I’ve been working on A Christmas Carol with Year 10 and thought it might be interesting to look at social responsibility. As an author, he made it his goal to reform England as best he could. Required fields are marked *, Why I love…Social Responsibility in A Christmas Carol. However, if the wealthy businessmen, such as Scrooge stood up and took their social responsibility seriously, then this indignity could have been stopped. A Christmas Carol has attracted generations of readers with its clear parable-like structure and compelling ghost story. Past, Present and Future – The Threat of Time. This is shown through scrooge’s character, and how he treats people somewhat below him in the social hierarchy as a man quite high in society and how he treats them after he has been visited by the spirits. https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Victorian-Workhouse/, English teacher, lover of books, life-long learner, enthusiastic and excitable about teaching In stave one we see the terrible conditions that Bob endures in the counting house “dismal cell”, “one coal” and “tried to warm himself at the candle” showing that in mid-winter Bob’s working environment is cold, cramped and miserable which is a purposeful decision to save money by Scrooge. Scrooge in the beginning of the novella is presented as a miserly, miserable, uncharitable and unkind protagonist, who appears to represent everything that Dickens believes is wrong within society. A Christmas Carol | Answers 1. p.15 Stretch it! This highlights how money was deemed much more important by employers than the health, happiness or prosperity of their employees. Get Revising is one of the trading names of The Student Room Group Ltd. Register Number: 04666380 (England and Wales), VAT No. Dickens, as a campaigner for social justice and advocate for the rights of man, would perhaps have welcomed the reforms that were brought about as a result of the Beveridge Report. © Copyright Get Revising 2021 all rights reserved. As their circumstances stand Tim is stoic and endures his suffering well and charitably. Dickens introduces the first inkling that social responsibility and being kind to others as an important message in the novella in Stave One when Scrooge sits in his counting house in the cold and “two portly gentlemen” come in. Dickens uses the novel to get across his message that the rich must help the poor in order for the world to be improved, and that it is the rich's responsibility to help the poorest in society. This dramatic irony highlights that Scrooge is prepared to change his ways. The Ghost of the Past shows Scrooge what it is like to live in a warm-hearted, kind and caring way and that it is not or has not been beyond him previously. He visited a school in 1843 and was appalled by what he saw there. A CHRISTMAS CAROL - POVERTY (SIMPLY (Dickens had his own personal…: A CHRISTMAS CAROL - POVERTY , SABBATARIANISM - Victorian Practice of going to Church on a Sunday and resting - Dickens was against this as he believed it denied the poor the chance of enjoying their day of The “two portly gentlemen” although minor characters with a fleeting appearance in stave one represents societies wider ignorance of the plight of the poor and their willingness to turn a blind eye, while also highlighting that not everyone was doing this. Dickens presents this ideology through the main protagonist Scrooge, who is at the start unworthy of redemption, slowly shown the error of his ways by a serious of ghosts and then finally in Stave 5 clearly capable of … ^I wear the chain I forged in life Marleys chains are a symbol of greed. Revision sheets containing key quotes and context points and differentiated revision tasks 2. Dickens is pointing out that to avoid this, society must address the lack of education received by the poor. He cares little for his employees or anyone else. Social responsibility is highlighted through Scrooge’s actions towards those trying to help the poor, his behaviour as an avaristic and cruel employer and his behaviour towards anyone who he should love (Fred and Belle as examples). This shows the negative attitude of the middle classes towards the poor. They were feared by ordinary people as only the most desperate and wretched people would go there for help. Essentially, Dickens message seems to be that death is an equaliser and once dead it doesn’t matter how much money you had in life, you can’t take it with you and it won’t benefit you once you are dead. A Christmas Carol was written by Dickens after the Industrial Revolution (1843), when England was rapidly developing Industrialisation The focus shifted to towns, particularly in the North, away from typical land, and an agarian economy - this was reflected by a large movement of people to towns Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Throughout the novella, it is evident in the portrayal of Scrooge and other minor characters that the supernatural are used to highlight the social injustice faced by many in London. By reinforcing the miserly presentation of Scrooge and almost making him a caricature at the start, then following him in a journey of redemption, we see that our actions today matter and living a good, moral life, with consideration to the impact we have on others is hugely important. