marley was dead: to begin with quote analysis

Even the blind mens dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!. (Stave 1) Marley was dead; to begin with. This is the opening line to the book. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. Christmas among the rest. Scrooge resumed his labours with an improved opinion of himself, and in a more facetious temper than was usual with him. Scrooge and he were partners for I dont know how many years. Theres irony there. There was no doubt whatever about that. A pen picture is a very short, three-lined poem. Second, it emphasizes that this is the FIRST thing we are to know. Scrooge signed it. It beckoned Scrooge to approach, which he did. Scrooge signed it. Why is a doornail more dead than any other nail? Old Marley was as dead as a doornail." Its not my business, Scrooge returned. The clerk promised that he would; and Scrooge walked out with a growl. The cold became intense. Marley has been dead these seven years,' Scrooge replied. Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Theres another fellow, muttered Scrooge; who overheard him: my clerk, with fifteen shillings a week, and a wife and family, talking about a merry Christmas. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel. I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course, said Scrooge. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. The apparition walked backward from him; and at every step it took, the window raised itself a little, so that when the spectre reached it, it was wide open. If I could work my will, said Scrooge indignantly, every idiot who goes about with Merry Christmas on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooges name was good upon Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. The Ghost, on hearing this, set up another cry, and clanked its chain so hideously in the dead silence of the night, that the Ward would have been justified in indicting it for a nuisance. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. You may talk vaguely about driving a coach-and-six up a good old flight of stairs, or through a bad young Act of Parliament; but I mean to say you might have got a hearse up that staircase, and taken it broadwise, with the splinter-bar towards the wall and the door towards the balustrades: and done it easy. The narrator here certainly doesnt know what it means, as he reflects on it and wonders what it could mean: Marley was dead, to begin with. Scrooge said that he would see himyes, indeed he did. Mind! What was the name of Scrooges business in A Christmas Carol? Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This is an example of a colon being used to break up two elements of a sentence. Yet such was I! Marley was dead: to begin with. He ventured to raise his eyes again, and found his supernatural visitor confronting him in an erect attitude, with its chain wound over and about its arm. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. His nephew left the room without an angry word, notwithstanding. Poulterers and grocers trades became a splendid joke; a glorious pageant, with which it was next to impossible to believe that such dull principles as bargain and sale had anything to do. And Scrooges name was good upon change for anything he chose to put his hand to. Marley shows Scrooge the horror that awaits Scrooge is he dosent change his way. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. He creates a metaphorical zone of low temperature around himself, low temperature being a metaphor for emotional coldness. Which Dickens novel begins with the line Marley was dead? If you were to renovate or improve something you could pull the nails from the old and hammer them into the new. It is a ponderous chain!. And Marley was not so dead after all, as he was able to come back in the form of a ghost, and talk to Scrooge. Marley was dead: to begin with. That, and its livid colour, made it horrible; but its horror seemed to be in spite of the face and beyond its control, rather than a part of its own expression. This builds inital anticipation and tension all throughout Stave one. " The truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of distracting his own attention, and keeping down his terror; for the spectres voice disturbed. There is no doubt whatever about that. Dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me?, Man of the worldly mind! replied the Ghost, do you believe in me or not?, I do, said Scrooge. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Countrys done for. Dickens uses the opening line to hint at the supernatural story to come: Marley was dead to begin with (p. 1). There is no doubt that Marley was dead. The novels abrupt opening line aims to startle the reader, and the paragraph afterward establishes a tone of facetious humor that creates a sense of intimacy between reader and narrator. Hammered hard, to their full extent, so that the tips emerged from the other side, then bent and hammered flat against the wood, means that they will not be easily extracted. Couldnt I take em all at once, and have it over, Jacob? hinted Scrooge. The fog and frost so hung about the black old gateway of the house, that it seemed as if the Genius of the Weather sat in mournful meditation on the threshold. Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down. Have I the pleasure of addressing Mr. Scrooge, or Mr. Marley?, Mr. Dickens uses the opening line to hint at the supernatural story to come: Marley was dead to begin with (p. 1). Ill retire to Bedlam.. Mind! It is also a fact, that Scrooge had seen it, night and morning, during his whole residence in that place; also that Scrooge had as little of what is called fancy about him as any man in the city of London, even including -- which is a bold word -- the corporation, aldermen, and livery. