How does Dickens portray cruelty in A Christmas Carol?
Student Grade 9 essay from Jimmy - thanks Jimmy, you are a star.
The Extract
Scrooge has been asked to give some money to charity to help the poor. Scrooge is about to reply that he will give nothing to the charity.
“Nothing!” Scrooge replied.
“You wish to be anonymous?”
“I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge. “Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don’t make merry myself at Christmas and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned—they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there.”
“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”
“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. Besides—excuse me—I don’t know that.”
“But you might know it,” observed the gentleman.
“It’s not my business,” Scrooge returned. “It’s enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people’s. Mine occupies me constantly. Good afternoon, gentlemen!”
Seeing clearly that it would be useless to pursue their point, the gentlemen withdrew. Scrooge resumed his labours with an improved opinion of himself, and in a more facetious temper than was usual with him.
Starting with the extract, how does Dickens portray cruelty in A Christmas Carol.
Write about:
· How Dickens presents Scrooge in this extract
· How Dickens presents cruelty and meanness in the novel as a whole
Student Essay: Thanks Jimmy
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.
This is a 3 part thesis, explaining 3 things that Dickens is doing.
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.
This is where the thesis statement excels – it gives 3 reasons, or points of view that Dickens has. This is effectively the essay plan, and Jimmy knows that this thesis will fit entirely, or in part, to any question that comes up. So he might as well memorise it. These all deal with the context of the time, so they score Level 4 AO3 for clear understanding of context.
In ‘A Christmas Carol’, Dickens presents the cruelty that Scrooge expresses towards the poor as unfair and inhumane in Stave One, when Bob Cratchit is described to be in a ‘dismal little cell’. This imagery implies an unpleasant, confined space, suggesting that Scrooge is almost imprisoning his employee.
Notice that Jimmy has not started with the extract. Because he is writing a logical argument, he started by asking himself, ‘what is the fist significant example of Scrooge’s cruelty toward the poor?’ If he writes a logical argument, his essay is very likely to be at least Level 5, ‘thoughtful and developed’.
This mistreatment is further emphasised when Scrooge believes that the poor had ‘better’ die. The juxtaposition of positivity and death emphasises how Scrooge – and other employers at the time – did not care about their employees or any other working-class individuals. Through the use of language and structure, Dickens may be criticising the mistreatment of the poor that employers express and may also be challenging the Malthusian Theory – perhaps Dickens believed that this corrupt way of thinking was actually the cause of the mistreatment of the poor, so as not to increase the ‘surplus population’. Moreover, through writing ‘A Christmas Carol’ as a novella, Dickens may be trying to convey this message to the reader – who was probably an upper-class employer – in order for their viewpoints to change and for better treatment towards the poor being achieved.
There’s a lot of context here, all linked to interpretations of Dickens’ viewpoint. So, at the very least this is now ‘developed’, Level 5 AO3.
Although Jimmy has dealt with only two quotations, he is still gaining high marks for AO2. Check out everything in bold italic: these are examples of Dickens’ methods. The vocabulary is therefore subject terminology, to explain the methods. Level 4, clear and explained AO2.
In Stave Four, Dickens presents society’s cruelty towards lower-class children, when the ‘menacing’ Ignorance and Want are described to be ‘man’s’. The placement of the frightening description of Ignorance and Want near ‘man’ perhaps could be used to suggest that ‘man’ is ‘wolfish’ and ‘menacing’; however, Dickens could be implying that ‘man’ is the cause of the suffering of Ignorance and Want. Through this use of structure, perhaps Dickens is trying to advocate for a fairer society, and may also be criticising the child labour that was common during the 19th century – mainly through the ‘establishments’ that Scrooge ‘help[s] to support’, the workhouses and prisons. The fact that Scrooge is ‘support[ing]’ the suffering of the poor emphasises how Victorian society causes children and other poor individuals to suffer. Through being an influential writer at the time, perhaps Dickens wrote ‘A Christmas Carol’ in the novella form as a message to not only the reader but to society, especially the church and government to persuade them to rethink how they exploit children and for them to implement new ways that the poor can benefit.
This paragraph links further context to Dickens’ purpose. We can tell that Jimmy has probably prepared this in advance. He knows it will be relevant to nearly every question. The question is about ‘cruelty’, and cruelty isn’t mentioned in the paragraph at all. However, Jimmy references “suffering” – which is the result of the cruelty – several times, so he manages to make it relevant. Without the word ‘cruelty’ the examiner is not going to shift to seeing this as a ‘convincing’ use of context, so we are still at Level 5 AO3.
Go back and look at all the words which are in italics, but not in bold. These are the ones which show the examiner the essay is an ‘exploration’ for Level 6
As a result, Dickens presents the consequences that cruelty to the poor has in Stave Three, when the Ghost of Christmas Present explains to Scrooge that he foresees a ‘crutch without an owner’ in a ‘poor chimney corner’. The reader can instantly infer that Tiny Tim will die (which the ghost confirms); however, the half-rhyme of ‘corner’ and ‘owner’ suggests that this prophecy is not set in stone yet, but society has the chance to change its ways in order to avoid the terrible fate that awaits the poor. Perhaps Dickens uses structure here to teach the reader and society of the significant impacts that their cruelty has on the poor, but also to perhaps assure the reader that not all hope is lost and that there is still time to change.
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