sIn this extract, Scrooge’s time with the Ghost of Christmas Present is coming to an end.

"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?"

"It might be a claw, for the flesh there is upon it," was the Spirit's sorrowful reply. "Look here."

From the foldings of its robe, it brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous,
miserable. They knelt down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment.

"Oh, Man, look here! Look, look, down here!" exclaimed the Ghost. They were a boy and a girl.
Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostate, too, in their humility. Where graceful
youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and
shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds.
Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No change, no
degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful
creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread.

Scrooge started back, appalled. Having them shown to him in this way, he tried to say they
were fine children, but the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie of such
enormous magnitude.

"Spirit, are they yours?" Scrooge could say no more.

"They are Man's," said the Spirit, looking down upon them. "And they cling to me, appealing
from their fathers. Beware theThis boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Both, and all of their
degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless
the writing be erased. Deny it!" cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. "Slander
those who tell it ye. Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And abide the end.

" "Have they no refuge or resource?" cried Scrooge.

"Are there no prisons?" said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. "Are
there no workhouses?"

The bell struck twelve.

Scrooge looked about him for the Ghost, and saw it not. As the last stroke ceased to vibrate, he
remembered the prediction of old Jacob Marley, and lifting up his eyes, beheld a solemn
Phantom, draped and hooded, coming, like a mist along the ground, towards him.
Starting with this extract, how does Dickens present the theme of poverty in A Christmas Carol?
Write about:

How Dickens presents the theme of poverty in this extract

How Dickens presents the theme of poverty in the novel as a whole. [30 marks]

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens portrays a very sympathetic attitude towards the poor as he
has seen them as victims of Victorian society and not just people who are idols and did not want
to work . Also he highlights the importance of charity,giving and responsibility ,rather than
victimise children having to work in the poor houses which should have been abolished.Dickens
seen poverty as a big problem on the streets of victorian London and he felt that this was not a
choice but rather a consequence of the rich not taking responsibility for those around them and
the only alternative for the poor to survive would be workhouses and prisons which were seen as
horrific,solemn and unbearable places for the poor to find themselves in. In stave two Scrooges
visit with the ghost of christmas present is coming to an end and the ghost presents SCrooge with
the devastating reality of what poverty is having upon the people and the children who are living
amongst him.Once again we see Scrooge show emotion as he realises that his selfishness is a
consequence and seeing the poor children malnourished with animalistic features impacts him
massively and his lesson of responsibility is heightened in this scene which foreshadows one step
further to bis redemption.

Dickens uses animalistic imagery in the opening of this extract ,when Scrooge asks the ghost of
christmas present what is hiding under his robe “is it a foot or a claw”.This depicts an image of the
horrific consequences of poverty as Scrooge is unsure whether it is human or a wild animal which
emphasises his lack of consideration and interaction with victorian society ,which makes scrooge
appear quite shocked and in disbelief that it could be a foot but is more likely to be an animal
,Scrooges questioning shows his naivety and lack of interest for the people in his community.As a
reader Dickens wants us to see Scrooge as quite ignorant as he lacks compassion and empathy
,however once the foot or claw is revealed we see a emotive response from Scrooge.

Furthermore, Dickens continues to build this animalistic,feral imagery by listing harrowing

adjectives to unnerve Scrooge, the narratorcontinues“wretched,abject,frightful,hideous,miserable”
which creates an unpleasant yet serious and shocking image of the poor children of the Victorian
era.Dickens has listed each negative adjective one after the other which creates the poor quality
and slum conditions whilst at the same time expressing his anger and distress of the effects that
poverty is having upon children. Dickens' use of listing five possible negative adjectives that he
could find to describe his concerns with poverty doesn't even begin to describe how he feels as
there are no words for this kind of anguish and pain to show this grim Victorian reality.To
Scrooges astonishment what he thought were wild animals now appear to be
gastly,untamed,unruly,misbehaved children which through no fault of their own are
underdeveloped,malnourished and unsightly.
Moreover,it's clear now that Scrooge is starting to show emotive responses to the allegorical
characters of the two unfortunate children that the ghost of the Christmas present has revealed to
him when Scrooge asks the spirit “are they yours?” which shows he begins to feel concerned and
the spirit replies “they are mans”depicting they are Gods children and that society including
Scrooge are responsible for one another,also highlighting the devastating effects of poverty upon
these children are a result of people like Scrooge.When the spirit warns Scrooge of the children
when he says “beware this boy is ignorance.This girl is want.”which conveys Scrooges ignorance
and want and how these children are being presented to him as a symbol of his own greed,the
spirit continues “beware this boy for on his brow i see that written which is doom”which is
Dickens attempt to show the importance of the effects that poverty is having on the children of the
victorian society.Also the adjective “doom” suggests that children futures are literally written on
their face this makes Scrooge appear to be frightened as this could ultimately be his fate,therefore
we begin to see Scrooge react to this immediately as he grasps the thought of redemption which
would lead into a reformative character of his own personal self.Up until this point Scrooges wants
have been focused on money,workhouses and prisons so that the people can't thrive off charity
from others and to live alone with no family or love ,so the ghost of christmas presence is giving
him an opportunity through these allegory character to the change his wants from selfish to
selfless which we see later on in stave two and three when he asks the ghost of christmas future
for forgiveness .

Finally,by the end of the extract Scrooges doesn't even get a time to think before the ghost of
christmas future is upon him “phantom ,draped and hooded ,coming,like a mist along the
ground,towards him”this new encounter makes Scrooge ultimately question his fate as he is
prepared to be confronted by his own future self.The ghost of christmas future is the
illusionary,grim reaper type of ghost who has appeared to show Scrooge that if he does not
change his future is very grim,dark and miserable in which he will die a lonely old man.The
thought of this evil,sinister and devilish figure haunting SCrooge for the rest of his life has give
him the realisation that he doesn't want to die alone and Dickens may have presented him in this
way so he gains sympathy for the poor who are reflected by also feeling this way.IN stave three we
see Scrooge beg the ghost of christmas future for forgiveness when he cries out “i am not the man
i used to be “and this ultimately reveals Scrooges redemption which makes the reader feel hopeful
and as he starts to feel warmth and charitable we begin to feel warmth for him too.

NOTES
Ignorance and want are allegorical characters with no personality and are not real, Dickens has
used these character as symbolism to highlights Scrooges Ignorance and wants for money

This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree; but most
of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be
erased. (Stave 3)
Dickens is attempting to express that poor children’s futures are literally written on their
foreheads and they are doomed as adults just because they were born into poverty. This then
links to the scene in Stave Two when Scrooge is an abandoned boy in school at Christmas
time; Dickens is saying implying that Scrooge is a horrible man now because he wasn’t loved
as a child.

Scrooge has want before his encounters:

Ø Of money: Scrooge was always tight with money and couldn’t spare a coal to warm his own
office.

Ø Of workhouses and prisons: As questioned to the portly gentlemen, and later quoted by the
Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge asks if there are workhouses as he doesn’t want the poor on
the street or receiving funds.

Ø Of normality: Scrooge enjoyed working every day and refused to believe the prospect of ghosts.

Scrooge also has want after his encounters:

Ø Of forgiveness and life: "Spirit!" he cried, tight clutching at its robe, "hear me! I am not the man I
was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this, if I am past
all hope?"

Notice how Scrooge simply wants a second chance at life after his encounters and has lost
all want of the cruel things.