Taken from the following passage of Stave 1 ( Marley’s Ghost) of A Christmas Carol: Dickens emphasizes how cold the evening is by comparing the vibrations after the bell has rung to teeth chattering in its frozen head.
In this extract Dickens manages to bring alive the bell of a church tower, which spends its day looking down slily at Scrooge as if watching his actions and passing judgement. Personification is used in English Language as a device to give human-like characteristics to something that is not human, such as inanimate objects, animals or a phenomena. This is an example of the figurative language Charles Dickens uses in his works, here using the literary technique of personification. Illustration from the original publication of A Christmas Carol showing Ebenezer Scrooge (left), here being visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, bound by the chains he forged in life. The bell continues to sound its regular chimes although it is so cold that this is described as having tremulous vibrations afterwards as if its teeth were chattering in its frozen head.Ĭharles Dickens was noted in his work for bringing alive non-human forms such as animals and inanimate objects, often in a humourous way, as seen in this example of a church bell appearing to watch over someone and chattering its teeth at the cold. The bell of the church tower is described as always peeping slily down at Scrooge giving a sense of watching over his actions. The fog draws in more, adding to the sense of mystery and foreboding in this supernatural story, enveloping a nearby church tower.
On a bitter cold and foggy Christmas Eve and we have already been introduced to the mean-spirited character of Ebenezer Scrooge in his counting-house, who has just turned away two charity collectors attempting to collect donations for the needy at this important time for giving. This quotation is a description of a church tower in A Christmas Carol, close to Scrooge’s workplace.
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