Heartless Capitalism Exposed in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Beginning in England in the late eighteenth century, the Industrial Revolution changed the face of the country's economy. Despite becoming a center of wealth and production for the world, the majority of the capital rested firmly in the hands of wealthy capitalists who had little regard for the suffering endured by millions of working-class individuals. In "A Christmas Carol"(1843) by Charles Dickens, this theme of industrial suffering is illustrated through the historical and symbolic characterization of Bob Cratchit and his family, juxtaposed against Scrooge's heartless capitalist ideals. Through this powerful theme of industrial suffering, Dickens permits the reader to visualize the suffering of the poor during the mid-Victorian period. Similarly, the theme of industrial suffering may be defined as the suffering of the lower class individuals under the capitalists. In "A Christmas Carol" Bob Cratchit embodies this theme by toiling strenuously for a heartless capitalist (Scrooge) who does not reward Bob's dedicated work with enough money to provide the necessities for his family. This industrial suffering fosters a sense of sympathy, thus enlightening the reader to the plight of working-class families during the mid-Victorian period.

From factories, to mines, to counting houses, all working-class individuals were treated poorly. Bob Cratchit is a clerk in a counting house who makes "15 shillings"(Dickens, 7) per week; a sum of money which is not enough to support his wife and children. According to Landow and Skipper, sixteen shillings was equal to four-fifths of a pound sterling, and "poor vicars at mid-century earned as little as 40-50£/year". Via extrapolation, Bob Cratchit makes roughly 39£/year. Similarly, his d...

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...ate the economy and control society.

Works cited and consulted

Collins, Philip. "The Reception and Status of the Carol". The Dickensian 89.3 (1993): 170-176.

Dickens, Charles. "A Christmas Carol". English 101-N2 Custom Courseware. Ed. M. van Woudenberg. Edmonton: University of Alberta, 2000. 30-70.

Green, D.R. and A.G. Parton. "Slums and Slum Life in Victorian England: London and Birmingham in Mid Century - Urban Change and Slum Formation" Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1990. 53-83.

Landow, G.P. and J. Skipper. Wages, the Cost of Living, Contemporary equivalents to Victorian Money. Hp. 1999 [Copyright]. Online. Houston, Texas. Available: http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/economics/wages.html. Accessed on April 1, 2001.

Tillotson, Kathleen. "A Background for A Christmas Carol". The Dickensian 89.3 (1993): 165-169.