A Christmas Carol The Home Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Stave.Paragraph)

Quote #4

A light shone from the window of a hut, and swiftly they advanced towards it. Passing through the wall of mud and stone, they found a cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire. An old, old man and woman, with their children and their children's children, and another generation beyond that, all decked out gaily in their holiday attire. The old man, in a voice that seldom rose above the howling of the wind upon the barren waste, was singing them a Christmas song—it had been a very old song when he was a boy—and from time to time they all joined in the chorus. So surely as they raised their voices, the old man got quite blithe and loud; and so surely as they stopped, his vigour sank again. (3.91)

Here's yet another image of a home rather than just a dwelling place being carved out from unlikely circumstances. Rather than being dismayed by the "bleak moor", this "old man and woman" have raised four generations of a family. Also, check out how the well-oiled machine thing works here, too: the old man sings with "vigor" as long as the others join in also, but his voice gets quiet when they stop. Either they all function as one or they don't function at all.

Quote #5

As he stood there, waiting his arrival, the knocker caught his eye.

"I shall love it, as long as I live!" cried Scrooge, patting it with his hand. "I scarcely ever looked at it before. What an honest expression it has in its face! It's a wonderful knocker!" (5.30-31)

Is this the beginning of Scrooge investing his house with the emotional qualities of a home? We certainly hope so.

Quote #6

"Why bless my soul!" cried Fred, "who's that?"

"It's I. Your uncle Scrooge. I have come to dinner. Will you let me in, Fred?"

Let him in! It is a mercy he didn't shake his arm off. He was at home in five minutes. Nothing could be heartier. (5.57-59)

Scrooge ends up with several homes instead of none: Fred's, Bob Cratchit's, and his own. He really is fully ensconced in humanity once again. Huzzah.