A Christmas Carol.

Abstract

‘Hard and sharp as flint’ – ‘flint’ is a type of rock that was used during the Stone Age to make tools. It is very sharp. This simile links to the ‘grindstone’ used earlier. Scrooge is shown to be unyielding and harsh as rock. ‘solitary as an oyster’ – an oyster is encased in a hard shell. It is closed against the world and lives alone on the seabed. Dickens uses this simile to show the reader how Scrooge is isolated and closed off from the world around him. As oysters also can have pearls hidden inside them, Dickens is suggesting that the wealthy businessmen are closed off from the lives of the poor, unwilling to share their hidden wealth.