Allegory In A Christmas Carol

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1: In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens crafts a tale interlaced with profound themes and messages, his use of symbolisms in his allegory are what emphasise them and assist the reader in deciphering the story to further extents, adding depth to plots, morals, and characters. 2: An allegory is a narrative or poem that can reveal a commentary; symbolisms depict a separate meaning that is much deeper than something's literal sense. 3a: An example of Dickens’ masterful use of the literary device occurs early in the book, he writes “I [Marley] wear the chain I forged in life ... made of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks...”. This chain acts as a metaphor for Marley’s selfishness and sins, related to his constant materialistic greed (components of the …show more content…
Dickens creates this effect by writing,“[Bob] with a ... family and nothing to live on”, “'A Merry Christmas, uncle!' exclaimed [Fred]”, and “Scrooge! a ... clutching, covetous old sinner!”. 4: To further my point about the use of symbolisms, the story is designed to predominantly represent England in the 19th century, but by using characters and metaphors with figurative meanings and a supernatural twist to personify themes, he effectively delivered a message that still resonates with the struggle of the poor, apathy of the rich, and the Christmas spirit. Currently, there are still the greedy, the needy, and the merry, those who are weighed down by their deplorable choices, and many novels where symbols carry an emblematic meaning (such as how Animal Farm is an allegory about the Russian revolution). 5: Overall, it may be said that Dickens’ uses symbols to make themes evident, illustrate complex ideas and motives, help one understand the story with deeper insight, and add a relatable nature to his plot and characters that endures even after 174