Dickens’ purpose

• Not only was Dickens a victim of poverty, but he was also a journalist, so felt he had to inform people about the social issues of London
• Targeted the novella at the upper class members of London. Novella includes humour and is meant to be amusing in order to spread his message that the upper class needed to be more charitable and aware of poverty and for this message to be acknowledged and listened to by the reader.
• Uses Scrooge’s views in Stave 1, to exemplify the Selfish, ignorant beliefs of the upper in Victorian Society.

  Dickens criticises the social hierarchy in this allegorical novella
• Purposely made the novella light hearted and engaging and released for Christmas in order for many people to buy, read and listen to the messages in the novel
• Dickens tries to underline that education is a solution to the issues of society . Within the narrative, even Scrooge himself goes through a transformation and is educated on his ignorance and apathetic views towards the poor, and in some ways reflecting a student who is taught a valuable lesson by the spirits. This allows him to change and reverse his bad fortune, highlighting the true value of a good education
• Dickens argues that the institutions in place in the 19th century for the poor were not sufficient and more needed to be done Dickens portrays the harsh unforgiving nature of the workhouses and challenges the New Poor Law in an effort to change the way that the poor were treated. The more that people became aware of the social issues by reading the novella, the more voices there would

  be for change
• Dickens uses the ideas of generosity and compassion that we associate with Christmas to highlight the transformation of the main character
• Dickens spreads the idea of Christmas spirit and shares how you don’t need money to be happy, moreover portraying how “mankind” is more important than any financial dealings. Money is depicted as as a metaphorical “drop of water” juxtaposed with mankind shown as a “comprehensive ocean”
• Dickens was a victim of poverty whilst he was growing up and had to leave education and find a job at 12 years old, when his Dad went to prison. Therefore, he felt a need to raise awareness about the poverty in London to the upper-class audience as they were the driving force for the suffering of the poor due to their ignorance.
• Dickens emphasises the true value that lies in educating people as he shares how education is a vital step towards a more equal society. Dickens illustrates how if the poor recieved an education then they would be able to break the cycle of poverty leading to improved lives. This message is paired with Dickens’ belief that if the rich were educated on social issues and the extreme suffering of the poor, then the aristocracy of the Victorian era would reflect more benevolence towards the lower class.
• Scrooge


  Illustrates how the self-centred and insensitive can be converted into liberal, compassionate, and socially conscious individuals
• Benevolence and generosity


  Overcome Scrooge's hostile apathy
• Scrooge's realisation


  His responsibility to look after the less fortunate
• Dickens uses Scrooge to show the bourgeoisie of his Victorian audience that they too need to seek redemption by supporting the proletariat and completing more charitable deeds
• Dickens shows that this simple change could have a rippling effect in society
• Dickens uses the plight and poverty of the Cratchit family to attempt to shed light on the lives of the poor, in contrast to the lives of the rich aristocrats in Victorian society, like Scrooge.
• Dickens presents Scrooge as a fearful character who is driven to change his negative attitudes to the poor. As a result of the poignant visions each of the ghosts reveal to him, he realises his responsibility to look after the less fortunate. Dickens does this to show the bourgeoisie of his Victorian audience that they too need to seek redemption by supporting the proletariat and completing more charitable deeds as this simple change could have a rippling effect in society.
• Dickens, in his political diatribe, ‘A Christmas Carol’, introduces the gothic element of ghosts to bring about a transformation in Scrooge, while subsequently subverting the notion of an ideal Christmas to haunt his readers ‘pleasantly’. Dickens does this to show the bourgeoisie of his Victorian audience that they too need to seek redemption by supporting the proletariat and completing more charitable deeds as this simple change could have a rippling effect in society.
• In ‘A Christmas Carol’, Dickens presents the cruelty that Scrooge expresses to the poor, the cruelty that society enforces on the lower-class children, and the consequences of mistreating the lower classes. He wants to criticise selfish employers due to their greed and inhuman treatment of the poor, to advocate for a more philanthropic society and to teach the reader of the significant consequences of this mistreatment.