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Final Project Charles Dicken’s Economic Struggles Seen in the Victorian London from “A Christmas Carol”
Posted on December 18th, 2012 at 12:10 pm by and

Charles Dickens
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Through the present time, most people have the financial resources to

relish in simple luxuries such as air conditioning in homes and other

finer establishments. Unfortunately, there are many people who struggle

to put food on their table because they face economic strife on a daily

basis. English writer Charles Dickens was deeply disturbed by the

depravity of the poor population and used extreme measures urging the

government and society to reassess their economic power. A Christmas

Carol, recognizes and brings to light its darker and frequently ignored

problems. In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge continues to remain blind

towards humanity’s issues. His attitude portrays much similarity to the

government and power during Dickens time of the Industrial Period.

Work houses, greed, and the growth in population are all major factors

that affected the economy hardships he wanted to be addressed.

During the Industrial Revolution, people who could not afford a

decent place to live or the means to support themselves were sent to

the work houses. At the time, workers were reluctant to work there

due to the harsh treatment of work labor. Dickens used A Christmas

Carol as a way for people to see how degrading life was for the people

who worked and to acknowledge there are those who needed hope.

After the publication of this story, he brought to light the forgotten

people who were poor and at a disadvantage during the Victorian

period of England. Regarding work houses, the story brought in how

people who were not well-off lived under a stringent class oppression

and poor sanitation simply because they could not afford it. For

example, the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge who was bitter and

frugal with his money, refused to give money to two gentlemen who

wanted to give charity to the destitute for the hope of a better life.

Because of his cold exterior, Scrooge questioned them in regarding

whether there were enough prisons and Union workhouses. When

they replied that such developments were open and “many can’t go

there; and many would rather die,” Scrooge does not show any

sympathy (Dickens 15). This is a prime example of showing how

society’s sense of humanity was questioned toward such people in

their dire time of need. This book shows that work houses were in

retched conditions and not sufficient enough to preserve the life of

those who could not properly take care of themselves enough to be

comfortable and financially stable.

Although the holidays are a time to give charity to those who

need it, Dickens shows how that is not the case for those who

suffer at the hands of greedy people. Ebenezer is so greedy and

frugal that he does not willingly choose to help his employee Bob

Cratchit out in such a difficult time. Not only is Cratchit and his

family poor, their youngest son Tiny Tim is very sick. On the night

of Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former

business partner Jacob Marley. Marley attempts to warn Scrooge to

loosen tight grip on his money and forewarns him about three

visitors who will later prove his point. However, Scrooge denies

such happenings. In the night the Ghost of Christmas Past wakes up

Scrooge and takes him to Cratchit’s home in order to observe the

family. Through this experience he is able to realize the young child

suffering from sickness. Through this part of the story’s plot,

Dickens exposed that selfishness and greed were dominant

problems in the Victorian period of England. He showed that

greed is the backbone to the economic sufferings that is taking place

in society. In this situation, the story is a way to urge the wealthy

and privileged to part with some of their money and express

humanity to the poor.

Through harsh times, money plays a fundamental role in

determining one’s status in society. Without being able to afford a

sturdy living space, many people are forced to live on the streets or

in dilapidated buildings. Unfortunately, with space being limited,

people have nowhere else to go. With the growth of population, as

exhibited in A Christmas Carol, there is an increase in surplus. As

with regarding work houses, Scrooge, without a care, states that,

“If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the

surplus population” (Dickens 15). This directly proves that

economics and surplus are related closely. Dickens has proven

that society needs to take better care of the people around them

and take the time to create social reforms that would secure

them and ensure they have an equal chance to live properly.

Charles Dickens was a man of vision and integrity who used

whatever he saw while living in England to integrate common

happenings into the accounts of his literary works. He believed

that all people have the right to live in equality. If they could not

afford their living space, the government and other people

should be do whatever they can and help those who truly need

it. Dickens shows that through kindness and generosity,

miracles can happen even in the most dire of times.

Unlike a concrete book that can easily be handheld,

preserving digital history is a tricky situation. In case the

technological interface malfunctions or chooses to delete the

stored information, it is best to print a concrete document

out. If it is possible to save data without it disappearing, it

would be helpful to. On a computer it is best to also take a

screen shot to preserve something in case the web URL is

not capable of running the same way as it is when opened.

Also, with the advancements of viruses, it would be wise to

have multiple hard copies that are kept in safe places just

in case. Books can easily fade and tear, but as long as a

digital copy is in hand they can last for several more

generations.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/map_item.pl

 


View Charles Dickins and “A Christmas Carol” in a larger map

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Worldle: The Paper Portion

According to Wordle, three words stand out the most: “people,” “Dickens,” and “Scrooge” because during the Victorian Era and after the publication of A Christmas Carol because the theme behind the story is to show that there are numerous people at the time who were considered to be like Scrooge, but Dickens believed that all people are equal in the eyes of society.

Google Ngram Viewer

A graph based upon these case-sensitive comma-separated phrases:
between and from the corpus with smoothing of .

                                       

Between 1843 and 1901 titles in books mostly was based on humanity. Under humanity was is poverty. Lastly is Charles Dickens. This shows that the influence of Charles Dickens in the literary world heavily impacted society to think more about people and do good by them.

 



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