A CHRISTMAS CAROL THEMES
Social Injustice
Scrooge is used in the novella to represent the Victorian rich while the Cratchits represent the
working poor. When the thieving workers div vy up the possessions of the dead Scrooge their
actions are justified as he was a miser and if he had not been they wouldn’t have needed to steal
from him.
Dickens firmly believed that the world he was living in wasn't fair, and that, if that unfairness
wasn't addressed, it would come back and bite humanity. Dickens is expressing some very firm
socialist ideals - he was, arguably, one of the leading voices for socialist ideas at the time he was
writing.
It is true that there was an enormous gap bet ween the rich and poor in Victorian England - and
it's also true that the gap is growing again in the world we live in. That allows some readers to
relate to characters such as the Cratchits who feel they have been done wrong by people like
Scrooge who are the minority owning the majority.
With Scrooge, Dickens creates an iconic capitalist: someone who believes that the money they've
earned is theirs and should remain theirs. The ghosts arrive with the spirit of socialism, and
teach Scrooge the error of his ways.
“Are there no prisons” - Scrooge. Stave 1.
Redemption
‘s olitary as an oyster’
At the start of the novella, Scrooge is described as isolated and miserable.
The simile could represent Scrooge as someone with a hidden pearl inside of him, someone who has
an inner goodness that, if the shell is opened, will be revealed. From the beginning, there is hope
that Scrooge can be redeemed.
‘Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business’
Marley tells Scrooge how wrong his way of life was. He realises now that is it too late, that he
should have been more interested in humankind, not profit.
These declarative simple sentences show the conviction with which Marley speaks. He is certain
in his new knowledge that he should have helped the poor. Marley’s understanding that he has
made the wrong choices foreshadows Scrooge’s transformation; as they were close friends, we
hope that Scrooge will also understand the error of his ways and make changes before he too is
doomed to an eternity of suffering.
‘No, no… oh no… say he will be spared’
Scrooge’s agony over the predicted death of Tiny Tim shows how much he is changing; the
repetition of ‘no’ shows his emotional pain at the thought of the boy’s death.
There is a sharp contrast with his deep concern over a poor boy and the dismissive attitude to the
‘s urplus population’ in Stave 1. Scrooge is learning compassion; he is connecting with humanity
again.
Social Injustice
Scrooge is used in the novella to represent the Victorian rich while the Cratchits represent the
working poor. When the thieving workers div vy up the possessions of the dead Scrooge their
actions are justified as he was a miser and if he had not been they wouldn’t have needed to steal
from him.
Dickens firmly believed that the world he was living in wasn't fair, and that, if that unfairness
wasn't addressed, it would come back and bite humanity. Dickens is expressing some very firm
socialist ideals - he was, arguably, one of the leading voices for socialist ideas at the time he was
writing.
It is true that there was an enormous gap bet ween the rich and poor in Victorian England - and
it's also true that the gap is growing again in the world we live in. That allows some readers to
relate to characters such as the Cratchits who feel they have been done wrong by people like
Scrooge who are the minority owning the majority.
With Scrooge, Dickens creates an iconic capitalist: someone who believes that the money they've
earned is theirs and should remain theirs. The ghosts arrive with the spirit of socialism, and
teach Scrooge the error of his ways.
“Are there no prisons” - Scrooge. Stave 1.
Redemption
‘s olitary as an oyster’
At the start of the novella, Scrooge is described as isolated and miserable.
The simile could represent Scrooge as someone with a hidden pearl inside of him, someone who has
an inner goodness that, if the shell is opened, will be revealed. From the beginning, there is hope
that Scrooge can be redeemed.
‘Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business’
Marley tells Scrooge how wrong his way of life was. He realises now that is it too late, that he
should have been more interested in humankind, not profit.
These declarative simple sentences show the conviction with which Marley speaks. He is certain
in his new knowledge that he should have helped the poor. Marley’s understanding that he has
made the wrong choices foreshadows Scrooge’s transformation; as they were close friends, we
hope that Scrooge will also understand the error of his ways and make changes before he too is
doomed to an eternity of suffering.
‘No, no… oh no… say he will be spared’
Scrooge’s agony over the predicted death of Tiny Tim shows how much he is changing; the
repetition of ‘no’ shows his emotional pain at the thought of the boy’s death.
There is a sharp contrast with his deep concern over a poor boy and the dismissive attitude to the
‘s urplus population’ in Stave 1. Scrooge is learning compassion; he is connecting with humanity
again.
