INTRODUCTION

In the story “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens a gloomy character named Scrooge is
shown in the story early on and how he is a wealthy business man. Charles presented
Scrooge as a lonely old man whos business partner had just passed away.

MISERABLE
Scrooge is presented as a miserable person who does not care about others ( even his own
family). This quote tells us that he is a miserable person, “What right do you have to be
merry?! What reason do you have to be merry?!”
● Use the key word merry in the quote ( it shows that he thinks no one should be merry
as he never is and that being merry is a bad thing)
● He says what right his nephew has to be merry showing that he thinks being merry is
also like committing a crime.
● They might react to this character by not liking him as he’s such a gloomy and
dejected man. They may think this because he shares his unhappiness with others
● They may feel sorry for him in the aspect of him thinking that being merry is a bad
thing (he may have something terrible happen to him that made him think this way).
The reader may have thought he was a mean person as on christmas he still doesn’t
experience happiness and doesn’t want others to experience happiness either

LONELY
Scrooge is also shown as a lonely and depressed business man. “Secret, self-contained and
solitary as an oyster,” this quote shows he is a lonely old man.
● The adjective solitary shows he lives by himself and doesn’t really have any friends
(he is always alone)
● Most business men focus on getting more money and nothing else, Scrooge is a
business man and doesn’t think about anyone else (he isn’t interested in making
friends at all)
● The reader might react by being sympathetic as he has such a depressing and lonely
life with no one to look too for help when needed
● Dickens would maybe want the reader to be a bit sad for Scrooge. The reader may
think the only reason he has no friends and a lonely life is because of his spitefulness
and the way he acts to others

DEPRESSED
Scrooge is also presented as an unhappy and depressed old man that didn’t have a good
christmas spirit. ​“Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern,” is an
example of his depressive life.
● The adjective melancholy is a good descriptive word of how sad his life is even the
food ad tavern he eats and goes to is downcasted
● The food and tavern is said to be melancholy which can give us the impression that
his life is so downhearted that everything around him also becomes downhearted too
● The reader may react to it by being sad for him as he does have a sorrowful life, his
business partner Marley had died and that was the closest thing he had to a friend.
● Dickens wants to make the reader feel sorry for him even though he is miserable.
Dickens might want the reader to think that he may only be sad and depressed
because something may had happened to make him act the way he does.
CONCLUSION
Although he is miserable, mean and unfriendly he is depressed and lonely which might make
him act like it. His unhappiness and depression shouldn’t be shared but he does share it with
others and can be hurtful for them. But, his miserable personality is significantly presented
more by Dickens in my opinion!