In stave one Charles Dickens constructs humour to ridicule the wealthy using two characters from the novel-Scrooge and the Mayor. Dickens uses these two characters to build up two different lifestyles of the rich. Scrooge is selfish; “it’s enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other peoples.” this shows the first sort of rich being who is selfish and uncaring. The second type is of course the Mayor, who isn’t that bothered about charity but is really interested in decorating his house-telling “his fifty cooks and butlers to keep Christmas as a Lord Mayor’s household should”. This shows that both Scrooge and the Mayor are both self-centred and don’t care about the true meaning of Christmas- to pity on the poor and open up your hearts to be charitable to everyone. this creates an ironic effect. Furthermore, both Scrooge and the mayor have a duty towards society Scrooge’s is to be charitable and the Mayors is to be, charitable, and a lot of other Duties- such as setting up shelters. None of those two characters are fulfilling their duty. and Dickens creates this kind of humour sp that we as the readers can realise the behaviour of the rich. He uses these two characters to contrast the rich together. This results in us (the readers, both modern and Victorian) despising the rich who ignore the poor.
Throughout the whole story Dickens uses specific language in ‘A Christmas carol’ to create atmosphere. He wants us as the readers to realise how the poor people live throughout their daily life: ‘the ways were foul and narrow; the shops and houses wretched; the people half naked, drunken, slipshod, ugly.’ Through this extract, Dickens wants us to sense that although there may be rich people in the Victorian times there are still poor people lurking around in ill-reputed places in England. We get the image that certain areas in London are labelled as places where the poor reside and the conditions of those particular places are always expected to be ’foul’ and ‘ugly‘. He personifies the houses calling them ‘wretched’ and describes the public living there in the worst possible way ‘slipshod, ugly’ through this extract he wants the readers to know what the conditions of the poor are and how they have to spend their lives compared to the rich who are stingy, selfish and horribly egotistical. Because Dickens also describes the people living there as ’drunken’ and ’slipshod’ we also get the image that the people living in these places are also just as poor as the conditions of those locations. These extracts make a huge effect upon us as the readers because we realise how appalling the conditions of the poor were in the Victorian times. We understand that there are certain places labelled in the Victorian society where underprivileged people reside, and we should take that into account-even in the modern world, so that the poor presently aren’t treated in any way at all similar to how they were treated in the Victorian era..
During the course of this book Dickens describes the conditions of the poor in very detail and we, as the readers, find out about poor in society. In stave one Charles Dickens introduces to us what the unfortunate had to do for a living.
“plenty of prisons…and the work houses…the treadmill and the poor law are in full vigour?”
To provide food and shelter for themselves the underprivileged had to work in work houses. These were factories where the deprived (often the young, old or crippled) worked as a last resort to survive. The conditions in the workhouses were so awful that the poor thought that they might as well die than work there. This is stated in A Christmas Carol when a character (referred to as the ‘gentleman’) is trying to make Scrooge give a donation to the poor:
“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.” This quote clearly demonstrates how awful the conditions of the work houses were. Since local landowners and other people donated to the workhouses they threatened to keep the conditions of the working houses ruthless otherwise they would cease to give the money to the ‘undeserving poor’. During the time there, workers were made to complete hard and tedious tasks for hours on end with only two breaks. In addition to this underprivileged people who were in debt were sent to Debt prisons where the treadmill was used as a form of punishment. This punishment was when prisoners had to grind grains, mill flour and power objects such as cranes etc. However these conditions wouldn’t have been forced upon the poor if the poor law wasn’t passed. The poor law was a law passed for the benefit of the deprived so that they could live in society with no trouble, but in fact it ended up with the poor in a disastrous state hoping that they would rather die than use the facilities the poor law provided:
“I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned: they cost enough: and those who are badly off must go there.” This quote helps to support the idea that the rich could not be bothered to donate to the poor during the merriest and religious time of the year (Christmas) but instead they helped to support the establishments which pained the poor. This also shows that the rich were very ignorant of the conditions of the unfortunate, and thought that the organizations that aggrieved the poor were actually something that was for the benefit of the poor, which the upper class thought they took for granted. In a Christmas carol the poor are represented by Bob Cratchit and his family ‘ Bob had but fifteen “Bob” a-week himself; he pocketed on Saturdays. This citation shows that Bob is very poor. In addition to this the young children of the Cratchit family also had to work very hard, “We’d a deal of work to finish up last night…and had to clear away this morning.” This shows that because Bob Cratchit and his family are very poor, the younger members of his family had to work very hard, even during the night till the morning, therefore Dickens has proved to us that the poor were far from lazy, whereas the rich were more lazy than the poor since they didn’t have to work too hard to the extent that they believed they would rather die.
