A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

By tummero on July 24, 2010

Notice here the digressions; suddenly he is talking about Hamlet and if we did not know the play we would be lost. But Dickens assumes all his readers will know Hamlet. His little joke about a 'breezy spot' once again requires a close knowledge of the play for in reality, 'it was bitter cold', and the sentry was 'sick at heart'. We also see the heartlessness of Scrooge all he can think of is money.