Poverty and Social Responsibility Flashcards
‘I cannot afford to make idle people merry’
L - verb
L - adjective
Scrooge believes the poor are idle and it is their own business to look after themselves. He chooses to not help them as he thinks that it is not his responsibility.
‘with my eyes turned down and never raise them to that blessed star’
L - religious imagery
Marley questions why he never noticed the conditions of the poor in his life and was ignorance to them as now he is being tormented for not helping them.
Perhaps using religious imagery is a way of Dickens saying how the Victorian Christian should be a good christian and help the poor instead of just going to church.
‘mankind was my business’
Jacob Marley tells Scrooge that he has social responsibility in helping the poor.
‘my clerk, with fifteen shilling a week, a wife and family’
The Cratchits are poor but it is no fault of their own. Bob is hard-working and kind while his son Peter also works to support the family. They still struggle for money is simply because they are badly paid.
‘the insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brother in the dust’
L - metaphor
Scrooge and the rich have plenty, just like the insects has the leaf to feed on. They should no judge their hungry brothers but they should share what they have as they are all equal in Heaven no matter their wealth.
‘meagre’
‘ragged’
‘scowling’
L - adjectives
Ignorance and Want are described to be in poor state which appears to be caused by poverty.
Dickens hopes to provoke guilt in his middle class readers and help them to overcome their ignorance.
‘devils’
L - metaphor
The two children are described to be devils reflecting the consequences of poverty and the neglect of society.
‘doom’
The Ghost of Christmas Presence tells Scrooge to be most afraid of Ignorance as mankind is going to be ‘doomed’ if it continues to ignore poverty. They have the social responsibility to work together for the common good instead of ignoring them.
‘patted children on the head, questioned beggars’
L - active verbs
This demonstrates how Scrooge actively tries to change his life and becomes a better man. He chooses to interact with the less fortunate in the society.
‘including a great many back payment’
L - adjective
Scrooge chooses to donate a large sum of money to help the poor to compensate his miserliness and to make amends for his sins in the past because he understands his social moral duty to help the poor as he has seen the impacts of ignorance and wants.
