Socratic
Seminar for:
A Christmas
Carol
Questions for
Stave 2
Stave 2
Why does the author emphasize
time so much?
• The story is centered around past, present, and future
• Although Marley’s ghost tells Scrooge he will be visited by
3 ghosts on 3 consecutive nights, the three nights are
compressed into a single night
-this emphasizes the supernatural powers of the spirits
-that normal earthly standards including time,
don’t apply to the ghosts
• Clocks are always striking to emphasize the passage of
time and how little time Scrooge has to change
Stave 2
How does the description of the Ghost
of Christmas Past represent the past?
• Giving his aged features child-like proportions
• White hair but smooth skin
• A glowing white robe decorated with summer
flowers, but carries a holly branch
• Stream of light from his head, but the figure’s robe
comes in and out of shadow
• Limbs seems to dissolve and reappear in many
different combinations
Stave 2
How does Scrooge’s childhood compare and
contrast with how he is in the present?
• In his childhood, he felt excitement for Christmas
-As an adult he is an old miser that feels no joy
• When he was a boy, he lost himself in the
adventures he was reading to forget his loneliness
-The adult Scrooge, sitting in his counting
house only interacting with money
Stave 2
Why is Scrooge’s sister Fan so
important to the story?
• She represents the best of youth, innocence and
goodness
• She represents love in his youth
• She shows that Scrooge experienced neglect and
goodness when he was young
-reference to father being kinder now
-Scrooge was sent away to school when Fan is not
(neglect by his family)
-left on his own at school during Christmas (small
fire & meager amount of food)
Stave 2
What did you learn about Scrooge
through the Fezziwig memory?
• The length of description dedicated to the Fezziwig
part shows how important it was to Scrooge
• The reader is left with the impression that the ball was
joyful, colorful and musical
• The warmth, color, and music of the occasion is
synonymous with Christmas itself
-represents the values of goodness and generosity
that Scrooge lost
Stave 2
What do you learn about Scrooge
through the Belle memory?
• As a young man, Scrooge was deeply in love
• This is the first sign of personality changing
-his love of money was driving goodness away
-linked to how Scrooge got angry when Fred mentioned his wife
-explains why he seemed to disagree with the idea of marriage
altogether
• Scrooge is showing regret about his fiancée and the happiness they
could have enjoyed together
• Scrooge’s response to losing his fiancée is devoting himself even
further to money to the exclusion of everything else
• Belle with her family shows Scrooge what he could have had
Stave 2
How do you know Scrooge is
starting to change?
• Scrooge shows emotions
-excited by everything he sees and names the people in the crow
-please to hear the shouts of “Merry Christmas”
-cries when he sees his old school, childhood mates, & familiar landmarks
-cries when he recognizes himself alone for the holidays at school (tiny fire
& not much to eat)
-rejoices to remember fictional adventure characters such as Ali Baba
• Makes his think about how he treats others
-remorse about the way he treats Cratchit
• Tells ghost that Fan died many years ago and is the mother of his nephew,
Fred
Socratic
Seminar for:
A Christmas
Carol
Questions for
Stave 3
Stave 3
Why did the second ghost appear in a
different way than the first ghost?
• Scrooge didn’t want to be taken by surprise
-As a businessman, Scrooge is cold and relies solely on his mind (not feelings)
• Ghosts don’t follow protocol, so he doesn’t appear as expected
-Notices light under the door which scares Scrooge
-Booming voice of second spirit calls to him
• Ghost of Christmas Present = Father Christmas figure
-Sadness in the richness of the scene – it shows the sort of feast Scrooge can afford,
yet chooses darkness instead
-Ghost references his 1800 brothers (all the Christmases since the birth of Christ)
• Street scene is stereotypical image of Christmas (treats, spices, and happy, musical
voices)
-Church bells remind the reader that Christmas is a time for Christian reflection
and prayer
Stave 3
What was going on at Bob Cratchit’s
house? Why was Scrooge shown this?
• Ghost’s special power to fit into any room symbolizes how Christmas
can be found in any situation – rich or poor, big room or small room
• The Cratchit’s house is small, but it is filled with the spirit of Christmas
-the room seem large and glorious compared to Scrooge’s bleak,
dark, rooms
• The eldest children help support the household and work as hard as
Bob Cratchit
-the exploitation of Victorian children is a real concern for Dickens
-Peter and Martha represent a generation of lost childhoods –
Christmas is a way of giving back their innocence
Stave 3
What was going on at Bob Cratchit’s
house? Why was Scrooge shown this?
• Tiny Tim is smaller and more fragile than the typical child
-He is a symbol of Jesus through courage and huge generosity
of spirit
-He asks God to bless everyone (not just himself and his family)
• Bob Cratchit represents the ideal Christmas character
-he forgives Scrooge and won’t allow anyone to speak badly of
him on Christmas
Stave 3
Why is Scrooge shown scenes of
complete strangers? What was going
on in the scenes?
• The miners who labor in bowels of earth
-sing Christmas carols from their childhood
• The lighthouse keepers whose hands are horny with arthritis
-make fire, join hands, wish each other Merry Christmas over can of grog
• The men on ships working different stations
-humming Christmas tunes, having Christmas thoughts, and sharing
memories from a past Christmas
• Shown sick beds, foreign lands, struggling men, Almshouse, jail, poverty
stricken men
• Spirit shows these scenes because they picture people in unfortunate living
conditions able to find happiness in the spirit of Christmas
-Scrooge is much more fortunate than these people, yet he is not happy
Stave 3
What was going on at Scrooge’s nephew’s
house? Why was Scrooge shown this?
