from the past.
What it shows: Scrooge whispers a large donation to the charity collector he turned away. “Back-payments” suggests he sees it as a debt he owes for all the years he gave nothing.

Themes Redemption and change · Poverty and social responsibility · Greed and money · The spirit of Christmas

Stave 5Scrooge

I’ll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family,

The office on the day after Christmas, speaking to a clerk who arrived late.

In plain words: I’ll give you a pay rise and try to help your family.
What it shows: The promise to Bob shows Scrooge’s change in action, not just in words. He now takes responsibility for the family he once ignored.

Themes Redemption and change · Poverty and social responsibility · Family · The spirit of Christmas

Stave 5The narrator

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father.

The last page of the story.

In plain words: Scrooge did even more than he promised, and became like a second father to Tiny Tim, who lived.
What it shows: The narrator confirms that Scrooge keeps his promises. Tiny Tim lives, showing that the future the spirit showed could be changed.

Themes Redemption and change · Family · Poverty and social responsibility

Stave 5The narrator

He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew,

The last page of the story.

In plain words: He became as good a friend, employer and man as anyone in the city.
What it shows: The repetition of “as good a” shows how completely Scrooge has changed, as a friend, an employer and a man.

Themes Redemption and change

Techniques Repetition · Listing

Stave 5The narrator

His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

The last page of the story, as some people laugh at the change in him.

In plain words: He was happy inside, and that was all he needed.
What it shows: Some people laugh at the new Scrooge, but he does not mind. His happiness now comes from inside, not from money or other people’s opinions.

Themes Redemption and change

Techniques Personification

Stave 5The narrator

it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.

The last page of the story.

In plain words: People always said he knew how to celebrate Christmas better than anyone.
What it shows: The man who said “Bah! Humbug!” becomes famous for keeping Christmas. The story ends with his complete redemption.

Themes The spirit of Christmas · Redemption and change

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08 / In the examThree habits

How to use a quote in the exam

Knowing a quote is half the job. Here’s how to make it earn marks, with “solitary as an oyster” as the example.

Keep it short and build it in
Pick the few words that matter and make them part of your own sentence, instead of copying out a whole paragraph.
Dickens describes Scrooge as “solitary as an oyster”, shut away from everyone.
Zoom in on one word
Choose a single word and say what it suggests.
An “oyster” is shut tight, but it may hold a pearl, a hint that there is good in Scrooge waiting to be found.
Link it to the question
Finish by saying how the quote answers the question, and where it leads in the story.
By Stave 5 the shell has opened, and Scrooge says “I am as merry as a schoolboy”.

Keep the words exact. If you leave words out of the middle of a quote, show it with three dots.
Say who says it and when, so the examiner knows where you are in the story.
Never make a quote up. If you can’t remember the exact words, describe the moment in your own words instead.

09 / Where these come fromChecked word for word

English Literature is coming to Show Working

We’re working on English Literature for the Show Working app, starting with Macbeth and A Christmas Carol. It isn’t in the app yet, and we won’t give a date until it’s ready. This page is free for anyone to use now.

Checked word for word. Every quote here, with its stave and speaker, is checked by our own checker against two public-domain texts: Project Gutenberg’s A Christmas Carol, which follows the 1843 text, and Standard Ebooks, which follows a later, revised text.
Our own words. The plain-English meanings and the notes on what each quote shows are written by us.
Your copy may differ a little. Where the two texts word a quote differently, we say so under it.
Spotted a mistake? Tell us at support@showworking.co.uk and we’ll put it right.

Doing GCSE maths too?

Show Working is on its way to the App Store with GCSE maths first: fresh questions every time, with the working shown for every answer. See the maths topics.

Coming soon to the App Store

10 / QuestionsAbout A Christmas Carol quotes

A Christmas Carol quotes, answered

What are the most important quotes in A Christmas Carol?

There’s no official list, but these come up again and again: “solitary as an oyster” (the narrator on Scrooge), “Humbug!” and “Are there no prisons?” (Scrooge), “I wear the chain I forged in life” and “Mankind was my business” (Marley’s Ghost), “God bless us every one!” (Tiny Tim), “This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want.” (the Ghost of Christmas Present) and “I am not the man I was.” (Scrooge).

Do I need to learn quotes for the A Christmas Carol exam?

Yes. GCSE English Literature exams are closed book, so you won’t have a copy of the novel with you. You may get an extract printed on the paper, but any quotes from the rest of the story have to come from memory.

What does “solitary as an oyster” mean?

It means Scrooge keeps himself shut away from everyone, closed up tight like an oyster. But an oyster may hold a pearl, a hint that there is good in Scrooge waiting to be found. The narrator says it in Stave 1.

Who says “Are there no prisons?”

Scrooge, in Stave 1, when two visitors ask him to give money for the poor at Christmas. In Stave 3 the Ghost of Christmas Present throws his words back at him.

Why is A Christmas Carol split into staves?

Dickens called his five chapters staves. A stave is a verse of a song, which fits the title: the book is built like a carol in five verses, and it ends, like a carol, with a blessing.

Do these quotes work for my exam board?

Yes. A Christmas Carol is a set text for AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR and WJEC Eduqas, and the quotes come from the novel itself, so they work whichever board you sit. Show Working is independent and not affiliated with any exam board.

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