Furthermore, when Scrooge and the Christmas spirit visit a poor district in London we are made to feel sympathetic towards the underprivileged. “Alleys and archways like so many cesspools, disgorged their offences of smell, and dirt, and life, upon the straggling streets; and the whole quarter reeked with crime, with filth and misery.” This tells us that the poor have to live in small filthy places where it was filled with disease and ‘misery’. This quote also tells us that some places in Victorian London were very crowded with shops and houses built in alleyways, also because London was so overcrowded their had been such a rise in crime, that it actually ‘reeked’ with felony. This also shows that London had become overcrowded because of the increase of job demands due to the industrial revolution.
It additionally illustrates to us that the poor have no other means of survival but to participate with crime. The poor and their contribution with crime is even more expressed when they raid Scrooge’s corpse in attempt to receive some money out of it. “He frightened everyone away from him when he was alive, to profit us when he was dead!” This quote shows that the poor will not stop at anything to get hold of money, even if it means stripping a dead man of his clothes. The poor say they are doing the right thing because if they didn’t strip Scrooge of his belongings then all the valuables would go to waste, which may not hold too much value with Scrooge but the money which would make would be a benefit to their extremely low wages. This makes us sympathise with the poor since it makes us think of how they have to put a stone on their heart and do deeds that are gruesome, inhumane and undignified. When scrooge was alive he had a duty towards the poor as did other people from the upper class to be charitable towards them and care for them. Scrooge ignored that duty even during Christmas, therefore the poor ignored him being a human and thought he didn’t deserve their love, gratitude, respect or kind word. After Scrooge had died and comes forwards to this era in the future he doesn’t blame the poor of what they had done to his body but sympathises that they had to do such merciless things because he knew that they were good at heart. However if this had happened when he was still bitter and merciless himself then he would think that the poor was even more lazy and ’idle’ and undeserving.
Also, Scrooge’s approach regarding the underprivileged at the start of the novel is very negative as he describes them as ’idle’ and follows the Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest that people who try hard can be honoured whereas people who don’t try hard won’t be honoured. “It’s not my business. It’s enough for a man to understand his own business and not interfere with other people’s” This quote shows how the upper class/middle class of the 1840’s society are selfish and care for only themselves, in particular Scrooge is the selfish human here and will not stop to help the less fortunate. However, although this is Scrooge’s attitude towards the poor a few people with similar social status’s like him or with a middle class social status don’t behave like him. “A few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. We chose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when want is keenly felt, and abundance rejoices.” From this quote it is clearly portrayed that not all characters in the short novel are as egocentric as Scrooge is; they spend their time, during Christmas to raise money for the poor. Originally this quote was told to Scrooge for money to bestow upon the poor but he replied by saying that he would not give. In addition to this Scrooge’s nephew also does not think like Scrooge and is happy to bestow whatever food, money and shelter etc to the poor. “Kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time… when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow- passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on others journeys.” This shows that although Scrooge is a cold-hearted, self-centred human being, others in the same social status as Scrooge do not think like him since they are happy to bequeath anything they can to the poor.
“I don’t make merry myself at Christmas, and I can’t afford to make idle people merry.” From this quote it is obviously depicted by Scrooge himself that he despises the poor so much that even giving a tiny portion of his wealth to them would cause him pain because he thinks that money should not be wasted on the poor. Scrooge thinks that the poor of the Victorian society don’t deserve charity because they haven’t worked hard enough in their life to reach a high position.
