the cratchits

• emblem of neglected poor - ”if quite convenient sir”/“clerk”

  • Bob’s short exchange of dialogue in Stave 1 represents how the lower classes are silenced and oppressed
  • “if quite convenient sir ”
  • Referred to as “clerk” — lack of name highlights how the poor are stripped of individual identities.
  • Upper class don’t view them as individual beings; rather, as a group of lazy people who contribute little to the economy.
• emblem of neglected poor - “my little child”

  • Pathos and compassion evoked in Stave 4
  • “my little, little child”
  • death is an angelic representation of innocent children — emphasises Bob’s virtuous and compassionate nature.
  • Makes the reader see unjust punishment enforced due to social misconceptions.
  • Repeated adjective “little” connotes fragility and innocence.
  • Children fall victim to cyclicality of poverty.
  • Without social change, unjust issues will continue.
  • Provides a solution to breaking unrelenting cycle of poverty through development of a collective social conscience.
  • Developed by Scrooge when he becomes a “second father” — if society can unite and alleviate this neglection and suffering of the poor.
• symbol of gratitude - mrs cratchit

  • dickens makes poverty synonymous with gratitude through the cratchits
  • mrs cratchit is “dressed out but poorly in a twice turned down but brave in ribbons“
  • alliteration of “twice turned gown” emphasises their poverty
  • not able to afford new clothes however it is a “gown” that suggests she is admirably able to make the best out of little
  • festivity of “ribbons” highlights how the foundations of the cratchits - alike to a “twice turned dress” may be impoverished however celebrate and glorify the little they have
  • symbolised by the ribbons which display gratitude and love for one another
• symbol of gratitude - goose

  • immense gratitude highlighted through colloquial phrase
  • “such a bustle ensued that you might have though a goose was the rarest of all birds; a feathered phenomenon”
  • “bustle“ creates an image of elation and commotion emphasising how the cratchits are overjoyed with how blessed they are to eat this “feathered phenomenon“
  • superlative ”rarest” serves as irony as within victorian period it was a cheap bird
  • compounds gratitude as they celebrate a small amount
  • antithesis to scrooge who’s ungrateful for abundance
  • poor are blindly grateful to those who exploit them
  • key indictment of political diatribe
  • exposed rich propagate poverty by preserving wealth
  • cratchits are epitome of moralistic and virtuous members of society
  • abundant lifestyle doesn’t come from materialism but unity
• motif of child victimisation

  • Innocence of children was typical trope in Dicken’s literature.
  • Juxtaposes prior portrayal where children are sinners due to not finding god.
  • critic Laura Berry says typically Victorian society children evolved into victims of corrupt society .
  • tiny tim characterises victimisation to cyclical structure of poverty
  • raises questions to wether his death would be so imminent if he had access to health care
  • child neglecting is a by product of malthusian views
  • scrooge demand to ”decrease the surplus population”
  • the actuality is these demands means the surplus population will be decreased at the expense of innocent life
  • tiny tim’s vulnerable depiction is exacerbated through fragile imagery
  • “but he was very light to carry”