Cratchits Flashcards
Dickens intentions
Cratchits are a symbol of morality and communal values, reinforcing that despite their lack of material wealth they are superior morally
Bob is a microcosm of the exploited poor- family is benevolent yet subjected to immense unjust suffering, to humanise the struggles of the working classes and prompt readers to reconsider societal misconceptions
‘Clerk’
SELFISHNESS/MATERIALISM
SOCIAL INJUSTICE/POVERTY
Lack of identity-Symbolic of dehumanisation and marginalisation experienced by working class in Victorian era
•deliberate omission of his name shows how societal attitudes stripped the poor of their identity, reducing them to mere cogs in machinery
•bobs anonymity highlights the motif of social inequality and the power dynamics between the upper and lower classes- under oppressive thumb of capitalist greed
‘I’ll give you Mr Scrooge,the founder of the feast’’
SELFISHNESS/MATERIALISM
SOCIAL INJUSTICE/POVERTY
KINDNESS/FAMILY
‘Founder’- connotes creator ship, Bob sees Scrooge as quasi-divine reverence, granting and blessing him with the ability to afford what he deems as luxuries
•reinforced through their gratitude towards a ‘goose’ , using superlative ‘rarest’
•Ironic as goose was cheap bird to replace turkey in Victorian era
•Disheartening reality of how poor feel indebted and blindly grateful to those who exploit them- highlights dickens scathing critique of systemic injustices within Victorian society
•exclamation mark shows fervent gratitude and the power of true wealth
