How does Charles Dickens try to encourage his readers to alter their moral and social conscience towards the poor through Scrooge's experiences?

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Katie Walters 10MS

How does Charles Dickens try to encourage his readers to alter their moral and social conscience towards the poor through Scrooge’s experiences?

“A Christmas Carol” is about how Ebenezer Scrooge changes from being greedy, selfish and only caring about himself to being charitable and caring towards others, especially the poor. The point of the story is to show how and why Scrooge changes. It is also telling people that if someone like Scrooge can change, then anyone can change. The new Scrooge is meant to be setting an example to the reader. In showing how Scrooge changes, Dickens is also trying to encourage the reader to change their opinions and the way they treat the poor. This is done through the experiences of Scrooge when he is visited by three spirits who show him why he needs to change.

The book is structured into five staves. The first stave set the scene. It tells us what Scrooge is like and includes a visit from Marley’s ghost. The second, third and fourth staves are when the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future come and visit Scrooge to try and make him change. The fifth stave shows how Scrooge has changed and what he does to make amends.

Charles Dickens was born in 1812 in Portsmouth. His childhood was very unhappy due to his father’s debt problems. When his parents were sent to debtors’ prison, Dickens was sent to work in a blacking factory at the young age of twelve. He hated his time working in the factory. In “A Christmas Carol” when he writes about life of the poor he is often referring back to his own experiences of childhood.

After the Industrial Revolution in 1760, life of the Victorians was very different. The revolution caused an increase in population and size of towns. New inventions and communications brought new wealth to some people, but for many others it meant life was hard. In the new factories profit was more important than employees’ welfare. This meant the working conditions were horrible. Children as young as six were employed in mines and factories. Workhouses were feared places where families too poor to survive went. People were separated from their families and forced to wear workhouse clothes. Most children in Victorian times were not educated, only boys who came from a rich family were educated. Victorian people believed in self-help so there were not many rich people willing to help the poor. Many Victorians also had the elitist belief that everyone is an island and you only take care of yourself, so no one believed that they should help the poor.

In “A Christmas Carol”, Scrooge’s background is similar to Dickens’. Although Scrooge is not poor, his background has caused him to have a fear of poverty. He works to gain security against hardship. However, over the years, this has caused him to be mean and stingy with money. Dickens makes the character Scrooge believable because Scrooge is quite typical of businessmen of that time, although he is exaggerated to help Dickens get his point across.  

In the opening chapter of “A Christmas Carol”, Dickens uses descriptive language to present Scrooge’s appearance. For example, the description “ The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice,” tells the reader what Scrooge is really like by emphasising his coldness. The coldness of Scrooge is metaphorical, it is his personality and the way he treats others that are cold and selfish.

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Dickens also uses the contrast with the character Fred (Scrooge’s nephew) to show Scrooge’s personality. For example, when Fred says to Scrooge, “Christmas a humbug, uncle! …  You don't mean that, I am sure?" it shows that he is friendly and cheerful. The exclamation mark emphasises Fred’s surprise that someone thinks Christmas is a “humbug”. However, when Scrooge replies, saying, " What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You're poor enough.” it shows he is selfish, greedy and doesn’t like having fun. The dialogue shows the very different opinions Scrooge and Fred ...

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