Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Growing up in the Victorian period, Christmas didn’t have too much of an influence on society, particularly in England, where Dickens’ grew up. This could be why one might possibly find it odd that this man is known so well for his interest in Christmas, and his many stories that reflect that interest. Charles Dickens’ has forever changed the lives of people everywhere by the characters he portrays in his stories. From the innocent Tiny Tim, to the humbug Ebenezar Scrooge, to the mysterious ghost of Christmas Past, Present, and Future…Dickens’ has a way to look and write about Christmas from the point of view many could not even imagine. He even brought the tradition of feisting on turkey and ham on Christmas Day into our daily December 25 ritual, now how can one not cherish the man for that.

“Money had always been a worry for Dickens when he was growing up, for he was born into a struggling lower-middle class family. His father went to debtor’s jail when Dickens was only twelve years old. Not able to go to school anymore because of his father’s financial problems, Dickens was forced to get a job. This obviously caused him to have a lack of appropriate education, so Dickens began to develop on interest into books. He was later sent back to school when his dad got out of jail, but when his parents could again no longer afford to pay for their son’s education, he found work in a law

office, then as a newspaper reporter. It was here that Dickens’ taught himself shorthand,” (www.ucsc.edu/dickens/DEA/ACC/dickens.bio.html, Dickens’ Life and The Carol). This began the writing of the many Dickens’ classics we enjoy to this very day. One particular book being, A Christmas Carol, a well-known holiday classic.

“Dickens’ childhood poverty lead to his compassion for the lower class, especially the children. Even in his writings, he portrayed then with sympathy as well as compassion,” (Hromatko, 5). “A Christmas Carol greatly reflected the life of Dickens’, for just like the Crachit family, he was poor living in a four-room house. The six Crachit children correspond to the six Dickens’ children at that time,” (www.ucsc.edu/dickens/DEA/ACC/dickens.bio.html, Dickens’ Life and The Carol).

“One may also recall a quite mean and miserly man who went by the name of Ebenezar Scrooge; he represents Victorian England at the time Dickens’ wrote the story.