stave 1

• “If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

  This cold, callous remark reveals societal indifference towards poverty and highlights how some view impoverished people as a burden. Dickens criticizes this attitude, urging compassion instead of neglect.
• "Are there no prisons?’...‘Are there no workhouses?’

  These rhetorical questions evoke the Victorian era’s reliance on prisons and workhouses as solutions to poverty. Dickens is criticizing society's neglect and the inhumane institutions that trap the poor, reducing their suffering to mere functions of the system. It underscores that poverty is not just a lack of money but a systemic problem rooted in societal neglect.
• "Are they still in operation?" "They are. I believe they are." "And the treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?" "Both very busy, sir."

  "Oh! I was afraid from what you said at first that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course," said Scrooge.

  This exchange highlights Dickens’s critique of society's failure to address poverty adequately. Scrooge’s concern that these institutions still exist shows his awareness of the social structures that perpetuate poverty. By the end, he resolves to support charitable efforts, which Dickens portrays as essential to alleviating poverty.