What Is Scrooge's Attitude Towards The Poor

During staves 3 and 4 it is shown that although the poor cannot be compared with the amount of wealth Scrooge has, their moral richness is far more larger than Scrooge’s wealth. “Everybody had something to say about it, but nobody said or thought it was at all a small pudding for a large family. It would have been flat heresy to do so. Any Cratchit would have blushed to hint at such a thing. ” this quotation shows how the Cratchit family do not want to hurt each others feelings and have a sense of what is right and in this case what is right to say and what is not.

Furthermore the Cratchit family are very religious because they think saying anything bad about themselves is religiously bad and therefore avoid saying anything offensive. This shows their moral richness, and that although they are poor they have more of a sense of moral rightness than rich people. In addition to this the poor have a great commitment to their family; ‘ “Martha, who was a poor apprentice at a milliners, then told them what kind of work she had to do, and how many hours she worked at a stretch, and how she meant to lie a-bed tomorrow morning for a good rest; tomorrow being a holiday she passed at home.

This shows that the poor have more of a commitment to their family, therefore love their family very much. Also this quote shows that the disadvantaged do not take their job for granted like people from the upper class do.

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Mrs Cratchit cares a lot for her family as she is constantly worrying whether her family will be able to live happily in their unfortunate conditions: “Mrs Cratchit left the room alone-too nervous to bear witnesses-to take the pudding up, and bring it in… suppose it should not be enough!

” This citation shows that Mrs Cratchit cares a lot for her family, and though they are living in intolerable circumstances she still tries to make the best out of the things that are available to her family. Another extract that supports this matter is this: “Cratchit’s wife, dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap and make a goodly show for six pence. ” This shows that though the Cratchit family are poor Mrs Cratchit does try and make herself as much as presentable to society as possible, even if it is cheaply.

All of this helps to sustain the idea that although the Cratchit’s are poor, they still try and make the most of their situations and if they have got money, even a little, then they will try and make the most of it by spending it for their family. This contrasts with Scrooge who doesn’t want to spend his money, even though he’s got the cash. “Martha didn’t like to see him disappointed, if it were only a joke; so she came out prematurely from the closet door, and ran into his arms.

”This quotation definitely shows that the Cratchit family love each other very much and the way Charles Dickens writes about this shows the love that Martha and her father share even though they are living in poor conditions. This contrasts with the absence of love and gratitude in the rich who do not care about the poor. Furthermore when the Christmas spirit takes Scrooge to show his future, Scrooge’s death and Tiny Tim’s death make a huge contrast because when Scrooge had died nobody was aware of it, apart from the paupers who had come to take his fine belongings.

However, when Tiny Tim had died his whole entire family was near him and had mourned for him. This makes a huge contrast because it shows that Scrooge had no one to take care of him whilst he was on his death bed with rats thriving on his body, whereas Tiny Tim had his whole family with him when he died. It shows that though Scrooge is very rich he didn’t have anyone for comfort because of his egotistical character, whereas Tiny Tim was a good person even though he was poor. It makes a contrast because it shows that though Scrooge is filthy rich he cannot buy the love the Cratchits have for each other.

Throughout the whole novel Dickens exemplifies, through different characters, what the attitude towards the poor should be like. In stave 1 Marley gives an advice to Scrooge towards the poor advising him to care for them. “Mankind was my business. ” This quote shows that Marley is trying to tell Scrooge that one individual is responsible for every individual in society and if this warning is ignored, because they are blinded by ignorance and want, then that person will suffer an afterlife similar to Marley’s: “I wear the chain I forged in life. ” Marley is suffering the consequences of being like Scrooge now in his afterlife.

Moreover the Christmas spirit shows Scrooge’s lonely death when they travel to the future and shows him that he is dead on his bed. “a gray-haired rascal, nearly seventy years of age” the author is trying to teach scrooge a lesson that if he continues to be heartless towards the poor then nobody would care for him and during his death he would be left alone like the Christmas spirit was showing him presently. Furthermore, towards the end of the novel the ghost tries to make Scrooge feel guilty for what he had done to underprivileged in the past.

The phantom tries to show Scrooge how because of him the poor are living in unbearable conditions, but are still grateful for everything they have. The ghost does receive Scrooge’s attention to how he is responsible for the things he had done to the poor: ‘ “Spirit! ” said Scrooge, “Show me no more! Conduct me home. Why do you delight to torture? “‘ This extract shows that Scrooge is feeling culpable for the things he had done to the unfortunate; before he looked at them with scorn and disgust but now he considers watching the poor and the ghosts of his past in agony, deeming it as torture for himself.

This may be a jovial, comic ghost story, but it is also a very serious description of Victorian social attitudes towards society. Charles Dickens makes it very clear of the results of disregarding his caution towards the underprivileged: “Most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is doom unless the writing be erased. ” From this quote you can see evidently that Charles Dickens is trying to send a message to us, the readers of the novel, that if we as human beings continue to ignore the poor then ‘doom’ will be written in our fate.

The message that Charles Dickens is trying to send us through this book is that the rich and middle class should not ignore the poor or they will suffer greatly for their actions in their afterlife. This message is relevant in today’s society that does not believe in an afterlife. This is because although there are people drifting away from the religious side of life there are still religious people who exist in society who believe in these sort of messages that there should not be any sort of inequality in society-both status wise and race wise.

Also though there may be non-religious people or atheists in society who don’t really abide by rules and regulations of a religion, but, they still have morals and a sense of feeling of how they should treat the poor. Therefore whether you look at it in a religious point of view or a non-religious point of view you will still find that such morals and messages are still significant in today’s world.