Starting with this extract, how does Dickens present Scrooge as an outsider to society?

Dickens presents Scrooge as an outsider in this extract by the way he is described. He uses pathetic fallacy in the first paragraph to represent how Scrooge is ‘colder’ than anything weather can throw at him: ‘heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet’. The listing of four types of rough weather intensifies the description of Scrooge being naturally isolated and callous. Dickens then goes on to give examples of normal social behaviour of which Scrooge does not conform too to demonstrate that Scrooge is an outsider of society. He uses examples of direct address: ‘My dear Scrooge, how are you?’ to highlight how unusual it would be for anyone to address Scrooge like this. This is then summarised by stating that Scrooge does not want to be sociable and in fact likes the isolation: ‘it was the very thing he liked’.

It is only when the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge his lonely, cold funeral that Scrooge finally realises that his solitude and isolation from society will lead to nothing but misery. He has been shown multiple examples of warmth and happiness of social people such as the Cratchitts, and also been reminded of how happy he used to be as a member of society, before greed and loneliness made him ‘cold’.