• Scrooge sees a combination of the joy shared by the people at Fred’s house and
what they think of Scrooge
-Fred feels sorry for him because he thinks Scrooge himself suffers most from
his ill whims
-Fred’s wife (Scrooge’s niece) has no patience for him. Neither do the other
ladies.
• “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and goodhumour.”
-Fred laughs holding his side, rolling his head, and twisting his face into the
most extravagant contortions
-people around his nephew, Fred, also laughed
• During the game of Yes and No, Scrooge is described as a disagreeable, savage
animal
Stave 3
What can be inferred by the boy and
girl under the spirit’s robe?
• It is a political statement made by Dickens to undermine
Victorian class prejudice and awaken readers to the harsh
realities of poverty.
• In 1843, England had stringent laws about the payment of debts.
- The rules forced poor people into prisons and workhouses
• The vices of ignorance and want are personified by these two
children
- Scrooge is ignorant of the real effect on children in the
workhouses and on the streets
Socratic
Seminar for:
A Christmas
Carol
Questions for
Stave 4
Stave 4
Why doesn’t the Ghost of Christmas Yet to
Come speak? Why is that particularly
effective? Consider how Scrooge responds.
• Ghost is shrouded in deep black garment – everything is concealed
• The silence made Scrooge tremble so much that his legs trembled
• It is effective because Scrooge keeps asking questions and filling in
the quiet with his own voice. He is also making Scrooge
uncomfortable, but in a different way.
-Am I in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come?
-Are you going to show me shadows of the things that have not
happened?
Stave 4
What does this passage imply?
’I fear you more than any spectre I have seen.
But as I know your purpose is to do me good,
and as I hope to live to be another man from
what I was, I am prepared to bear your
company, and do it with a thankful heart. Will
you not speak to me?’
• The Ghost makes Scrooge reflect on himself through the silence
• Scrooge cannot hide from God nor can he hide from himself
Stave 4
What is the purpose of the visit to the
Stock Exchange?
• Scrooge’s peers are very offhanded in their comments about
Scrooge. They echo Scrooge’s own cruel phrases and opinions.
• They aren’t particularly respectful nor do they care about
Scrooge in any way.
• The Stock Exchange is full of people who have the same values
that Scrooge is having to face with the ghosts
• His peers only recognize:
-he died
-who gets his money
-don’t know anyone who will go to his funeral
Stave 4
What is the purpose of the visit to the
Scavengers and the Pawn Shop?
• For all the dead man’s wealth, he died alone.
-No one stood up for him
-He is afforded no respect at all (even by the scavengers and
dealers that he used to dismiss as beneath him)
• The scavengers steal from the corpse itself – an ultimate sign of
disrespect
-Rather than feel guilty, the scavengers laugh uproariously about
the affair
-The Christmas Spirit is absent here
Stave 4
How do you know who the man in the bed is?
Why is Scrooge afraid to look at his face?
• Scrooge is still hiding behind a veneer of Ignorance, but
can do nothing to stop the man’s identity from being
revealed
• Scrooge realizes that the dead man is himself and it
causes him to remember the moral lesson he has been
denying for so long.
-He is thinking of himself.
-He is feeling sorry for himself.
-He should be feeling remorse for his cruelty to others.
Stave 4
What do the man and woman mean by
this passage?
‘It is a happier house for this man’s death!’
• They don’t know who will take over the debt
they owe, but it is unlikely to be someone as
miserly as Scrooge.
-Now that Scrooge is dead, their future is
looking up.
Stave 4
What is going on at Bob Cratchit’s
house? Why is it significant?
• Tiny Tim has died.
• The author makes sure the readers sees the contrast
between Scrooge’s dead body lying alone in a dark house
and the body of Tiny Tim that was kissed and adored in the
Cratchit house.
-The Cratchits picked a green, fragrant plot for the boy
-They promised to visit him every Sunday.
• The boy is given religious significance, as a kind of savior.
• The body of the man is left alone in a godless place.
Stave 4
What does this passage mean?
‘Are these the shadows of the things that Will be,
or are they shadows of things that May be, only?’
• Scrooge wants to know if his future is already set or
whether there is any chance of it changing
• He is basically asking if it is too late to change what is
to come
Stave 4
What is the meaning of the quote on
Scrooge’s tombstone?
‘Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to
which if persevered in, they must lead. But if
the courses be departed from, the ends will
change. Say it thus with what you show me!’
= if you continue as you are, this is your end
= if you change, the end will change
= change is not demonstrated through word, but actions
Socratic
Seminar for:
A Christmas
Carol
Questions for
Stave 5
Stave 5
What message(s) is the author sending
through Scrooge’s transformation?
• Scrooge’s awakening from his deep, strange sleep is a moment of
enlightenment
-The complete transformation is like a baptism or birth
-Scrooge cries like a baby and is purified like a newly baptized disciple
• Scrooge is given the chance to make amends for all of his bad deeds
-One by one he apologizes to the virtuous people he has met and scorned
• The transformation of Scrooge’s life hinges on forgiveness, the heart of
Christianity
• All Scrooge needs to do is accept and internalize the spirit of Christmas,
then forgiveness will be given
• The lasting message of the story is that goodness and charity can overcome
suffering, poverty, and bad will – both spiritually and in life
Allegory - a story where the
people, things, and events have
a symbolic meaning
In what ways is A Christmas
Carol an allegory?
• Events and characters have clear, symbolic meanings
• Scrooge represents all of the values that opposed to the idea of
Christmas
-greed
-selfishness
-lack of goodwill toward one’s fellow man
• Ghost of Christmas Past = memory
• Ghost of Christmas Present = generosity, empathy, and Christmas
spirit
• Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come = fear of death and moral
reckoning
• Cratchits = the poor