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. Scrooge never painted out Old Marley's name. Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one lifes opportunity misused! To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale. What a fine thing capital punishment is! It was double-locked, as he had locked it with his own hands, and the bolts were undisturbed. And Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change for anything he chose to put his hand to. There were Cains and Abels, Pharaohs daughters; Queens of Sheba, Angelic messengers descending through the air on clouds like feather-beds, Abrahams, Belshazzars, Apostles putting off to sea in butter-boats, hundreds of figures to attract his thoughts; and yet that face of Marley, seven years dead, came like the ancient Prophets rod, and swallowed up the whole. And so, what is it about a doornail that is so dead? Marley was dead: to begin with. Hear me! cried the Ghost. I dont mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. The fireplace was an old one, built by some Dutch merchant long ago, and paved all round with quaint Dutch tiles, designed to illustrate the Scriptures. for a customized plan. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. You'll be billed after your free trial ends. Scrooge clearly feels that Christmas is a waste of money. You might have got over a great quantity of ground in seven years, said Scrooge. Mine occupies me constantly. Marleys ghost visits Scrooge on Christmas Eve at the beginning of the story. Marley was dead: to begin with. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail. It was not an agreeable idea. The apparition walked backward from him; and at every step it took, the window raised itself a little, so that when the spectre reached it, it was wide open. Peruvian defenders fight off the Spanish fleet at the port city of Callao during the Chincha Islands War. I am here to-night to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate. In fact, they are dead. Scrooge knew this, by the smart sound its teeth made, when the jaws were brought together by the bandage. Brave thee! The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. You'll also receive an email with the link. Marley's Ghost. Piercing, searching, biting cold. First, it tells us that Marley is dead. I must. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. Charles Dickens. Upon its coming in, the dying flame leaped up, as though it cried, I know him; Marleys Ghost! and fell again. creating and saving your own notes as you read. Scrooge knew he was dead? The water-plug being left in solitude, its overflowings sullenly congealed, and turned to misanthropic ice. Scrooge signed it. Is its pattern strange toyou?, Or would you know, pursued the Ghost, the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? Theres more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!. Incessant torture of remorse.. Scrooges mean and harsh nature is described. Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness. He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooges, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again. Scrooge signed it. Marriage of Lopold of Saxe-Coburg and Princess Charlotte of Wales at Carlton House in London. He is undeniably dead; in fact, Marley is dead as a door-nail. Ebenezer Scrooge, who has served as Marleys business partner, executor of his will, sole friend, and sole mourner, is well aware of how very dead Marley is. Discover more quotations from A Christmas Carol. Once upon a time, on Christmas Eve, old Scrooge sat busy in his office. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. If each smooth tile had been a blank at first, with power to shape some picture on its surface from the disjointed fragments of his thoughts, there would have been a copy of old Marleys head on every one. You have laboured on it, since. Of course he did. Scrooge was not much in the habit of cracking jokes, nor did he feel, in his heart, by any means waggish then. Colons are often used to introduce or contrast a different idea within the confines of a single sentence. The author uses metaphor and hyperbolic (exaggerated) imagery to establish Scrooges character. `Merry Christmas! He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didnt thaw it one degree at Christmas. Scrooges mean and harsh nature is described. Merry Christmas! You will therefore permit me to repeat, and emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a doornail. Purchasing Favorite. Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now. It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. Merry Christmas! Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner, Click here to see our collection of quotations related to the character of Jacob Marley. Business was Marley's only concern in life, and nobody besides Scrooge mourned him or was involved in his post-death affairs. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.. Mind! "no rest, no peace. It was old enough now, and dreary enough, for nobody lived in it but Scrooge, the other rooms being all let out as offices. Marley has been dead for seven years. Continue to start your free trial. Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one lifes opportunity misused! The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner.

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