marley was dead: to begin with quote analysis
Scrooge never painted out Old Marleys name. He stopped at the outer door to bestow the greetings of the season on the clerk, who, cold as he was, was warmer than Scrooge; for he returned them cordially. facebook; twitter . A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. Dickens introduces the character of the ghost of Marley into the story to warn Scrooge of the consequences of his selfish life, for example how Marley says he is condemned to wander the world bound by chains, chains he says he forged in life (suggesting to Scrooge that he has a choice). Whats Christmas-time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, and not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books, and having every item in em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? A poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every year. There is no doubt that Marley was dead. The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever. "He died seven years ago, this very night." "We have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his surviving partner," said the gentleman, presenting his credentials. Discover more quotations from A Christmas Carol. You are fettered, said Scrooge, trembling. Give your view on Marley was dead: to begin with with a rating and help us compile the very best Charles Dickens quotations. There is no doubt whatever about that. These will help develop a stronger picture of what you are describing. Business! cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. Marleys face. What else can I be, returned the uncle, when I live in such a world of fools as this? There were Cains and Abels, Pharaohs daughters; Queens of Sheba, Angelic messengers descending through the air on clouds like feather-beds, Abrahams, Belshazzars, Apostles putting off to sea in butter-boats, hundreds of figures to attract his thoughts -- and yet that face of Marley, seven years dead, came like the ancient Prophets rod, and swallowed up the whole. This solitary nature also relates to the quote describing Scrooge as " solitary as an oyster", This chain is symbolic of Marleys business affairs and his pursuit of wealth when he was alive. Marleys Ghost. Scrooge signed it. (Couldn't I take 'em all at once and have it over, Jacob" hinted Scrooge. Marley has been dead these seven years, Scrooge replied. The cold became intense. He tried to say Humbug! but stopped at the first syllable. If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlets Father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spotsay Saint Pauls Churchyard for instanceliterally to astonish his sons weak mind. It was not an agreeable idea. (c) Copyright 2012 - 2023 The Circumlocution Office | All Rights Reserved | Built by The Circumlocution Office using WordPress. What was the name of Scrooges business in A Christmas Carol? The narrator considers that the phrase "dead as a doornail" doesn't even describe Marley's lifelessness well enough. Seven years dead, mused Scrooge. Jacob Marley, fictional character, the deceased business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens. What Does The Forged Letter Make Malvolio Believe. And beard thee too. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. humbug!. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.. Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! The first part of the sentence informs the reader that the character (Jacob) Marley is dead, whilst a second part that follows introduces an immediate element of doubt into this supernatural tale. When he came to revise the text, Dickens changed the colon to a comma, and later editions of the novella have the opening sentence appearing as Marley was dead, to begin with. The firm was known as Scrooge and Marley. Youve successfully purchased a group discount. Scrooge was not much in the habit of cracking jokes, nor did he feel, in his heart, by any means waggish then. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. 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. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Countrys done for. When the men ask about his partner, Scrooge tells them that he is dead. Humbug, I tell you! Marley was dead: to begin with. What reason have you to be morose? Chapter 1 - Marley's Ghost. In that sense, they were dead, as even if you disposed of the door you would not be able to pull the nails out easily, and so they couldnt be used, and might as well be dead. Couldnt I take em all at once, and have it over, Jacob? hinted Scrooge. felt the chilling influence of his its death-cold eyes", The visually frightening image of Marley quickly has an influence on ScroogeAdjective of "cold" is used to describe Scrooge through pathetic fallacy in Stave One, furthering the idea that Scrooge acts as a mirror image of Marley, Dickens uses Marley to verbalise one of his key messages of social responsibility and how readers should be exactly this. This is an example of a colon being used to break up two elements of a sentence. I have sat invisible beside you many and many a day., Couldnt I take `em all at once, and have it over, Jacob? hinted Scrooge. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. No rest, no peace. `I wonder you dont go into Parliament., `Dont be angry, uncle. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didnt thaw it one degree at Christmas. Not so much in obedience, as in surprise and fear: for on the raising of the hand, he became sensible of confused noises in the air; incoherent sounds of lamentation and regret; wailings inexpressibly sorrowful and self-accusatory. Want 100 or more? Marleys ghost visits Scrooge on Christmas Eve at the beginning of the story. What could it mean? The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. They were a gloomy suite of rooms, in a lowering pile of building up a yard, where it had so little business to be, that one could scarcely help fancying it must have run there when it was a young house, playing at hide-and-seek with other houses, and forgotten the way out again. May nothing you dismay!. A chance and hope of my procuring, Ebenezer., You were always a good friend to me, said Scrooge. captive, bound, and double-ironed, cried the phantom, not to know, that ages of incessant labour by immortal creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity before the good of which it is susceptible is all developed. I cannot rest, I cannot stay, I cannot linger anywhere. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail. 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Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. There is no doubt whatever about that. