A Christmas Carol Essay Example for Free

A Christmas Carol Essay Explore how Dickens emphasises the importance of children and family relationships in A Christmas Carol In the novel A Christmas Carol the atmosphere I receive from the book shows me that dickens cares deeply about children. There are many aspects of when Charles Dickens emphasises the importance of children and family in A Christmas Carol. There are A lot of scenes that show this: the first cratchit scene (pages 37-42) which is the main one, belle and her family (pages 29-30) and scrooge living at his school and his sister coming back (pages 21-23). First I will talk about the cratchit scene. It shows the cratchits celebrating Christmas. Dickens says, Heres Martha mother! , this helps to create an atmosphere of warmth and love. It works because of the explanation mark, it makes it seem that all the children are overjoyed about playing the joke on Mrs Cratchet. On the scene with the goose, Dickens uses the phrase, Universal admiration, to describe how the family feel about the goose. It shows that even though they havent got a real turkey they dont take anything for granted. The phrase implies that the whole universe admires it but in reality its just an average goose. The quote Bobs voice was tremulous when he told them this and trembled more, Tiny Tim is growing strong and hearty, is very ironic because Tiny Tim wasnt growing strong and hearty, this shows that Bob was always trying to look on the brightside of things, his main priority was to keep the family happy. The family mean the world to each other and they are trying to make it a Christmas to remember. After they had eaten the goose Mrs Cratchet was ready to give out the pudding, she was terrified it wouldnt be acceptable, Suppose it should not be good enough,Suppose it break turning out. Mrs Cratchet was going through every bad possibility, she was so nervous. Although it was a little small it never crept into any of the familys head that there wasnt enough. When Bob Cratchet told her that it was the biggest triumpth since there marriage she replied, Now the weight is off my mind, She was delighted that it was a success! In the scene with Scrooge living at school and his sister coming back Dickens shows how your childhood can be so important. Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be. Scrooge was a very mean man and I feel that it was soley to do with his child hood, he wasnt short of luxurys but he was very lonely and he needed family. Scrooge obviously wasnt always a mean and a spiteful person, because whilst he is seeing all of his past he is experiencing a lot of feelings of how he used to be and what he had turned into. Scrooge has now realised what he has become, this is all because of his childhood. He said, There was a boy singing A Christmas Carol at my door last night, I should like to of givien him something. Scrooges childhood was so important for him because if his childhood had been different in anyway, for example; getting attention from his parents or feeling loved, he could of have been a totally different man. Before the ghost had shown Scrooge his chidhood or peoples familys he would not have given that Carol singer a second thought. ` In the scene with Belle and her family Dicken emphasises the importance of children and family by expressing how scrooge wants to be one of them. Scrooge said what would I not have given to be one of them! As a child scrooge was not allowed to have the fun and lafter that the children in this scene had, he was very enveous of the children, he wished he could of grown up in this family. He also said I should have dearly liked, i own,to have touched her lips or to have let loose waves of hair, i do confess to have the lightest license of a child. He so longed for frivolous childhood. To conclude I think that Dickens makes his readers aware of the importance of children and family by showing how Scrooge changes after seeing his and then other peoples childhood. The Cratchets show how they are so close and all pull together in good or bad times. The scene with Scrooge living at school and his sister coming back helps Scrooge realise what he had become as a result of his upbringing. The scene with Belle and her family show how much Scrooge envied a fun and happy childhood, to able to lark about and have games in a relaxed atmosphere. I feel that Dickens was a keen admirer of children and it was fitting how Tiny Tim ended the novel by sayin god bless us everyone!