During staves 3 and 4 it is shown that although the poor cannot be compared with the amount of wealth Scrooge has, their moral richness is far more larger than Scrooge’s wealth. “Everybody had something to say about it, but nobody said or thought it was at all a small pudding for a large family. It would have been flat heresy to do so. Any Cratchit would have blushed to hint at such a thing.” this quotation shows how the Cratchit family do not want to hurt each others feelings and have a sense of what is right and in this case what is right to say and what is not. Furthermore the Cratchit family are very religious because they think saying anything bad about themselves is religiously bad and therefore avoid saying anything offensive. This shows their moral richness, and that although they are poor they have more of a sense of moral rightness than rich people. In addition to this the poor have a great commitment to their family; ‘ “Martha, who was a poor apprentice at a milliners, then told them what kind of work she had to do, and how many hours she worked at a stretch, and how she meant to lie a-bed tomorrow morning for a good rest; tomorrow being a holiday she passed at home.”, this shows that the poor have more of a commitment to their family, therefore love their family very much. Also this quote shows that the disadvantaged do not take their job for granted like people from the upper class do. Mrs Cratchit cares a lot for her family as she is constantly worrying whether her family will be able to live happily in their unfortunate conditions: “Mrs Cratchit left the room alone-too nervous to bear witnesses-to take the pudding up, and bring it in…suppose it should not be enough!” This citation shows that Mrs Cratchit cares a lot for her family, and though they are living in intolerable circumstances she still tries to make the best out of the things that are available to her family. Another extract that supports this matter is this: “Cratchit’s wife, dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap and make a goodly show for six pence.” This shows that though the Cratchit family are poor Mrs Cratchit does try and make herself as much as presentable to society as possible, even if it is cheaply. All of this helps to sustain the idea that although the Cratchit’s are poor, they still try and make the most of their situations and if they have got money, even a little, then they will try and make the most of it by spending it for their family. This contrasts with Scrooge who doesn’t want to spend his money, even though he’s got the cash. “Martha didn’t like to see him disappointed, if it were only a joke; so she came out prematurely from the closet door, and ran into his arms.” this quotation definitely shows that the Cratchit family love each other very much and the way Charles Dickens writes about this shows the love that Martha and her father share even though they are living in poor conditions. This contrasts with the absence of love and gratitude in the rich who do not care about the poor.
Furthermore when the Christmas spirit takes Scrooge to show his future, Scrooge’s death and Tiny Tim’s death make a huge contrast because when Scrooge had died nobody was aware of it, apart from the paupers who had come to take his fine belongings. However, when Tiny Tim had died his whole entire family was near him and had mourned for him. This makes a huge contrast because it shows that Scrooge had no one to take care of him whilst he was on his death bed with rats thriving on his body, whereas Tiny Tim had his whole family with him when he died. It shows that though Scrooge is very rich he didn’t have anyone for comfort because of his egotistical character, whereas Tiny Tim was a good person even though he was poor. It makes a contrast because it shows that though Scrooge is filthy rich he cannot buy the love the Cratchits have for each other.
Throughout the whole novel Dickens exemplifies, through different characters, what the attitude towards the poor should be like. In stave 1 Marley gives an advice to Scrooge towards the poor advising him to care for them. “Mankind was my business.” This quote shows that Marley is trying to tell Scrooge that one individual is responsible for every individual in society and if this warning is ignored, because they are blinded by ignorance and want, then that person will suffer an afterlife similar to Marley’s: “I wear the chain I forged in life.” Marley is suffering the consequences of being like Scrooge now in his afterlife.
Moreover the Christmas spirit shows Scrooge’s lonely death when they travel to the future and shows him that he is dead on his bed. “a gray-haired rascal, nearly seventy years of age” the author is trying to teach scrooge a lesson that if he continues to be heartless towards the poor then nobody would care for him and during his death he would be left alone like the Christmas spirit was showing him presently. Furthermore, towards the end of the novel the ghost tries to make Scrooge feel guilty for what he had done to underprivileged in the past. The phantom tries to show Scrooge how because of him the poor are living in unbearable conditions, but are still grateful for everything they have. The ghost does receive Scrooge’s attention to how he is responsible for the things he had done to the poor: ‘ “Spirit!” said Scrooge, “Show me no more! Conduct me home. Why do you delight to torture?”’ This extract shows that Scrooge is feeling culpable for the things he had done to the unfortunate; before he looked at them with scorn and disgust but now he considers watching the poor and the ghosts of his past in agony, deeming it as torture for himself.
This may be a jovial, comic ghost story, but it is also a very serious description of Victorian social attitudes towards society. Charles Dickens makes it very clear of the results of disregarding his caution towards the underprivileged: “Most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is doom unless the writing be erased.” From this quote you can see evidently that Charles Dickens is trying to send a message to us, the readers of the novel, that if we as human beings continue to ignore the poor then ‘doom’ will be written in our fate. The message that Charles Dickens is trying to send us through this book is that the rich and middle class should not ignore the poor or they will suffer greatly for their actions in their afterlife. This message is relevant in today’s society that does not believe in an afterlife. This is because although there are people drifting away from the religious side of life there are still religious people who exist in society who believe in these sort of messages that there should not be any sort of inequality in society-both status wise and race wise. Also though there may be non-religious people or atheists in society who don’t really abide by rules and regulations of a religion, but, they still have morals and a sense of feeling of how they should treat the poor. Therefore whether you look at it in a religious point of view or a non-religious point of view you will still find that such morals and messages are still significant in today’s world.
