Bob Cratchit

• Purpose:

  • remains unnamed for the first stave and is instead referred to as "the Clerk".
  • only identified according to his occupation to highlight how the lower-class didn't have an individual identity and were instead only recognised for their service.
  • illustrates the way in which working class were defined by their positions in the workforce, which is where their value came from.
  • represent the plight of the poor, as he is an immediate source of sympathy in the novella.
• Purpose:

  • when the Ghost of Christmas Present visits the Cratchit household with Scrooge the reader is exposed to a different side of Bob.
  • as a loving father and husband interpreted as idealisation of the lower class.
  • Despite his poor wages and cruel employer he remains grateful and compassionate, celebrating Christmas in a way that the significantly richer Scrooge never could.
• Purpose:

  • depict him more holistically to present the lower class in a different light.
  • Usually in Victorian literature, the working class were depicted as peripheral, unimportant characters.
  • In the works of Dickens he defies these expectations presenting the lower class in a positive light and as multi-faceted characters.
• Context:

  • word 'bob' was used as a slang word for 'shilling', there is greater meaning behind Dickens' choice for Bob Cratchit's name.
  • highlighted when he draws attention to it by the pun "Bob had but fifteen"
  • to serve as a constant reminder of how little Bob earns, or to represent importance and power of money over the lower classes so much so that it can alter life and death.
  • This is seen in the case of Tiny Tim who, without Scrooge's help, would have died.
• Theme of Poverty:

  • plight of the lower class
  • Bob's maltreatment in the workplace is contrasted by his fear towards and dependence on Scrooge.
  • He explores this theme in a sympathetic way towards the poor, challenging many of the prejudices and misconceptions that contemporary readers may have had.
• Poverty

  • Instead of presenting the Cratchits as ungrateful and lazy, he repeatedly references their contentment ("nobody said or thought it was at all a small pudding for a large family")

  • the fact that both Bob and Martha are working. He builds on this by revealing that Bob has a "situation (job) in his eye for Master Peter" too, which ultimately characterises the family as hardworking
  • . • Dickens does this to challenge the misconceptions of his Victorian readers as many would have believed that people lived in poverty because they were lazy.
• Family:

  • The family are described as united as Dickens details how they all joined in with the preparation of dinner - "Mrs Cratchit made the gravy... Master Peter mashed the potatoes"
  • This unity is significant as Dickens had a greater agenda when writing the novella. He intended for it to teach and reform the way Christmas was celebrated.
• Family:

  • Bob is presented as the ideal family figure who valued, loved and respected his family.
  • He appreciates their efforts and worries when one of them is missing.
  • In this way, Dickens introduces the Idea that family should be an essential focus of the festive time.
• Character development significance:

  • Scrooge gets a deeper understanding of the lower classes so does the reader. the supernatural experience is not just an educational experience for Scrooge but also for the reader.
  • They are able to view bob in intimate setting of his family home With regards to finance, Bob ends the novella significantly more well off than at the start, as Scrooge announces he will "raise" his "salary"
  • Bob's character development is dependant on Scrooge to symbolise the power and superiority of the upper class over the poorer members of society