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Why I love…Closed Book for GCSE Literature, Why I love…How – What – Why – Emotional Response for Analysis, Why I love…Challenging perceptions of drugs with students, Why I love…Considering Evaluation Style Questions, Why I love… Writing at the same time as the class, Why I love … Religion in A Christmas Carol, Why I love…Engagement in Y13 & Hamlet Podcasting, Why I love… The Power of Three for Revising, Why I love… Going back to basics: Instructions, Why I love… Shakespeare (& think teaching it is so important), Why I love…Considering Leadership Qualities, Why I love…Easter & reading: the Carnegie shortlist, Why I love… Engaging Revision or ‘The Final Push’, Why I love… Thinking about Transactional Writing, Why I love… Developing 2A: Non-Fiction Reading Unit @Eduqas_English, Why I love…Encouraging Revision @Eduqas_English, Why I love… teaching the Language Reading Paper, Why I love… Assessment policy development for the New GCSE @Eduqas_English, Why I love… Considering Context @Eduqas Poetry Anthology, What I love… about unpicking the Eduqas Language Fiction Paper 1A (A4 & A5 Only), What I love… unpicking the Eduqas Language Fiction Paper 1A (A1 – A3 Only), Why I love thinking about classroom displays…, Why I love… #lovetoRead My Desert Island Books, Why I love…The A5 Fiction/A4 Non-Fiction Evaluation Question, Why I Love…Blog Series 18: Mametz Wood By Sheers, Why I love… Scaffolding the Tension and Drama – Structure Question for @Eduqas_English, Why I love…Scaffolding: Language Analysis Questions, Why I love…Blog Series: Introducing Context (War focus), Why I love…Scaffolding: Comprehension A1 Fiction Language @Eduqas_English, Why I love…Blog Series 17: Ozymandias by Shelley, Why I Love…Building Girls’ Confidence: My #WomenEdSW session, Why I love…Strategies for stretch and challenge, Why I love… Developing Analysis using Triplets, Why I love…Blog Series 16: Dulce et Decorum Est by Owen, Why I Love… Blog Series 15: Afternoons by Larkin, Why I love… Vocabulary Improvement Strategies, Why I love…Blog series 14: To Autumn by Keats, Why I love…Embedding Knowledge Organisers into learning, Why I love…Whole Class Feedback & Other Time-Saving Feedback Strategies, Why I love…Blog Series 13: Hawk Roosting by Hughes, Why I Love… Live Modelling for across the curriculum, Why I love…Blog Series 12: Death of a Naturalist by Heaney, Why I love…Blog Series 11: A Wife in London by Hardy, Why I love…Blog Series 10: Valentine by Duffy, Why I love…Eduqas Blog Series 9: Cozy Apologia by Dove, Why I love…Eduqas Blog Series 8: As Imperceptibly as Grief By Dickinson, Why I love…Literature Examiner key considerations, Why I love…Eduqas Anthology: Blog Series 7 Living Space by Dharker, Why I love…Unpicking the Eduqas Examiners report – Literature, Why I love…Unpicking the Eduqas Examiners report – Language, Why I love…Eduqas Anthology: Blog Series 6 – She Walks in Beauty Byron, Why I love…Eduqas Anthology: Blog Series 5 – The Soldier by Rupert Brooke, Why I love…Eduqas Anthology: Blog Series 4 – London by Blake, Why I love…Eduqas Anthology: Blog Series 3 Sonnet 43, Why I love…Eduqas Anthology: Blog Series 2 – The Manhunt, Why I love…A Christmas Carol Stave 5 – Extract Only Example – Redemption, Why I love…Death in stave 4: A Christmas Carol, Why I love…Poverty (or not) in A Christmas Carol: Stave 3, Why I love…A Christmas Carol: Stave 2 Family & Redemption & the Supernatural, Why I love…Supernatural in Stave 1: A Christmas Carol, Why I love… Teaching through themes: A Christmas Carol, Why I love… A Christmas Carol: blog collection, Why I love… A Christmas Carol: blog collection – susansenglish, Why I love…Animal Farm – Chapter 5 – Divisive Behaviour, Why I Love…Thinking about differences between teaching remotely versus in class, Why I love…Comparing poems “Poppies” and “The Emigree” AQA Power and Conflict, Why I love…Verbal Questioning for The Emigree by Carol Rumens @AQA Power and Conflict, Why I love…Verbal Questioning for Poppies @AQA Power and Conflict Anthology, Why I love…Verbal Questioning for Remains by Simon Armitage @AQA Power and Conflict. In this era, the welfare state, was not in existence and this meant that families like the Cratchit’s were offered