Queen Victoria ascended to the British throne twenty seven days after her eighteenth birthday in 1837 and brought about an age in English history known as the Victorian Era. Sir Arthur Helps, a friend of Charles Dickens once told Queen Victoria that Charles Dickens would ultimately “hereafter be closely associated with the Victorian era.” (The World of Charles Dickens 105) Charles Dickens does not disappoint, indeed, as he has written many classics such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and several other Christmas books which take place during the Victorian Era. In particular, A Christmas Carol is a huge success and is still read by many families all over the world. While many readers will follow Scrooge’s change in character, not many will truly understand Dickens’ ulterior motive behind the novel. Charles Dickens’s yuletide story, A Christmas Carol, is a reaction to the social and economic issues of the Victoria Era, in particular, the poor working conditions of Women and Children in nineteenth-century England. Charles Dickens was shocked by the British Government’s report on the working conditions of women and children published in 1843.
These reports indicate that women and children are performing dangerous tasks for very little pay. Charles Dickens responds to this report by writing a letter to one of the commissioners who wrote the report, Dr. Thomas Southwood Smith. “I am so perfectly stricken down by the blue book you have sent me, that I think (as soon as I shall have done my month’s work) of writing, and bringing out, a very cheap pamphlet, called ‘An appeal to the People of England, on behalf of the Poor Man’s Child,” Dickens stated. “I am not at liberty to explain them further, just now; but rest assured that when you know them, and see what I do, and where, and how, you will certainly feel that a Sledge-Hammer has come down with twenty times the force-twenty thousand times the force – I could exert by following out my first idea.” (The Lives and Times of Ebenezer Scrooge 43) By the end of 1843, this “Sledge-Hammer” is delivered by the three spirits of Christmas not in the form of a pamphlet, but in the form of a classic Christmas story: A Christmas Carol. In the second stave portrayed by the spirit of Christmas past, Charles Dickens sheds light on some of the social and economic problems of Victorian England and gives us the first glimpse of his main concern: the poor living and working conditions of women and children in the era.
The Essay on About Dickens Charles John Eight
Many have heard of Charles Dickens and his famous stories but what many don't know is the influence and reason behind his work. How Charles Dickens told his stories and how he gave form to the many characters that thousands of readers everywhere came to enjoy is the subject of this paper. Born on February 7, 1812, in the southwestern English town of Land port in Portsea, Charles John Huffman ...
As Scrooge matures into a young adult in the story, he becomes apprenticed to Mr. Fezziwig. Although it is not mentioned in the novel, it is safe to assume that Scrooge became an apprentice for the same reason that made Dickens an apprentice in his early days: their family’s need for money. Through this particular detail in the novel, Dickens expresses the difficult financial circumstances that middle-class families face during the Victorian Era. As an introduction to the deprived working conditions of women and children, Dickens uses Scrooge’s greed and his break up with Belle as a symbol.
Scrooge, being the symbol of industrialists in the Victorian Age, neglects Belle of love because of his obsession with money. The arrogance of the industrialists is shown in the following passage where Scrooge said, “! K there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the pursuit of wealth!” (Dickens 45) Likewise, Belle reveals the same impression of the industrialists when she said a golden Idol has displaced Scrooge. (45) As a result, Belle, the symbol of the women and children working for these industrialists, leaves him. Here, Dickens foreshadows that strikes and protests will occur if these conditions are not improved. In the next stave, Dickens further expands and explores these poor working conditions through the spirit of Christmas present. The spirit of Christmas present, in stave three, takes Scrooge for a visit to the Cratchit family household where symbols of these poor working conditions are apparent.
The Essay on Children raised with Wealthy Families versus Children raised in Poor Families
Children who are brought up in families that do not have large amounts of money are better prepared to deal with the problems of adult life than children brought up by wealthy parents. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion? Families have different financial levels and some people think that this variety of the family budgets have an impact on children skills. I believe that ...
