Society Response to Poverty + Impact

• Key Context

  The Poor Law was the creation of the Workhouse – that anyone not in work/ on the streets could go to the work house but they would be treated terribly, worked very hard, fed very little and live in horrible conditions separated from their family – as it was supposed to be a deterrent. There was a lack of understanding about what caused poverty – people believed the poor were lazy and they didn’t want to sacrifice their own wealth to help the poor.
• At first, Scrooge only cares about himself and is emblematic of the rich in Victorian society. He believes taxes pay for prisons and workhouses and he shouldn’t be expected to support people beyond that. He exploits Bob Cratchit – paying him a low wage and making him work in freezing conditions. Scrooge is afraid of being poor himself as he tells Belle – which has made him selfish towards those in need.Dickens uses the Cratchit’s to show what living in poverty can be like. They are deliberately cheerful, grateful and hardworking to discredit the view of the poor as lazy. However the seedier side of poverty is also shown in Joe’s shop to show the horrible conditions of 19th Century London.