How Has a Sense of Tension Been Created?

Within this extract of ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens there is a lot of tension built up created by imagery and symbolism. He made the tension quite dramatic as he built up a very dark and gloomy atmosphere. He mentioned it was “such a bitter night”, the mention of the dark and cold weather outside helps add to tension as it contributes to a sinister environment. The imagery Dickens used to describe the weather paints a clear picture of what it looks like making the reader feel more immersed in the novel, adding to the tension you feel reading the novel. It was also said that he heard a noise from the bell above him and “and he looked, he saw this bell begin to swing” as if there was a ghost in the room moving the bell trying to send him a message. I believe that the bell is symbolic to the message that is trying to be sent to him. It was mentioned that it was a church bell, so I believe that it is a symbol of Scrooge alway being watched over. This message was being sent to Scrooge so he knows that he is always being watched by God and he can see all of the terrible things he is doing and how his attitude towards spirit is non-existent. Dickens also added that the ringing only “lasted half a minute, or a minute, but it seemed an hour.” He added this to make the reader feel uneasy and add further tension as the bell seemed like it was ringing forever. The build up of tension as if the bell is ringing for hours makes Scrooge and the readers wonder what will happen next; what is causing it to ring; and how much longer will it last. Making the reader and Scrooge think the same thingallows the reader to feel closer to what is happening, causing much more tension for the reader.