A Christmas Carol: Tiny Tim Quotes | SparkNotes (2024)

FAQs

What does Tiny Tim say in a Christmas carol? ›

In the story, Tiny Tim is known for the statement, "God bless us, every one!" which he offers as a blessing at Christmas dinner. Dickens repeats the phrase at the end of the story, symbolic of Scrooge's change of heart.

COMMENTARY: As Tiny Tim said, 'God bless us, Everyone'

​a character in the story A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. He is a disabled little boy, the son of Bob Cratchit who works for Scrooge. Tiny Tim speaks the famous last words at the happy ending of the story: 'God bless Us, Every One. '

Symbols have a way of marking and fossilizing the distance between the person who gives meaning and the meaningful object. For Scrooge, Tiny Tim is a reminder of what must be prevented: the disease and dependence that comes from poverty and industrial exploitation.

From bah (“interjection expressing contempt, disgust, or bad temper”) + humbug (“balderdash!, nonsense!, rubbish!”). The words were originally spoken by the miser Ebenezer Scrooge in the novella A Christmas Carol (1843) by English author Charles Dickens (1812–1870).

He cries openly when his son Tiny Tim is dead.

"My little, little child!" cried Bob. "My little child!" The repetition of 'little' adds to the sad effect of Bob's cry. We feel sympathy for him at this point.

And so, as Tiny Tim said, "A Merry Christmas to us all; God bless us, every one!"

Cratchit hiding her tears by claiming that sewing by candlelight hurts her eyes and Bob Cratchit describing how lovely and green Tim's pending gravesite is, but finally Bob can't control himself anymore and breaks down in tears, crying "My little, little child!

The famous last words of the novel--"God bless us, Every one!"--conveys perfectly the fellow feeling and good cheer to which Scrooge awakens as his story unfolds and that A Christmas Carol so vehemently celebrates.

“Marley was dead” – the first line of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – is probably the most famous opening of a classic Christmas story (if you don't count “'Twas the night before Christmas” and “Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot” – the first lines of poems).

What was wrong with Tiny Tim Cratchit? ›

According to Callahan, Tiny Tim most probably suffered from Pott's disease, also known as tuberculosis spondylitis or spinal tuberculosis.

“God bless us every one!” “Every traveler has a home of his own, and he learns to appreciate it the more from his wandering.” “Reflect upon your present blessings—of which every man has many—not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.

With the publication of his A Christmas Carol in 1843, the most popular phrase including the word humbug became the exclamation Bah! Humbug!, the catchphrase of the miserly main character Ebenezer Scrooge.

“Spirit,” said Scrooge, with an interest he had never felt before, “tell me if Tiny Tim will live.” “I see an empty seat,” replied the Ghost, “and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.”

Tiny Tim plays an important part in the novella because it is mainly through Scrooge's actions towards him and his family that Scrooge's transformation is made evident.

Dickens uses Tiny Tim to represent the mass of poor children living in misery and need. He uses Tiny Tim to show the readers how vulnerable the poor are; there is no money for medical treatment and so Tiny Tim must needlessly die.

Here, he suggests that those who wish others 'Merry Christmas' should be boiled in their own pudding, a reference to the tradition of cooking a pudding at Christmas time.

Dickens also uses the simile 'hard and sharp as flint' to describe Scrooge. The adjective 'hard' suggests that he lacks warmth, empathy and compassion while the adjective 'sharp' suggests pain, implying that Scrooge has no mercy towards others.

Dickens adapts the phrase to mean well behaved (of Bob Cratchit's son Tiny Tim at church). Bob Cratchit was a clerk working at a counting house (dealing with money) so it would not be unexpected for him to have come across the expression as good as gold in his time working for Ebenezer Scrooge.

What Ghost says I see a vacant seat? ›

"Spirit," said Scrooge with an interest he had never felt before, "tell me if Tiny Tim will live." "I see a vacant seat," replied the Ghost, "in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved.

He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew….

Seuss once wrote, “It came without ribbons, it came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags … Maybe Christmas he thought doesn't come from a store, maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more.” This little quote has always been something that I've tried to remember every Christmas.

"I triple-dog-dare ya!"

