Analyzing Fred: Dickens' Foil to Scrooge in A Christmas Carol

hello and welcome back to my channel in this video we will be analyzing the character of Fred in Charles Dickens

Novella A Christmas Carol Fred is the nephew of Ebenezer's Scrooge the miserly protagonist of the story and

although they are related their characters at least initially are pretty much the complete opposite of each other

that makes Fred a foil character to Scrooge in literature a foil is a character

whose main purpose is to highlight the personality traits of another character Fred is an exaggeratedly good man whose

generous friendly and forgiving which emphasizes Scrooge's exaggeratedly awful traits of greed selfishness and general

unkindness so if Fred is a foil to Scrooge then the best way to analyze his character is to look at it in

juxtaposition to his uncles the contrast between the two men is established through a kind of thermal

imagery before we even get to hear them speak let's take a look at their descriptions

starting with Scrooge the cold within him froze his old features nipped his pointed nose

shriveled his cheek stiffened his gate made his eyes red his thin lips blew and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice

a frosty rhyme was on his head and on his eyebrows and his wiry chin he carried his own though temperature

always about with him he iced his office in the dog days and didn't thought one degree at Christmas

Scrooge's descriptive words in this paragraph are almost all related to the cold words like froze nipped blue Frosty

low temperature iced and thaw these descriptions are more than physical of course as they also refer to

the way in which he treats people the phrase he carried his own low temperature always about with him shows

that he goes out of his way to make others feel as grouchy and miserable as he is on the other hand Fred's

description is full of Words which evoke warmth like heated glow Ruddy sparkled and smoked while Scrooge carries his own

low temperature about with him Fred Heats himself by walking through the cold both literally and metaphorically

as he does not allow Scrooge's icy comments to bring down his Christmas spirit one bit

when Fred walks into Scrooge's office he immediately brings warmth light and joy a contrast that suggests to the reader

that his character will be very unlikable to Scrooge the difference in their personalities is

Apparent from this imagery alone but it is further developed through their dialogue as they often mirror the way

the other speaks but with the opposite effect let's look at a few examples from their initial interaction

a Merry Christmas Uncle God save you ah said Scrooge humbug Christmas a humbug uncle said Scrooge's

nephew what right have you to be merry what reason have you to be merry you're poor

enough come then return the nephew gailie what right of you to be dismal what reason

have you to be morose you're rich enough Uncle pleaded the nephew nephew returned the uncle sternly keep Christmas on your

own way and let me keep it in mind keep it repeated Scrooge's nephew but you don't keep it

[Music] and finally because I fell in love

because you fell in love growled Scrooge having Fred and Scrooge engage in this banter has several effects on the reader

firstly it shows that Fred's opinions on life are the antithesis of Scrooge's opinions

antithesis means the direct opposite and it is also a literary device that uses parallel grammar structure to establish

opposition and ideas or characters the two men often repeat the same words in this verbal battle of wits which

speeds up the pace of the text the fact that Fred is not only able to keep up with Scrooge but actually best him in

this interaction reinforces their blood relation they may have completely different opinions on life but because

they are related they share similarities in their intellect and the way that they speak

this is an important thing to note because it hints to the reader that there is hope for Scrooge to change and

be more like Fred in many ways Fred resembles his mother fan whom we meet on Scrooge's Redemption

visit to his past when she rescues him from his lonely life at boarding school during this part of the novella we

learned that Scrooge has a whole mess of unresolved abandonment issues stemming from his cold and distant father and the

deaths of his mother and sister whom he loved dearly this may explain why Scrooge keeps

trying to shut Fred out from his life because Phantoms of great comfort to him during his childhood so seeing her son

who has the same kindness compassion and joy may be too painful for him as he has not yet resolved his abandonment issues

and deep down he probably fears being abandoned by Fred too if we look at Fred's life in parallel to