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. . Once upon a time, on Christmas Eve, old Scrooge sat busy in his office. Up Scrooge went, not caring a button for that. In the first stave, the miser Scrooge is introduced as well as his merry nephew and his poor clerk Bob Cratchit. Marley was dead: to begin with. Remember, poetry paints ideas using words. Out upon merry Christmas! The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Look on me well: I have eat no meat these five days; yet, come thou and thy five men, and if I do not leave you all as dead as a doornail, I pray God I may never eat grass more. He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooges, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! Dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me?, Man of the worldly mind! replied the Ghost, do you believe in me or not?, I do, said Scrooge. Marley was dead: to begin with. You are not looking at it, said Scrooge. Cash boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds and heavy purses wrought in steel". Scrooge and he were partners for I dont know how many years. There is no doubt whatever about that. Charles Dickens. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. If each smooth tile had been a blank at first, with power to shape some picture on its surface from the disjointed fragments of his thoughts, there would have been a copy of old Marleys head on every one. To say that he was not startled, or that his blood was not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy, would be untrue. Some more recent texts have changed this colon or comma to a hyphen. What does the quote Marley was dead to begin with mean? Were there no homes to which [the Christmas star's] light would have conducted me! A doornail? At this time of the rolling year, the spectre said, I suffer most. And Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change for anything he chose to put his hand to. And even Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnised it with an undoubted bargain. Come! Dickens uses the opening line to hint at the supernatural story to come: Marley was dead to begin with (p. 1). Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. "Marley was dead to begin with" See answer Advertisement nellygee The quote is stating that Scrooge's name was good in making a change, what it means is that Scrooge had good financial credit At the royal exchange in London, at the part of England's important financial institutions. This must be distintly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate." Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol Read more quotes from Charles Dickens Share this quote: Like Quote Recommend to friends Friends Who Liked This Quote And the Union workhouses? demanded Scrooge. And Scrooges name was good upon Change for anything he chose to put his hand to. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Its enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other peoples. On the wings of the wind, replied the Ghost. Scrooge signed it. thats a very good point about coffin nails. monstrous iron safe attached to its ankle, who cried piteously at being unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant, whom it saw below, upon a door-step. Remember to se Scrooge closed the window, and examined the door by which the Ghost had entered. Marleys face. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office. There it stood, years afterwards, above the warehouse door: Scrooge and Marley. Incessant torture of remorse", Marley expressing his fate, a tormented individual wandering the EarthHe is condemnedSuggesting scrooge has the ability to change his fateMarley acts as a messenger. At length the hour of shutting up the counting-house arrived. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. His nephew left the room without an angry word, notwithstanding. Every one of them wore chains like Marleys Ghost; some few (they might be guilty governments) were linked together; none were free. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. He fastened the door, and walked across the hall, and up the stairs; slowly too: trimming his candle as he went. Nobody under the bed; nobody in the closet; nobody in his dressing-gown, which was hanging up in a suspicious attitude against the wall. Now, it is a fact, that there was nothing at all particular about the knocker on the door, except that it was very large. Expect the second on the next night at the same hour. Meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened so, that people ran about with flaring links, proffering their services to go before horses in carriages, and conduct them on their way. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. lect adjectives that describe sight, sound, taste, smell and touch. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Countrys done for. This might have lasted half a minute, or a minute, but it seemed an hour. Scrooge followed to the window: desperate in his curiosity. I dont mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. Dickens wants us to pause after digesting the first of those facts, then proceed to the second. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at [email protected]. May 1, 2023, SNPLUSROCKS20 Foul weather didnt know where to have him. Wed love to have you back! Scrooge signed it. Much good may it do you! such was I! So A Merry Christmas, uncle!. Scrooge glanced about him on the floor, in the expectation of finding himself surrounded by some fifty or sixty fathoms of iron cable: but he could see nothing. The door of Scrooges counting-house was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters. Im very glad to hear it., Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude, returned the gentleman, a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. The apparition walked backward from him; and at every step it took, the window raised itself a little, so that when the spectre reached it, it was wide open. Lumber-room as usual. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. The repetition of the statement "Marley was dead" causes readers to question why the statement "MARLEY WAS DEAD," is not "MARLEY IS DEAD." Once someone has died they are quite dead, or as Dickens puts it in the first paragraph, "Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail", after which the narrative voice goes off on an almost comical . His body was transparent; so that Scrooge, observing him, and looking through his waistcoat, could see the two buttons on his coat behind. It is doomed to wander through the worldoh, woe is me!and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!. The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever. But how much greater was his horror, when the phantom taking off the bandage round its head, as if it were too warm to wear indoors, its lower jaw dropped down upon its breast! Theme: Envo Blog. Marley visits Scrooge to offer him redemption from his own fate, in the hope of changing his mean ways. There is no doubt whatever, about that. 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. Why is a doornail more dead than any other nail? Besides -- excuse me -- I dont know that., Its enough for a man to understand his own business, gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at Scrooge.
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