When Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol saying someone had no bowels was similar to saying today that someone has no heart. They meant the the person did not show caring or compassion to others. The exact quote from the book is;
Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now.
When the passage appears in the book, Scrooge has just seen Marley's ghost. Although he can...
When Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol saying someone had no bowels was similar to saying today that someone has no heart. They meant the the person did not show caring or compassion to others. The exact quote from the book is;
Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now.
When the passage appears in the book, Scrooge has just seen Marley's ghost. Although he can see that the figure is Jacob Marley, Scrooge can also see through him to the walls behind. Dickens is trying to show a small measure of humor on the part of Scrooge. His partner, Marley, had had it said of him while he was alive that he had no bowels . He was apparently just as mean and miserly as Scrooge. When Scrooge sees the ghost the saying of "no bowels" is literal rather than just figurative as it was when Marley was alive.
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