A Christmas Carol
- Symbolism Was Well Deployed by Charles Dickens -

Symbolism is the Language of Dreams

 

Symbolism is ‘dream language’ seeping out into poetic prose. Essentially, the dreaming brain experiences ‘language’ in an older way with images that represent something else. For example, winter with its ice and snow can symbolise emotional coldness and hardship. Conversely, spring with its warmth, life and new growth can symbolise optimistic new beginnings. It’s not words, but it is communication.

 

Moreover, the natural variation in symbolism lends itself well to artistic expression.

 

• Their context and exact presentation alters their interpretation.

• One symbol can have diverging interpretations.

• Many symbols can have the same interpretation.

• They occur naturally in creative prose.

• They benefit from conscious understanding and modification to amplify their power. 

• They can vary between eras and cultures.

 

For these quotes possible interpretations will be offered without attempting to be exhaustive with every possibility or perspective.

 

Quote one: [Stave one: Marely’s Ghost]:

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“…The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. 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. His body was transparent… chilling influence of its death-cold eyes… ”

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Quote one commentary: 

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Symbolism and puns (homonyms) are closely correlated because they are both part of the dreaming brain’s communication system. A metal chain can thus represent negative chains of events Marley was aware of in life, yet was emotionally cold regarding them. A chain is also symbolic of prison. A tail can symbolise a story, as in a ‘tale,’ yet being wound around him it is python-esque, cruelly squeezing the little life that remains out of him. Thus, as a money obsessed miser in life, it represents the counter balance to what chose to do to others during his life.

 

Cash-boxes, keys and ledgers in steel can symbolise the social theft (stealing) of wealth from those he had power over in his business dealings. A transparent body is both degraded in worth and can hide nothing from Almighty God, the eternal judge of all. This is compounded in the words, “chilling” and “death-cold eyes.” The eyes as symbols of the soul are fully lacking in the warmth of kindness with the words “death-cold.” 

 

Quote two: [Stave one, Marley’s Ghost]

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“Angelic messengers descending through the air on clouds like feather-beds, Abrahams, Belshazzars, Apostles putting off to sea in butter-boats…”
 

Quote two commentary: 

 

Quote two abounds with divine symbolism: angelic messengers, clouds, feather beds and butter boats upon a calm sea. Here Scrooge is given an opportunity to reflect on the tenets of his Christian faith. There are other interpretations of these words, yet broadly they sum to a message of comfort, provision and safety even when feeling lost or ‘all at sea.’ In those days butter was a luxury, as were all forms of soft and warm comfort.
 

Quote three:

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[Stave three: the second of three visitors]

“I am the Ghost of Christmas Present,” … was clothed in one simple green robe, or mantle, bordered with white fur. … Its feet, observable beneath the ample folds of the garment, were also bare; and on its head …holly wreath, set here and there with shining icicles. Its dark brown curls were long and free; free as its genial face, its sparkling eye, its open hand, its cheery voice, …antique scabbard; but no sword was in it, and the ancient sheath was eaten up with rust.
 

Quote three commentary: 

 

Here the spirit is presented as peaceful. As with the original “Santa” it is clothed in a humble green robe trimmed with white fur. Green is symbolic of nature and life, as is the evergreen holly wreath upon its head. It has no sword, its scabbard long rusted, symbolising its weapon free peaceful existence. Its eyes, symbolic of its soul, sparkle. Its soles, also symbolic of the soul, are laid bare. The shining of the icicles symbolises that even in its emotionally ‘cold actions’ it is performing goodness, warning Scrooge of his need to make amends before death and what the consequences of not doing so are.

 

Quote four:

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Stave three: [Scrooge’s Third Visitor]

“Built upon a dismal reef of sunken rocks, some league or so from shore, on which the waters chafed and dashed, the wild year through, there stood a solitary lighthouse. Great heaps of sea-weed clung to its base, and storm-birds—born of the wind one might suppose, as sea-weed of the water—rose and fell about it, like the waves they skimmed.”

 

Quote four commentary: 

 

In this vision, given how dream-like it is, symbolism naturally abounds. Dickens’ kenning, water-rose symbolises truth and love. The storm-birds-born are clearly those born at the brutal end of the social spectrum, the poor and destitute. The lighthouse (light as goodness that guides travellers within the dangerous dark night) thus becomes Christ’s hope of eternal love and refuge, yet around it even the rocks (also symbolic of Christ) are sunken and battered by the relentless storm. The sea-weed is life itself, attempting to hang on amid the lashing salty water (symbolising negative emotions). Its isolation from the shore symbolises how hard it is for the poor to reach Christ’s refuge, living lives in constant turmoil and suffering. In all this Dickens attempts to reach the reader through his ‘education of Scrooge.’
 

Summary

 

The use of symbolism is an evolved human ability, yet with education and wisdom it becomes powerful under the author’s pen. Dream language is innate to a large degree, yet one can learn much from reputable research on dreams and the mindbrain. It is always unleashed in epic poetry, yet so too is it free roaming in great poetic prose!

 

Learning Activities

 

1. Write a dreamy ethereal paragraph. Let go of the constraints of reality. Let your creativity paint a scene and then analyse your prose for symbolism. What symbols are there? How are they modified?

 

2. The Descriptionari.com pages on “Bats, Beasts & Bugs “Butterflies,” “Cars” and “Hope’s Pen,” are all excellent for learning symbolism. Read some paragraphs and use them as inspiration for writing your own.