Scrooge there are many similarities although Fred seems to have made the right series of choices where Scrooge

has made the wrong ones they have both experienced the loss of a mother but rather than shutting himself

off from family Fred repeatedly invites Scrooge to his home and never gives up hope that he will change despite his

uncle's best efforts to push him away just like Scrooge Fred does not start off wealthy but unlike his uncle he

realizes that money is not the ultimate goal in life which means he also takes time to develop relationships with other

people and find happiness in their company Scrooge's fiancee Belle releases him

from their engagement because he cares more about money than he does about her but Fred cherishes his fiancee and Views

marriage as more than just a financial contract something which Scrooge scoffs at

this mirroring of the two men's lives is deliberate by Dickens the author as it suggests to the reader that Scrooge

could have been completely different and more like Fred had he made the right choices

it helps us to understand that leaving past issues unresolved can deeply affect our life's path and determine how we end

up in the future if you found this video helpful so far please leave a like below it really

helps out the channel one of Fred's main purposes in this novel is to represent the middle class

as Scrooge is part of the wealthier portion of society and Bob Cratchit represents the poorer working class

through his character Dickens is giving us an example of how we can show kindness and generosity to people less

fortunate than us even without a lot of money Fred is particularly attentive towards

Bob Cratchit throughout the novel saying to his friends about Scrooge if it only puts him in the veins and

leave his poor Clark 50 pounds that's something and in Scrooge's visit to the future he

is mentioned again Bob told them of the extraordinary kindness of Mr Scrooge's nephew

I'm heartily sorry for it Mr crotchet if I can be of service to you in any way he said giving me his card

that's where I live pray come to me his treatment of bulb is an example of how employers should treat their

employees a point which Dickens makes often throughout this Tale but it is not only Bob who receives this

warmth as Fred treats everyone he meets with consistent kindness despite being insulted and shunned by his uncle Fred

continues to invite Scrooge over for Christmas an action that is important because it reveals that Scrooge's

isolation is by choice as Fred still really wants him to be a part of his life

he says I need to give him the same chance every year whether he likes it or not for I pity him

when asked by his family why he puts up with Scrooge's bad temper and miserly ways Fred says he's a comical old fellow

said Scrooge's nephew that's the truth and not so pleasant as he might be however his offenses carry their own

punishment and I have nothing to say against him who suffers by his ill whims himself always

Fred knows that Scrooge's grouchy behavior and self-imposed Solitude are only hurting himself and so he chooses

to take his insults with a pinch of salt and good humor again he is setting an example to the reader by encouraging us

not to give up hope on any family members who have lost their way however some cynics Scrooge included

might see Fred's desperation to be a part of his life as purely Financial because Fred seems to be Scrooge's last

living relative he probably stands to inherit Scrooge's Fortune as a young man in England at that time inheritance was

definitely the quickest way to make your fortune and become a gentleman so Scrooge who views the world through

financial lenses is likely suspicious that Fred is just after his money Fred tries to dissuade him from these

fears saying at the beginning of the story I want nothing from you I ask nothing of you why can't we be friends

in Scrooge's defense he could be just saying that to win him over so Dickens makes a point of clearing up this false

assumption when Scrooge visits his nephew's house with the Ghost of Christmas present

Fred still defends Scrooge to his friends and fiance even when he is not in the room and repeatedly says that he

does not expect Scrooge to pass any money onto him whatsoever this sort of proves that he is just a

good person who wants to connect with his uncle and this scene really shows Scrooge that Fred has found true

happiness through friends and family rather than through money which ends up making a big impact on him in the future

so in analyzing Fred's character in this book he seems to be almost without fault almost too good to be true leaving us to

question is Fred a two-dimensional character he certainly seems to be an

exaggeratedly good-natured kind and compassionate person that never gets angry or behaves poorly throughout the

entire story Dickens is known for creating these caricature-like characters in his novels

that have some extreme qualities but through them he is teaching social lessons

Fred's exaggerated the good character balances Scrooge's exaggeratedly awful character and brings some light and joy

to an otherwise gloomy World pictured in the first Stave they may have larger than life aspects

about them but there are certainly parts of both men that we can relate to Dickens is trying to show us through

these characters that even if we behave a little more like Fred and a little less like Scrooge we are already on our

way to making positive changes in our life if you'd like an in-depth analysis of

Scrooge's character take a look at my video here another important reason for Fred's

consistent goodness throughout this Novella is that he provides a sense of reassurance to the reader once Scrooge

has undergone its transformational journey and decides to change his ways we know that Fred is sure to welcome him

in with open arms it gives us hope for his future too as we know that Scrooge has not managed to

push away everyone in his life that there is at least one person in the world who sees the good in him

in fact when Scrooge wakes up on Christmas day he behaves in a very similar way to Fred from then on in the

sense that he is almost exaggeratedly good so clearly Fred's character was written

in by Dickens as a standard to which Scrooge can hold himself and therefore so can we

thanks for watching guys stay tuned for follow-up analysis videos soon to come see you next time

[Music] thank you foreign

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