The Ghost of Christmas present first takes Scrooge to see the Cratchits. building a feeling of community despite the poverty in the scene. Dickens suggests through the Ghost that Tiny Tim's illness is caused largely because of poverty, telling Scrooge that there will be a 'vacant seat' in the future if 'these shadows remain unaltered', explicitly suggesting that poverty causes illness and death, but with financial intervention and care this can be avoided, if men reject the 'wicked cant' of selfishness, greed and lack of compassion for those in need. During his visits with the Ghost of Christmas Past, however, he sees his old manager Fezziwig throwing a party and comments that the happiness he gives is quite as great as if it had cost a fortune. He is always presented as being vulnerable with his 'little crutch' and his limbs supported by an 'iron frame' suggesting that he has some kind of wasting disease. In addition, the mistreatment and exploitation of poor children by their employers is also highlighted by two of Fezziwig's party guests - the 'boy who was suspected of not having enough board from his master' and the 'girl who was proved to have had her ears pulled by her mistress', as well as the long hours Martha Cratchit has to work in a milliners.ĭickens also presents the plight of the poor through the depiction of Tiny Tim, the youngest Cratchit child. He is forced to work in unpleasant conditions, in a cold 'dismal little cell, a sort of a tank', too afraid to ask for more coal for the fire and forced to warm himself on a candle. The fact that in Stave One, Bob is continually referred to simply as 'the clerk' suggests his lack of importance to Scrooge, that he is only valued in terms of what service he can provide, rather than as a person in his own right. There is nothing on this earth more terrifying to me than a life doomed to poverty. Bob Cratchit is Scrooge's clerk, who is paid a measly 'fifteen bob' a week, which even Scrooge accepts is not enough to survive on because he believes Bob is a 'lunatic' to contemplate celebrating Christmas on such a small income. He has a large family to provide for and is a symbol for the poor working conditions faced by many poverty-stricken Victorians. A Christmas Carol (2009) Jim Carrey as Scrooge, Ghost of Christmas Past, Scrooge as a Young Boy, Scrooge as a Teenage Boy, Scrooge as a Young Man, Scrooge as a Middle Aged Man, Ghost of Christmas Present, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The principle Dickens opposes this unjust view is through his depiction of the hard-working, loving Cratchit family. The novella shows these contrasts by presenting poverty in the Cratchit household, in the characters of Ignorance and Want who are sheltered by the Ghost of Christmas Present and also in the scene.

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