Dickens and the poor​

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What was happening at the time?
Dickens exposes poverty in many of his books – as well as A Christmas Carol he deals with these themes in Little Dorrit, Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby.​
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Dickens and his experience of poverty​
Dickens was born in 1812, the second of eight children born to John and Elizabeth Dickens. Despite being a kind and loving man, John Dickens was financially irresponsible and with a large family to provide for, found it very easy to rack up large debts.
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A Victorian Slum in London​
Dickens wrote about the appalling conditions of slums in the East End of London in ‘Oliver Twist’ but we also see hints of this in ‘A Christmas Carol’ through the characters of Ignorance and Want. ​
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Conditions of the poor
In the East End of London, families would often share their houses and it was not uncommon for a family to live in cramped conditions in one room. Dickens had seen the terrible conditions in which the poor of London lived and wanted to raise awareness of
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theme tracker - poverty​
stave One – the charity collectors explain the desperation of the poor​
stave Two – The younger Scrooge tells Belle why it is wise to get rich​
Stave Three – The Cratchits’ Christmas Dinner ​
Stave Four – The ghost of Christmas Yet to Come takes Scrooge t
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Scrooge’s Attitude to the Poor 1
As the poor do not add wealth into society, they are of no use.​
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Scrooge’s Attitude to the Poor 2
Cold, economical language: the poor are numbers on a ledger to Scrooge.
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Scrooge’s Attitude to the Poor 3
“decrease the surplus population”​
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Scrooge’s Attitude to the Poor 4
Scrooge dehumanises the poor and separates them from the rich.​
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How does Dickens use setting to present differences between Scrooge and the poor? ​
The house fronts looked black enough, and the windows blacker.
​
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Scrooge is taken to the Cratchits’ Dwelling​
And perhaps it was the pleasure the good Spirit had in showing off this power of his, or else it was his own kind, generous, hearty nature, and his sympathy with all poor men, that led him straight to Scrooge’s clerk’s; for there he went, and took Scrooge
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The Feast​
Such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the rarest of all birds; a feathered phenomenon, to which a black swan was a matter of course—and in truth it was something very like it in that house.
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The Pudding​
Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper. A smell like a washing-day! That was the cloth. A smell like an eating-house and a pastrycook’s next door to each other, with a laundress’s next door to that! That was the pudding! In half a
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Responding to a question​
How does Dickens present the Cratchit family in the extract?​
At last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the hearth swept, and the fire made up. The compound in the jug being tasted, and considered perfect, apples and oranges were put upon the table, and a shovel-full of chestnuts on the fire.
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Ignorance and Want​
The two children are the personification of two social problems: Ignorance and Want. They represent these problems in human form; they have capital letters to show this.​
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Ignorance
Ignorance: People like Scrooge, who ignore the problems of the poor, create enormous social problems. They create children like this.​

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Want​
Want: Since the population has ‘boomed’ in Victorian times, many people ‘want for’ (go without) basic necessities, such as food and shelter. Combined with the ignorance of the rich, this creates massive social problems. It creates children like this.​
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Starting with this extract, how does Dickens present Victorian attitudes towards the poor?​
It might be a claw, for the flesh there is upon it,'' was the Spirit's sorrowful reply. ``Look here.''​
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Can you find examples of these techniques in the extract?​
`Forgive me if I am not justified in what I ask,'' said Scrooge, looking intently at the Spirit's robe, ``but I see something strange, and not belonging to yourself, protruding from your skirts. Is it a foot or a claw!''​
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How do Ignorance and Want relate to Scrooge’s behaviour?​
There behaviour is really calm with Scrooge
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How do they relate to the events in the novel as a whole?​
It relate to the whole novel like they are different
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What are the readers of this book being invited to think/feel?​
The readers of this book have been invited to think what it was like back then and feel the same
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Why do Ignorance and Want ‘cling’ to the spirit?​
They cling the spirit like they were the same as everyone
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What is the significance of the spirit’s references to ‘Man’ and pointing to London?​
``They are Man's,'' said the Spirit, looking down upon them. ``And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want.
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What is ironic about Scrooge’s reaction to the ‘children’?​
Scrooge's ironic to the children
like they weren't like him
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Which characters are directly contrasted with ‘ignorance’ and ​
‘want’?​
Tiny Tim
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Why include Ignorance and Want at this point in the novel? ​
(think about what comes directly before and after this scene)​

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To make the novel stand out and make everyone see the different's
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Mrs Dilber and Old Joe : the criminal poor​
"Who’s the worse for the loss of a few things like​
these? Not a dead man I suppose.”​

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Old Joe’s Shop​
Dickens places Old Joe’s shop in a part of the city which ‘reeked with crime, with filth, and misery’ (p.69). With this scene he shows the corrupting nature of poverty as these thieves enjoy showing what they have stolen to sell.​
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How can we link Old Joe and Mrs Dilber to elsewhere in the novella?​
Ignorance: People like Scrooge, who ignore the problems of the poor, create enormous social problems. They create children like this.​
Want: Since the population has ‘boomed’ in Victorian times, many people ‘want for’ (go without) basic necessities, such
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Are there any other sections of the novella that present the effects of poverty?​
The Cratchits – poor, but honest and make the best of their situation ‘brave in ribbons’ ‘nobody said or thought it was at all a small pudding for a large family. It would have been flat heresy to do so. Any Cratchit would have blushed to hint at such a t
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Dickens was born in 1812, the second of eight children born to John and Elizabeth Dickens. Despite being a kind and loving man, John Dickens was financially irresponsible and with a large family to provide for, found it very easy to rack up large debts.

Back

Dickens and his experience of poverty​

Card 3

Front

Dickens wrote about the appalling conditions of slums in the East End of London in ‘Oliver Twist’ but we also see hints of this in ‘A Christmas Carol’ through the characters of Ignorance and Want. ​

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

In the East End of London, families would often share their houses and it was not uncommon for a family to live in cramped conditions in one room. Dickens had seen the terrible conditions in which the poor of London lived and wanted to raise awareness of

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

stave One – the charity collectors explain the desperation of the poor​
stave Two – The younger Scrooge tells Belle why it is wise to get rich​
Stave Three – The Cratchits’ Christmas Dinner ​
Stave Four – The ghost of Christmas Yet to Come takes Scrooge t

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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