Mr. Salsich
English 9
December 4th, 2008
Making His Death Chain:
An Essay On A Passage From "A Christmas Carol"
“I wear the chain I forged in life”, says Marley’s ghost as he comes back to haunt Ebenezer Scrooge. His words are more than just a spirit’s scare tactic, but also a piece of wisdom from the afterlife. Those who have passed on can’t tell others what happens after death, leaving the living people in the dark. In Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol”, a ghost warns Scrooge that his wrongful actions he makes during life could follow him after death.
TS We often do things that we regret, but did you ever think we might have to suffer the consequences after death? SD That is what happens for Jacob Marley, a dead man forced to wear his heavy chains around his waist. CM These heavy chains he speaks of are symbolic for everything a man’s spirit is supposed to "go forth [with]" before passing on. CM Now that the spirit has died, he is “doomed to wander through the world” while literally being chained to his decisions from his past life. SD Out of all the people Marley could’ve chosen to give these words of wisdom to, he chose Scrooge for a specific reason. CM Marley saw that Scrooge was taking his life for granted, living coldly, cruelly and cowardly. (Purposeful Repetition) CM Marley knew that Scrooge’s faulty way of living would affect his life, even after he was buried under his grave. CS Overall, Marley’s spiritual pop-in was a way of forewarning Scrooge that if he isn’t careful, he’d make his mistakes as he lived, and his mistakes would make him once he died. (Chiasmus)
In the end, this is a lesson we hear all the time, just in a more morbid setting. The ghost of Jacob Marley is simply saying, “live life to the fullest”, but with adding and spooky ending to the phrase. If Scrooge goes on living this way, he’s going to regret his remorseful actions as he carries that heavy weight all through the afterlife.
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