How Does Dickens Present Religion In A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ follows the transformation of middle-class misanthropist Ebenezer Scrooge, as he embarks on what can only be described as a pilgrimage- deviating from a “covetous, old sinner” into somebody “as happy as an angel”, aiming to honour the Christmas spirit “all the year”. Throughout the novella, religion appears to play a pivotal role in Scrooge’s reformation of character- acting as an institution of teaching and change.

This is first seen in the extract as Bob Cratchit describes his son’s behaviour at church “as good as gold”. Dickens’ use of a simile here is ironic- the reader is aware that the Cratchits aren’t physically wealthy, so Dickens’ choice of noun ‘gold’ is an interesting one. It could perhaps be said ‘gold’ is used to symbolise the Cratchits’ moral wealth- they do not need physical wealth because their personalities and morals are so rich. Alternatively, it could be said this also emphasises the importance of religion; as seen in the extract, it seems too great of a coincidence that the religious characters (the Cratchits) are portrayed as compassionate, thoughtful characters whereas those who aren’t

The use of noun ‘carol’ could perhaps be seen as ironic, given that a ‘carol’ is normally a song with metered and rhymed lyrics- creating a paradox between of the unmetered and unrhymed novella, written in prose. It could be said that Dickens’ purposefully used this paradox to emphasise the novella’s religious connotations and messages- religion is so significant that not only was it featured throughout the play, but had to be featured in the title. On the other hand, it could be said this is more symbolic- Dickens’ wanted the story to be re-told repeatedly, just like a carol, to increase awareness of working class struggles in a bid for more to be done to combat