In-class essay

Sarah Shourds
5 December 2008
Hamilton Salsich
English 09
Don’t Let Your Chain Get Too Heavy:
An Essay on a Quote in, “A Christmas Carol”

Everyone in the whole world wears a chain around their waste, with a variety of different things linked onto it. In, “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, Marley’s ghost wore a chain made up of keys, ledgers, and other matters of that sort. The meaning of the chain can be viewed in many different ways, and why Marley’s ghost wears the chain with such things on it, can also be seen in many different ways.
SD When Marley was a human, he carried many burdens on his chain, such as not being able to pay such and such, or that he just worked too much. CM Consequences did occur when he died. CM Marley was forced to “walk abroad” and carry those heavy links with him. SD Being that many people carry anonymous burdens around with them, people like Marley should learn to let them go so that their “chain” does not get too heavy. CM When someone’s chain gets overwhelmed with such things as keys and ledgers, they start to get stressed out and become more and more like Scrooge; an unhappy, gloomy person. CM I have taken more off my chain then my chain has taken off of me. [CHIASMUS] CS The next time you are faced with a dilemma, don’t bottle it up because it will come to face you in the near future.
If you don’t consider your burdens a hefty thing, and just let them sink into you, then soon your chain will start getting heavier and heavier, and it will start to weigh you down. Soon you will turn into a Scrooge, and never see the warmth in a good Christmas Carol. [Purposeful Repetition] Marley carried burdens with him, and because he didn’t solve his dilemmas in his life, then he was forced “on his own will” to wear the chain. The chain represents his life, and his life represents the chain. [CHIASMUS]