no assistance from the state, their only option would have been to fall back on the workhouses, which as recognised earlier would have been a shameful, degrading and embarrassing experience. The moral is still of relevance … Dickens throughout the novella uses Scrooge’s reprehensible behaviour to highlight the evil, the ills, the poverty, the social class differences, the avarice and the mean-spirited nature of some members of the human race, while reminding us through stave five that redemption is possible. Dickens felt that every individual had a responsibility for those around him or her: Fred describes Christmas as a time when men and women 'think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys' (p. 5). You’re rich enough” which while comical is a quick rejoinder to Scrooge and should give him pause for thought. View all posts by susansenglish, Your email address will not be published. Summary. Scrooge is apathetic about the plight of the poor. How does Dickens in A Christmas Carol imply that the whole of mankind need to be more involved in taking social responsibility seriously? On Christmas Day Tim said “he hoped that people saw him in church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to then to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk and blind men see.” which reinforces through the eyes of the innocent that we all have a social responsibility to remember those less fortunate than ourselves. AQA Power and Conflict. It was a school for the poorest children to teach them basic reading … That expression was used by Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens’ 1843 novella “A Christmas Carol” because he hates Christmas – it disrupts his business and profits. Dickens in ‘A Christmas Carol’ implies, as well as actually telling his Victorian audience that they must take their social responsibility much more seriously through his portrayal of a range of characters. Greed, Generosity and Forgiveness. In Stave One, Scrooge is initially described as a character with little care for those around him; he was a ‘squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, covetous old sinner… hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had … Mankind needs to be more socially responsible and that message is reinforced in modern times through: the climate change movement championed by Greta Thurnburg; the upsurge of food banks in the country that shows the welfare state is not coping with the demands of modern society; and the rising number of homeless people who have nowhere to go. Within ‘A Christmas Carol’, Scrooges redemption, as initiated by the Ghost of Jacob Marley, is central to Dickens’ message regarding the importance of social responsibility. Shows Scrooge doesn't care for the plight of the poor. Mrs Dilber, the laundress, the undertaker’s mand and Old Joe reinforce the suffering of the poor and the lows that they have to stoop to in order to survive. It is a simple yet powerful allegorical message that Dickens packages in the guise of a ghost story, an oral storytelling tradition that many families would have loved partaking in around the fire at Christmas time. The last ghost approaches, but is shrouded in a black garment so that all Scrooge can … He goes beyond simple … Scrooge, not only rejects his social responsibility towards unknown poor people, he rejects his social responsibility towards family too. Quotes: The greatest pleasure in A Christmas Carol is watching Scrooge's transformation from money-pinching grouch to generous gentleman. How does dickens explore the theme of social responsibility in Victorian England? Related Historical Events:The impoverished state of London in Dickens’ lifetime is a big influence of the story. Looking at the themes of money, poverty, and social responsibility in Dickens' novella, and how the Cratchit family is used to discuss this theme. "Never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket""has done me good" - Fred emphasises that there are more important things than money The people who went to workhouses for help and support were stuck in an endless rut of being unable to earn their own way in the world, often had no fixed address and once in the workhouse system were often stuck. A CHRISTMAS CAROL: A miraculous story of community, social responsibility, and spiritual redemption. Therefore, it appears that Dickens believes that we are all capable of being a little kinder and a little more socially aware and that message stands the test of time as we are still able to relate the message in A Christmas Carol to the social ills in society in the twentieth century and recognise the parallels in the allegorical tale. Context match up sheet 3. 