Minor Characters

• Fanny and Scrooge


  • Fanny's character is used to humanise Scrooge and reveal his past
  • She is the only source of love in his life
  • Reminds Scrooge of a time when he was affectionate and carefree
• Symbolic


  Representing the issues that plague mankind
• Children


  Portrayed as they suffer the most from society's issues
• Monsters


  Their existence is dangerous to society
• Scrooge


  A victim of ignorance as he willingly ignored the plight of the working class
• Scrooge


  A victim of want, as the reason he spent his life so focused on money was because of his fear of poverty
• Mrs Cratchit: '"Your father when he comes home, for the world." She said in a "steady, cheerful voice, that only faltered once"'
• Mrs Cratchit's character

  • Strength despite her sadness
  • Keeps her composure in front of Bob
• Dickens highlights the true sadness of the situation following Tiny Tim's death by outlining that Mrs Cratchit's voice "faltered"
• Overarching narrative


  The Cratchit family being an idealised representation of the poor
• Qualities of the Cratchit family

  • Strength
  • Compassion
  • Love
• Martha Cratchit is Bob Cratchit's eldest child
• Martha had a great deal of "work to finish up" the night before and had to "clear away" in the morning
• Martha's hard-working characterisation


  Challenges Scrooge's misconception that the poor in society are "idle"
• Some readers may feel sympathy for Martha's character, particularly after she reveals that she needs a "good long rest"
• The novella aims to

  Educate readers about the plight of the poor and instigate social change
• Martha hid when Bob Cratchit came home but ran out early as she "didn't like to see him disappointed"
• This presents Martha as


  Playful yet compassionate
• Through Martha, Dickens is able to challenge the Malthusian perspective which dismisses the lower class as the "surplus population"
• Individualism


  A social outlook which emphasises the importance of each person
• Dickens informs the reader that Martha is a "poor apprentice at a milliner's"
• Milineries

  Places which made and sold hats, one of the few places which would hire women in 1843, but also one of the worst with dirty, unsafe conditions and cruel supervisors
• Women working in milineries were often underpaid and forced to turn to prostitution in order to survive, and were assigned the same low social status as prostitutes
• Dickens chose to have Martha apprentice at a milliner's but still present her positively, as he is trying to challenge widespread prejudice against the poor
• When Peter Cratchit is first introduced, he is described as wearing his father's shirt "in honour of the day"
• The narrator notes that the collar was "monstrous"


  Likely to cause the reader to pity Peter's character
• Peter "rejoiced" irrespective of the oversized clothes, as he was happy to be so "gallantly attired"
• Dickens creates a sympathetic portrayal of Peter


  To help the reader understand the complexity of the challenges which arise from poverty
• Dickens writes that Peter "mashed the potatoes with incredible vigour"
• This presents Peter as

  Energetic and spirited
• When Bob reveals that he has a "situation in his eye for Master Peter", Dickens adopts a light-hearted and humorous commentary
• The two younger Cratchits "laughed tremendously" while Peter "looked thoughtfully" at the fire, as if he was contemplating which "investments he would favour"
• This tone further develops Peter's characterisation

  Comical personality
• Dickens uses Peter's character

  To make the reader sympathise with the Cratchits due to their deprivation, while also admiring their spirit and character
• Old Joe is introduced in Stave Four as a pawnbroker who owns a shop in a "foul" area of the town
• Dickens uses a harsh and blunt tone


  To heighten the immorality that occurs in Old Joe's shop
• Dickens uses the setting


  To further the immoral and perverse tone of the stave
• Dickens describes the people in Old Joe's shop as "half-naked, drunken, slipshod, ugly"
• This asyndetic listing


  Makes the adjectives appear relentless and the narration seem unforgiving
• Dickens describes the "whole quarter" as a place which "reeked with crime, with filth, and misery"