Bob Cratchit, an employee of Scrooge, earns 15 shillings a week and works everyday except Christmas day itself; however, Scrooge does not show any sympathy towards Bob’s need to support his family nor does he show any compassion towards Bob’s need to be with his family during the holiday season. In a conversation between Bob and Scrooge, Scrooge’s harshness and cold-heartedness is shown when they exchanged these words: “You ” ll want all day to-morrow, I suppose?” said Scrooge. “If quite convenient, sir.”It’s not convenient,” said Scrooge, “and it’s not fair. If I was to stop half-a-crown for it, you’d think yourself ill used, I’ll be bound?” The clerk smiled faintly. “And yet,” said Scrooge, “you don’t think me ill used, when I pay a day’s wages for no work.” (Dickens 15) Similarly, employers of women and children of the day treat their workers the way Scrooge treated Bob. These women and children are paid minimal wages for endless labour.
These industrialists are only concerned with maximizing their profits like Scrooge, and they are not concerned whatsoever with the workers’ needs and interests. As a result, these women and children often become weak and contract illnesses and injuries because of their working environment. In due course, the employers suffer from the loss of their workers. Another important symbol in the Cratchit family would be Tiny Tim. Tiny Tim is the youngest member of the Cratchit family and he is a cripple. His disability is significant because it represents the workers who are injured on the job.
Paul Davis, a Dickensian critic, agrees; he said, “Tim’s crippled condition is similar to the injuries sustained by factory children, but Dickens blames those who allow ignorance and want to persist for the maimed children, not the spinning and weaving machines.” (The World 67) Many of these workers in the Victorian Age encounter accidents on the job because there was a lack of proper safety precautions in the workplace. By developing sympathy around Tiny Tim’s character, Dickens tries to get society to take action against the risks and hazards in the factories and mines. Building on the sympathy established by Tiny Tim, Dickens reveals the effects of the prolongation of the deprived working conditions for women and children. Delivering the final blow with the “Sledge-Hammer”, Charles Dickens reveals the long term consequences of the deprived working conditions of women and children with the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come. Two significant events occur in stave four: the death of Tiny Tim and the death of Scrooge. Tiny Tim, as stated above, is a symbol of disabled child workers.
The Essay on Review of A Child In Time by Ian McEwan
Although most remembered for his earlier work, The Cement Garden, McEwan's more recent work of fiction, A Child In Time, offers a very different perspective into the theme of childhood - this time an adult's understanding of a juvenile world. The novel has been highly critically acclaimed since its first publication, and despite its disjointed prose style and at times ambiguous thread of McEwan's ...
His death not only signifies the death of children working in bad conditions but also the whole child population in general. Clearly, children are the imminent foundation of the society and the loss of children leads directly into a dysfunctional society in the future. Dickens represents this with the death of Scrooge. The ignorant and unsympathetic society represented by Scrooge collapses with his death.
Although the Victorian society did not collapse, but other examples in history do exist. In the two World Wars, the world lost many of its young men. Consequently, decades after the war, there was a lack of leadership in society. The lack of leadership led to a dysfunctional society as shown by the lack of civil rights and freedom after the Second World War. “Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,” said Scrooge. “But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change.
Say it is thus with what you show me!” (Dickens 97) These were Scrooge’s final words before the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come revealed Scrooge’s name on the tombstone. These lines are the essence of Dickens’s “Sledge-Hammer”: an ignorant society which does take responsibility of their future’s well being will eventually collapse. “At the heart of the Carol Dickens had an economic message: a society in which the masters are only concerned with the bottom line and take no responsibility for the general welfare is a death-dealing society.” (Davis, The World 67) As harsh as this economic message may be, Christmas stories are Christmas stories, and this yuletide fable does not break away from the merry ending associated with all Christmas tales. Scrooge does not die in the end; neither does Tiny Tim. Their lives are spared by Scrooge’s change in character from selfish and ignorant to charitable and caring.
The Essay on Charles Dickens Christmas Carol One
Charles Dickens Growing up in the Victorian period, Christmas didn't have too much of an influence on society, particularly in England, where Dickens' grew up. This could be why one might possibly find it odd that this man is known so well for his interest in Christmas, and his many stories that reflect that interest. Charles Dickens' has forever changed the lives of people everywhere by the ...
In a sense, this perfect finale serves a purpose of reminding readers how Christmas should be and in general, how society should be. An ideal society is a society that progresses with its people in mind and no part of the society is sacrificed for the benefit of another. And so, as Dickens’ critical message for society is delivered, “God bless Us, Every One!” (Dickens 107).
