This Ghost is Actually Kinda Scary
The end of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I also did a presentation about mythology, so I combined the two in this entry.
"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" (84).
What always struck me most about the last ghost was that it actually was more ghost like than the other two. It's fitting that Dickens decided to described the ghost this way because the future is uncertain and can be terrifying, like the third ghost.
At this point in the book, Scrooge seems to have already changed, but I guess Dickens wanted to make sure the change was permanent by showing Scrooge his future if he didn't fully change. Obviously, everyone will die someday, but showing Scrooge that if he didn't change than no one would feel anything except joy at his death is what really changed him.
Okay, now on to the academic article that I used in class about mythology.
"The representational frames Dickens uses to set fantasy apart from reality--the dynamics that give A Christmas Carol its mythic or fairytale quality--turn out to be fully operative in the 'real' world" ("Visuality and Ideology in Dickens' A Christmas Carol by Audrey Jaffe, 258).
All right, so in Dickens time, Christmas wasn't celebrated like how it is today. What Jaffe means by frames is that Dickens is showing Scrooge and readers snapshots of what he thinks Christmas should be: spending time with family and having a feast of sorts. The date for Christmas is near the Winter Solstice, which was celebrated with a feast. See the connection there? So in a way, Dickens revitalized Christmas.
God Bless Us Everyone...
"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" (84).
What always struck me most about the last ghost was that it actually was more ghost like than the other two. It's fitting that Dickens decided to described the ghost this way because the future is uncertain and can be terrifying, like the third ghost.
At this point in the book, Scrooge seems to have already changed, but I guess Dickens wanted to make sure the change was permanent by showing Scrooge his future if he didn't fully change. Obviously, everyone will die someday, but showing Scrooge that if he didn't change than no one would feel anything except joy at his death is what really changed him.
Okay, now on to the academic article that I used in class about mythology.
"The representational frames Dickens uses to set fantasy apart from reality--the dynamics that give A Christmas Carol its mythic or fairytale quality--turn out to be fully operative in the 'real' world" ("Visuality and Ideology in Dickens' A Christmas Carol by Audrey Jaffe, 258).
All right, so in Dickens time, Christmas wasn't celebrated like how it is today. What Jaffe means by frames is that Dickens is showing Scrooge and readers snapshots of what he thinks Christmas should be: spending time with family and having a feast of sorts. The date for Christmas is near the Winter Solstice, which was celebrated with a feast. See the connection there? So in a way, Dickens revitalized Christmas.
God Bless Us Everyone...
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