In A Christmas Carol Dickens uses the theme of poverty for the Cratchit family to show how most poor lives lived, on the other hand, the rich lived happily in Victorian Society.
In A Christmas Carol stave 1 Scrooge does not lots of what the Cratchits are going through by shows his ignorance to Bob by asking for a day off. This is seen in the quote 'A poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty-fifth of December' The adjective 'poor' is Scrooge lacking knowledge of what his apprentice is going through because he might not know that well but indeed Bob and his family are poor and are struggling. This highlights Malthus's theory of the poor being excessive and taking everything that belongs to the deserving, what the deserving need to survive. Also, further on in the extract the Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge to Bob's house. This is seen in the phrase' Wonderful pudding!' This straight away implies that they are grateful for what they have and are keen on sharing it despite it being a 'small pudding' for a large family. The Cratchit family all say how wonderful it is and don't complain that they wanted more. This implies that this has been happening in the past so maybe they every Christmas get a small pudding. The noun 'family' means unity, love, and hope between ones of the same blood or even different. This is the opposite of Scrooge as when his only family Fred his nephew appears, he denies him by saying 'Bah Humbug' The modern readers would probably be surprised because they might be able to get a big pudding for a family that is big but they never knew how it has been like in the Victorian Era. However, the readers at the time this was written might have a lot of fixed mindset and believe in what Malthus is telling them so they would blame the Cratchits that it is their fault they have ended up there. This links to what Malthus is trying to say because he would have happily given away the small pudding to a wealthy family. After all, in his eyes, they aren't the excess group of people. This symbolizes how happiness is with family because Cratchits have proven to be happy even if they are undeserving to the rich. Dickens wants everyone to be happy with what they have and not ask for more because you might not always get what you want in life.
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In the extract, you can see when the Ghost of Christmas Presents takes him to the Cratchits family, Bob even do he is ignored by Scrooge in Stave 1 is still raising a toast. This is seen in the quote' I'll give you Mr. Scrooge, the founder of the Feast' The noun 'founder' implies to the target audience that Bob is the only one who works within the family. This means all the money for their feast was from Scrooge. In the Victorian era, it would have been quite normal to have one working parent only because there were not enough jobs for everyone. Bob symbolizes faith in his employer whilst Scrooge being the wealthier one doesn't even know anything about Bob. Scrooge as being the richer one is judgemental. Another quote to prove this is from Mrs Cratchit, Bob's wife saying 'I wish I had him here. I'd give him a piece of my mind to feast upon. The verb 'give' denotes love, care, and happiness but the way Mrs Cratchit phrased it implies that she is not happy or caring or loving to Mr Scrooge because of what little he has done for them. Same with the noun 'feast' represents hope but Mrs Cratchit is so disappointed in him that she lost all hope for him so she wants him to have the worst life ever. This symbolises what hate can do because during Christmas you are supposed to wish the best upon everyone in stave 1 Fred said to his uncle 'A merry Christmas Uncle, may god save you' The adjective 'merry' tells you how you have to feel. In the modern time in which this was written, readers would feel sympathy not for Scrooge because he is getting blamed but for the Cratchit family because of how the events have ruined and still ruining their lives. Dickens may have written like this because when his father went to prison that affected his life because he had to go to a workhouse where when the gentlemen came Scrooge told them to send the poor there. Dickens is linking his own life with Bob's family on how mistreated they were. This links to the time it was written during the Industrial Revolution because there was a lack of homes, food, and jobs.
Dickens has written to show how the poor are treated by the wealthy and that things must change to have a better life. This is seen at the end of the novella in stave 5 when Scrooge becomes better, goes to church, gives to charity and last of all raises Bob Cratchits salary, what he needed most of all, this is seen in the quote 'And therefore I am going to raise your salary' Scrooge has shown improvement and understanding of what poor go through and he wants others to see what he sees and think the same.
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A Christmas Carol’ Theme Essay.
(2024, February 29). Edubirdie. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://edubirdie.com/examples/a-christmas-carol-theme-essay/
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A Christmas Carol’ Theme Essay [Internet]. Edubirdie.
2024 Feb 29 [cited 2024 Dec 22].
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