Full mark essay written on the theme of social responsibility in 'A Christmas Carol'. Extract discussed is taken from the end of Stave 3, during which the reader is introduced to Ignorance and Want.
This is my own essay written during my GCSE English Literature course (AQA), for which I achieve...
In this extract and elsewhere in the novel, how does Dickens present the theme of social
responsibility?
Social responsibility appears to be a key theme of ‘A Christmas Carol’ as the plot focuses on the attempts
made to change Scrooge's negative attitudes towards it; Dickens strongly believed in collective
responsibility and demonstrates this throughout the novel, especially by criticising the rich, such as
Scrooge, for their refusal to even consider the idea.
In the extract, Dickens presents the lack of social responsibility in society through the physical nature of
Ignorance and Want: “it might be a claw”. Here, the noun “claw” creates rather hideous and grotesque
imagery, considering that it belongs to a child, which could suggest that the rich are appalled by the idea
of social responsibility and almost fear the matter as if it were a monster; this implies that they attempt to
avoid the topic as much as possible, which could link to how, during the Victorian era, the rich viewed the
poor as problems and believed that those in poverty were solely responsible for their awful situation.
Also, by using the unspecific article “a” before this noun, Dickens could be indicating that social
responsibility holds little importance to the rich and isn't their primary focus; perhaps they are already
aware of the issues in society and the necessity of accepting responsibility, yet they choose to ignore it,
which begins to create the impression that collective responsibility may never be achieved. However, the
verb “might” creates a tone of uncertainty and may contrast to this idea, as it could suggest that not
everyone views social responsibility so negatively and it will only appear horrific if the majority of
society continues to view it in that way; perhaps it is possible for those who have already accepted
responsibility to influence others to do so.
At the beginning of Stave One, Dickens presents Scrooge's refusal to accept social responsibility: he is
described to be “as solitary as an oyster”. The writer may have used this simile to highlight how greatly
Scrooge wishes to be responsible for himself alone, as it seems that he has willingly isolated himself from
the rest of society; by repeating the adjective “solitary” in Staves Two and Three, Dickens seems to be
indicating that these negative attitudes towards social responsibility do not change, although the reader is
also given the impression that the man's loneliness may not entirely be his own fault, which therefore
begins to create hope that he may eventually consider altering his attitudes. The use of the noun “oyster”
here could be suggesting that Scrooge has a metaphorical hard shell, created by his harsh, cold
personality; perhaps this has allowed him to avoid accepting responsibility, which could be the valuable
matter that the pearl inside the shell is symbolic of. However, these pearls are usually rare, which could
suggest that the event of a rich person changing their negative attitudes would be rather unusual,
especially since it was extremely difficult to achieve wealth during Dickensian times, which would mean
that they would be reluctant to risk some of it by accepting responsibility and helping others. As a result
of this, it seems that collective responsibility would be difficult to achieve, and the fact that oysters are
often located at the bottom of bodies of water could emphasise this difficulty; perhaps this could illustrate
how the idea of social responsibility has constantly been pushed away into the dark by the rich, and it will
take great effort for it to come to the surface again, and even more so when the “oyster” has to be prised
open.
Dickens presents the importance of accepting responsibility in the extract through the personification of
the problems in society: “They are Man’s… they cling to me, appealing from their fathers”. Here, by
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