Extracts | AQA English Revision

Annotated extract: Meeting Scrooge

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, Stave One

Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas.

External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn’t know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often “came down” handsomely, and Scrooge never did.

Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, “My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?” No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o’clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blind men’s dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, “No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!”

But what did Scrooge care! It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call “nuts” to Scrooge.

Tight-fisted hand at the grindstone: A tight fist suggests someone unwilling to let go of money. The grindstone brings work to mind, so Dickens introduces Scrooge through the way he does business.
Squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous: The list piles up forceful actions associated with taking and holding on. “Covetous” means eager to possess what others have, and “sinner” turns greed into a moral failing.
Hard and sharp as flint: Flint can produce sparks when struck with steel. Dickens twists the simile: Scrooge has the stone’s hardness, but nobody has ever drawn a spark of generosity from him.
Solitary as an oyster: An oyster shuts itself inside a hard shell. The repeated ‘s’ sounds link “secret,” “self-contained” and “solitary,” presenting Scrooge as someone who keeps others out. Could the shell also hint at something worth finding inside?
The cold within him froze his old features: The cold starts “within” Scrooge and changes his appearance. Dickens makes emotional coldness visible in his face, posture and voice.
Dog-days and Christmas: The “dog-days” are the hottest days of summer. Even summer heat and the goodwill associated with Christmas fail to thaw him. This sets up a contrast with the warmth he shows by the end.
No wind that blew was bitterer than he: “Bitter” can describe harsh weather or a resentful person. Dickens uses both senses and makes Scrooge outdo even the wind.
Came down handsomely: The weather literally comes down as rain, snow or hail. To “come down handsomely” can also mean to give generously. The joke makes even bad weather seem more charitable than Scrooge.
Nobody ever stopped him: “Nobody,” “no beggars,” “no children” and “no man or woman” build a picture of isolation. Even an ordinary greeting or a request for directions is missing from his life.
No eye at all is better than an evil eye: The narrator imagines the guide dogs making a joke about sight. They steer away from Scrooge as if his hostile look could do harm, exaggerating how thoroughly people avoid him.
Warning all human sympathy to keep its distance: Scrooge actively keeps kindness and fellow feeling away. “Nuts” here means something he enjoys, so his isolation is presented as a choice.