806 8067 22, Registered office: International House, Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XE, AQA English Literature - A Christmas Carol Themes, The complete guide to grade 9 A Christmas Carol gcse, The theme of Christmas in A Christmas Carol », Predictions for tomorrows Literature Paper 1? In A Christmas Carol these include Christmas, redemption and social injustice. Here Dickens is showing how familial social responsibility is also important, as well as reminding us that Christmas is a time for spending time with those you love and that we have a social responsibility to uphold the time of year as sacred and special in keeping with Christian beliefs. What I love… Education based blog by @susansenglish. (Macbeth + Christmas Carol) », WJEC EDUQAS English Litrature 2017 Paper 2 My predictions », Macbeth and a Christmas carol. When the Ghost of the Present arrives, we see the utter misery but juxtaposing joy that the Cratchit family suffer from as a result of their poverty, which reinforces the message Dickens wanted to give to the upper and middle classes about being humane to their employees. He exposes the unfair treatment of the poor, and shows that the stereotypes that the poor are lazy are untrue, which he does by using the Cratchits, in order to show what living in poverty is like. Tiny Tim exemplifies this as he is crippled “a crutch without an owner” and the Ghost of the Present repeats Scrooge’s words back to him to show how inhumane he is “if he be like to die, he better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” Again, this example shows that Scrooge has failed in his social responsibility as he could pay Bob more money and this would potentially allow the Cratchit family to pay to see a doctor. In stave four, we are shown the uncaring way the businessmen behave about the death of Scrooge, although the dramatic irony here means that Scrooge is unaware. Includes: 1. Analysis. Furthermore, Scrooge is shown to regret in a slight manner his rejection of Fred, when the Ghost of the Past, helps him revisit his sister Fan in stave two. Social injustice in a Christmas Carol Dickens felt strongly that Victorian society ignored the poverty of its underclass. He makes money and goes home every night. Scrooge’s social responsibility to look after his own family has clearly been put to one side, but Fred maintains his cheerful demeanour and furthermore in his dialogue gives Scrooge a speech about the goodness inherent in Christmas: “as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, where men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”. The Ghost of Christmas Present shelters under his robe two pathetic figures that look like starving children. In this essay I will look at how Dickens explores the theme of social responsibility in Victorian England. Free online lessons for students across a variety of UK school curriculum subjects His nephew, Fred, is rejected by Scrooge and he shows that he has no desire to be kind towards him either. We later see the Cratchit family and the suffering that the whole family endure at the hands of Scrooge’s poor employment in stave three “such a goose” is the exaggerated way the whole family discuss the small goose that feed them all but the description by Dickens of “sufficient dinner” belies the fact that it was a paltry amount of food for the whole family to enjoy. Your email address will not be published. xx Thankyouuu The 2 portly gentlemen are the reader first introduction to responsibility. Bob Cratchit and his family clearly represent the sacred nature of Christmas throughout the novella, but again Dickens highlights a major failing in the Victorian era of employers in relation to employees in several important ways. How does Dickens in A Christmas Carol imply that the whole of mankind need to be more involved in taking social responsibility seriously? In this way Dickens is able to manipulate the reader’s interests to create a tale with a serious message while imparting it in a light hearted and entertaining way. "Dismal little cell" - Scrooge mistreats his employee Bob who has to work in terrible conditions but can't get out of it as he wouldn't be able to survive. Dickens knew this and campaigned against this and perhaps the repetition in Stave three of A Christmas Carol, by the Ghost of the Present, of Scrooge’s callous disregard for the poor is a reminder that all mankind of the time had a social responsibility to object to the cruelty of the workhouses and indeed the prisons. Dickens is implying that Scrooge had lost sight of the core benefits of having family.
Pick Up Limes Beet Soup, Starmark Pro Shop, Avengers Campus Rides, Pat-down Search Techniques, Guildford Borough Council Parking Office Phone Number, Independent Living Resource Center Albuquerque, Nm, Medieval Sports Colf, Country Road Tv Dvd,