Context

• Dickens

  Extremely empathetic towards the poor and their suffering
• Dickens grew up in poverty and first hand experienced the mistreatment and exploitation of the poor
• The poor were mistreated not because of laziness, but because of the abuse of authoritarian powers (such as the government)
• G.K. Chesterton: 'Dickens was "the spokesman of the poor"'
• A Christmas Carol


  Written by Dickens in response to the Report of Children's Employment
• Dickens was appalled by the Report of Children's Employment and wanted to share this message about the abusive and dehumanising treatment of the poor in his allegorical tale
• The Cratchits and Tiny Tim's death are characters Dickens has constructed to carry this message about the exploitation of the poor. Bob was exploited by Scrooge, his superior in the workforce, whilst Tiny Tim was left to die due to the neglection he faced from society. Dickens debunks the commonly help stereotype that the poor were lazy through the Cratchits. He highlights how compassion towards the plight of the poor will solve poverty, not punishing the poor.
• Victorian society was extremely religious, and its foundations were built on these very beliefs
• Redemption


  Instrumental in Christianity- God provides individuals with redemption when sin has been confessed
• Salvation


  The salvation of mankind from Jesus due to his resurrection- Jesus returned to save mankind from its sins
• The 7 deadly sins (also known as cardinal sins)

  • Pride (ego)
  • Greed (want for materialism or want for more)
  • Lust (strong sexual desire)
  • Envy (jealousy)
  • Gluttony (want for food)
  • Wrath (anger)
  • Sloth (laziness)
• Redemption and salvation is pivotal in Scrooge's transformation. His redemption
• Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) was an influential British economist who had strong beliefs about the impact the poor have in society. Malthus believed that poverty was an inevitable consequence toalso makes Scrooge have hyperbolic (over-exaggerated) views towards Christmas and the poor through Scrooge referencing the poor as the 'surplus population. He shows throughout the novella, the detrimental effet of hiving nienge arthe behisian minded and vilies it through
• Dickens' political diatribe (criticism of the politics at the time) can be seen as an
• The social commentator Dickens condemned the dehumanising laws put in place for the poor such as 'The Poor Law. He first hand experienced the belligerent conditions and aimed to criticise the humanity of such laws. He uses Scrooge's ignorance to replicate the ignorance of the upper class towards the poor: "are there no prisons? Or the union workhouses?". He also uses the allegorical characters of ignorance and want to reinforce the plight of the poor, significantly the plight of the poor that the rich make them subject too