Question

In this excerpt from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, what does Scrooge's reflection reveal about his character?

And now Scrooge looked on more attentively than ever, when the master of the house, having his daughter leaning fondly on him, sat down with her and her mother at his own fireside; and when he thought that such another creature, quite as graceful and as full of promise, might have called him father, and been a spring-time in the haggard winter of his life, his sight grew very dim indeed.

A.
Scrooge realizes that he has a desire to celebrate Christmas.
B.
Scrooge realizes that he wants someone to care for him.
C.
Scrooge realizes that he still loves his former fiancée, Belle.
D.
Scrooge realizes that he would have liked to have a family.
E.
Scrooge realizes that he has lost a piece of his old self.

Answer 1

The answer is D.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

I want to say F. He realizes that what he has worked so hard to get was worthless in comparison to what the man by the fireside had with his wife and daughter.

So much down the ladder from that is D, which I'm going to pick.

Discussion

E: His old self?? Not at all. His old self would have scoffed at such sentimental humbug.

C: I guess there is something to be said about Belle, but one of the ghosts takes him to see Belle and she is happy in her work, or that's what the ghost shows Scrooge. I can't use that as a reason, because you don't know that within the boundaries of the question. His eyes grew dim because he realizes that what the man by the fire had, Scrooge threw away. Now he regrets it. Belle is not what he misses. Family closeness is what he misses.

B: There is no mention of that at all. In fact what he really wants is to care for someone. The previous question that sent me here talks about Business. Marley is telling him what he needs to know: service to humanity and kindness towards those who need it. The answer is not B.

A: Christmas is not mentioned here at all. Multiple Choice questions are very sticky about that.