A Christmas Carol-Key ThemeFamily and Its Importance
Starter
Jot down all the family units you can
think of in the novel- Why do you
think Dickens finds it important to
show these to Scrooge?
Example paragraph
 The entrance of Scrooge’s nephew Fred at the beginning of the story introduces
another side to the miser. Scrooge is not unfortunate in the way of relatives – he
has a family awaiting his presence, asking him to dinner, wanting to celebrate
the season with him, yet he refuses. This is one of the important moral moments in
the story that helps predict Scrooge’s coming downfall. It shows how Scrooge
makes choices to prolong his own misery. He chooses to live alone and in
darkness while even poor Cratchit is rich in family. Scrooge’s distaste for Fred’s
happiness is not just annoyance at the sight of merriness and excess, it is also
motivated by bitterness towards marriage based on Scrooge’s own lost love
Belle, who left him long ago.
What to talk about in an exam:

Scrooge’s nephew Fred- showing us Scrooge has the ability to be part of a family but chooses not to- "I want nothing from you; I ask
nothing of you; why cannot we be friends?"

Reluctance of letting Bob Cratchit have Christmas day off to spend with his family as he doesn’t understand the importance of a
family unit at this point in the novella.- ‘But I suppose you must have the whole day’. Still only thinking about money at this point.

The vision of his lonely childhood and lack of a family unit may explain his decision to be isolated in later life (his father clearly
neglected Scrooge as a boy, may this contribute to his lack of understanding in terms of a family unit?)- however, his vision of little
fan and the excitement when seeing his little sister shows us there used to be some understanding of family - ‘you are quite a woman
little Fan’-Somewhere along the way, greed and money has taken family values away from him.

Fezziwig's family- symbolic of the perfect happy family- they represent values of goodness and generosity which Scrooge has lost‘shaking hands with every person individually’.

The vision of Belle and her large family, showing Scrooge what he could have had and what he is missing out on. Her husband
highlights that Scrooge is still alone- ‘Quite alone in the world I do believe’. Scrooge struggles to deal with this vision, showing he is
beginning to understand the powerful connection of a family- ‘Remove me! I cannot bear it!’.

The Cratchit family- Despite their poverty and Tiny Tim’s illness, they represent the happiness and cheer of Christmas- they show the
importance of family values and how happiness comes with having those you care about with you and not about greed and money.
Dickens shows through their Christmas how disconnected upper classes can be of the lower classes and presents a highly
sentimentalized portrait of the lower classes. Though Cratchits means are small, they manage to fill their home with the spirit of
Christmas through their strong family unit.
Continued..
 The isolated families- Dickens shows through these the courage of ordinary people and how no matter what their situation,
they come together at Christmas, even in the loneliest of places- ‘but even here two men had watched the light and made a
fire.’ This makes Scrooge stand out as someone who wants and chooses to be alone.
 Fred’s Christmas party- The whole family are together at Christmas and Scrooge begins to see the fun he is missing out on as
he is the only family member missing- ‘he begged like a boy to be allowed to stay until the guests departed’. Beginning to
learn the importance of a family unit.
 Scrooge and his death- no one mourns him because he has not allowed himself to be part of a family unit- ‘upon the stone
of the neglected grave his own name’. This is in contrast to the devastation and despair caused by Tiny Tim’s death but also
the support that they give each other in order to deal with the grief. (pg111)
 By the end, Scrooge realises the importance of family and begins to rectify some of the damage he has done with those
closest to him. He arrives at Fred’s on Christmas day who welcomes him with open arms- ‘’Let him in! It is a mercy he didn’t
shake his arm off.’ Here, Fred functions as the model for how we should behave to one another. He welcomes his uncle with
joy and without recrimination.

Scrooge becomes a second father figure to Tiny Tim, ‘And to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father.’ This shows
the change of heart and links back to the original simile of ‘solitary as an oyster’. Dickens carefully chose these images to
show that although Scrooge may be horrible at the beginning, there is potential to change. The oyster that was Scrooge did
contain a pearl; he now understands that wealth and greed mean nothing if you don’t have people who care.