The battle cry on the playground uttered by one of Ralphie's best friends, Schwartz, leaving another pal, Flick, with no choice but to defend his burgeoning manhood.

In Dickens' novel, the story ends with Scrooge at Bob Cratchit's home showering the Cratchit family with gifts, especially upon the youngest, Tiny Tim. The story's most famous line is it's last: Tiny Tim's prayer, “God bless us everyone.”

“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never.

I was making rather merry, yesterday, Sir." "Now, I'll tell you what, my friend," said Scrooge. "I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And therefore," he continued, leaping from his stool, and giving Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the Tank again.

The final Ghost is frightening and eerie. It doesn't say a word to Scrooge, but glides along and points out scenes to him. The spirit first shows Scrooge a funeral scene, with businessmen wondering about the money that the dead man has left.

What does Scrooge shout at the top of his lungs once he is back from his final vision? "Bah! Humbug!"

What was Scrooge's first love? ›

A year after the events of A Christmas Carol, the four ghosts (Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future) return with a new goal: to reunite the new and improved Ebenezer Scrooge with his long-lost first love, Belle.

What was the first Christmas carol? It's generally accepted that one of the first Christmas carols ever to be recorded was the 129 AD 'Angels Hymn', according to The New Daily. Around this time, Christianity-themed hymns started taking over the previous pagan songs celebrating Winter Solstice.

"Spirit," said Scrooge, with an interest he had never felt before,"tell me if Tiny Tim will live." "I see a vacant seat," replied the Ghost, "in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die." "No, no," said Scrooge.

Famous Charles Dickens quotes

1. “A day wasted on others is not wasted on one's self.” 2. “Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.”

“Have they no refuge or resource?” cried Scrooge. “Are there no prisons?” said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. “Are there no workhouses?” Note that Ignorance is worse than Want.

From bah (“interjection expressing contempt, disgust, or bad temper”) + humbug (“balderdash!, nonsense!, rubbish!”). The words were originally spoken by the miser Ebenezer Scrooge in the novella A Christmas Carol (1843) by English author Charles Dickens (1812–1870).

He fell in love with a young woman named Belle and proposed marriage, but gradually his love for Belle was overwhelmed by his love for money.

"Ghost of the Future!" he exclaimed, "I fear you more than any spectre I have seen. But as I know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to live to be another man from what I was, I am prepared to bear you company, and do it with a thankful heart.

Ghost of Present's words to Scrooge, “And if [they] be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population, ” are ironic because when Scrooge first said that he meant it.

What is the main moral of A Christmas Carol? ›

Answer and Explanation: The moral of A Christmas Carol is that the pursuit of money will not make a person happy. Scrooge devotes his life to amassing wealth, but in doing so misses out on the joys of family and friendship.

Therefore, the Ghost of Christmas Present represents goodwill. “If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.” The child refers to Tiny Tim. The ghost says that Tiny Tim will die soon if his health doesn't improve.

One member of the Cratchit family who strongly highlights the struggles of the poor is Tiny Tim, whose hand is described as a “withered little hand,” suggesting it has prematurely withered like a flower with no light.

Then Bob reveals that Tiny Tim ''hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see.

Dickens uses Tiny Tim to represent the mass of poor children living in misery and need. He uses Tiny Tim to show the readers how vulnerable the poor are; there is no money for medical treatment and so Tiny Tim must needlessly die.

He cries openly when his son Tiny Tim is dead.

We feel sympathy for him at this point. He is afraid of Scrooge's reaction when he arrives late to work after Christmas Day.

“He was a second father” to Tiny Tim, he lives a happy life, he celebrates Christmas and he is a good citizen.

Tiny Tim was Bob Cratchit's son. Scrooge asked if Tiny Tim would die. The ghost said yes he could. Describe the Cratchit family's toast to Scrooge.

He lived because of the conversion of Scrooge to a more generous path. Hence, the question: What ailed Tiny Tim? Tiny Tim has been the subject of medical detective work to establish his medical condition. Tiny Tim is believed to have had rickets, tuberculosis (TB), polio, and/or cerebral palsy.

What does I am as light as a feather mean? ›

To be 'as light as a feather' means to be very light in weight.