When the Ghost of Christmas Past takes Ebenezer Scrooge back to his past to see the end of Scrooge's relationship with Belle, the spirit shows Scrooge two specific scenes involving the woman. In the first, Scrooge is "a man in the prime of his life." However, his face had already "begun to wear the signs of care and avarice. There was an eager, greedy, restless motion in the eye, which showed the passion that had taken root, and where "the shadow of the growing tree would fall." This description is particularly useful to understanding Belle's words to Scrooge, as she says "[a]nother idol has displaced me." Scrooge inquires as to what idol that is, and she replies "a golden one." By this, she means that Scrooge's attention has turned to money, and the accumulation of it. This is the reason why the signs of avarice are already upon his face. Belle goes on to say:
Our contract is an old one. It was made when we were both poor and content to be so, until, in good season, we could improve our worldly fortune by our patient industry. You are changed. When it was made, you were another man.
This fully clarifies the symbolism of the idol, as well as the change in Scrooge. When Ebenezer and Belle met and fell in love, they were both poor; they shared a worldview regarding their situation and took solace in the shared belief that there are more important things than money. However, since that time Scrooge changed. In the moment of the memory, money is not only the most important thing to him, but the only important thing. It is because of this that Belle ends their relationship, leaving Scrooge completely unfettered to fully devote his life to the pursuit of money.
Monday, May 8, 2017
What does Belle say has replaced her as the love of his life?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Why is the fact that the Americans are helping the Russians important?
In the late author Tom Clancy’s first novel, The Hunt for Red October, the assistance rendered to the Russians by the United States is impor...
-
Friar Lawrence plays a significant role in Romeo and Juliet's fate and is responsible not only for secretly marrying the two lovers but ...
-
Suppose that the average daily food consumption $F$ of a herbivorous mammal with body weight $x$, where both $F$ and $x$ are measured in pou...
-
Resourceful: Phileas Fogg doesn't let unexpected obstacles deter him. For example, when the railroad tracks all of a sudden end in India...
-
Pablo Neruda's "Ode to My Socks" is full of figurative language, including similes and metaphors. Similes are figurative compa...
-
In the late author Tom Clancy’s first novel, The Hunt for Red October, the assistance rendered to the Russians by the United States is impor...
-
Evaluate $\displaystyle \int x^2 \cos mx dx$ by using Integration by parts. If we let $u = x^2$ and $dv = \cos mx dx$, then $d...
-
At the beginning of the Victorian period, science was generally in accord with religion, and the study of nature was conducted in such a way...
No comments:
Post a Comment