Marley's Ghost In A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens

How is Marley’s Ghost presented and what Messages does he present to Scrooge

Marley’s ghost is the first supernatural character to visit scrooge and probably has one of the biggest effects on scrooge in the first place. Dickens presents Marley as a much more frightening ghost compared to the other ghost that visits scrooge. I think Dickens does this to show how Scrooge is frightened of what Marley has become physically and believes him. Also as Marley was Scrooges only friend I think thus definitely would have made him trust Marley’s ghost as they ran the business together and were the only people that understood each other.

When Marley first enters the room with scrooge he is instantly given a supernatural manor and was presented as very frightening. “Scrooge was not a man to be frightened” this gives the reader the impression that what it coming up the stairs is not something normal and is almost foreshadowing the fact that it is a normal human being walking up the stairs. Dickens uses sounds to present the ghost coming up the stairs “echoed through the house like thunder” this simile that Dickens uses makes the sound seem so loud that it begins to shake the house. Even in the first four staves before Marley has even entered the house the supernatural activity gradually has an effect on scrooge “and walked

“Old Jacob Marley, tell me more. Speak comfort to me Jacob” from what Scrooge says the reader can tell that Scrooge clearly believes in Marley and that because they knew each other in life Scrooge has trust in Marley and in what he is saying. The fact that Jacob Marley dress sense and features have not changed which lets scrooge recognise who Marley is so he can still relate to him and not feel like he is talking to a stranger that did not look like his partner in the