Many poor people would not have been able to read because education was not yet a right for all and was expensive. Children were employed in physical work such down coal mines, in factories or as chimney sweeps; the novella was then aimed very much at middle to upper classes because Dickens wanted to change their ideas about the poor and about how to live their lives. He was going to write a political essay to change people’s views but instead wrote ‘A Christmas Carol’ because he knew that a story that was emotive would have more impact on his readers.
