How does Dickens use the Cratchits to explore the struggles of the poor?
In Dicken’s didactic novella, the themes of family and the struggles of the poor are of
critical importance. It is likely that Dickens intended to enlighten the wealthy of the
challenging trials of the destitute through the Cratchits unfortunate predicament. He
wanted his audience to embrace family, social responsibility and philanthropy while
rejecting the harsher structures and beliefs that existed at the time: avarice, egotism
and a stratified society.
Dickens uses the plight and poverty of the Cratchit family in an attempt to shed light
on the lives of the poor, in contrast to the lives of the rich aristocrats in Victorian
society, like Scrooge. The extract (taken from the third stave) begins with an
exclamatory sentence: “oh a wonderful pudding!”. From the offset, it is conveyed that
the Cratchits are grateful and easily exited in spite of their extreme poverty. Though it
is a only “small pudding” for a “large family”, it is regarded as a “success”. Furthermore,
the passionate adjective “wonderful” creates the impression that decent food, despite
being in such a small quantity, is luxurious blessing for the family. Additionally, Dickens
juxtaposition of a broken “custard cup” with “golden goblets” only serves to emphasise
the obvious and widening gap between the poor and the bourgeoise in this era. There
was no welfare state and very little charity for the destitute. The Poor Law in 1834 saw
the implementation of workhouses in which the impoverished lived and worked in
terrible conditions. Dickens urges the affluent to use their wealth to support their local
communities. His Victorian audience was predominately Christian and would have
found the Christian values of generosity and charity very appealing, especially after
having formed an affinity for the Cratchits.
Dickens uses his characters to demonstrate the disparity between social classes that
existed in Victorian England, and the hardships suffered at that time by the poor. When
the audience meet Tiny Tim, he rests upon his father’s shoulder, and “bore a little
crutch, and had his limbs supported by an iron frame”. The poignant noun “crutch”
emphasis that he is crippled and evokes the financial issues that many poor families
faced during the Victorian epoch. Moreover, Tim’s reliance on his family and his “iron
frame” could expound Dickens message that the upper classes must aid those less
fortunate than themselves. This is reiterated later, in the climax, when it is revealed
that unless the attitudes of the wealthy change and more support is given to the
impoverished, “the child will die”. Tiny Tim symbolises the innocent children who
suffered in their static class when the novella was published. Dicken’s, who
experienced poverty growing up, intended for Tiny Tim’s thoughtfulness and humility
to warm the hearts his upper class audience, and inspire charity. This would have
been a crucial message considering that, for the poor, life expectancy was low and
child morality rates were high.
Later in the rising action, nearing the climax, the Cratchits are presented as an
appreciative, loving and idealised family as a device in order for Dickens to show the
goodness of the poor, and consequently prompt social reformation. While they discuss
the future cheerly, despite being in an unfortunate financial situation, they are
described as being “happy, grateful, pleased with one another and contented”. Here,
the satisfied adjective “contented” implies that, even though the family do not have
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