In A Christmas Carol, Dickens deliberately and defiantly comments on the society which was 19thCentury England. As his own life gives context to his commentary, Dickens discusses what he sees as the moral and social imperatives of the time. As the two are inextricably bound both are addressed in an attempt to bring about the change he argues is necessary of an empathetic and just society. The inequity between the rich and the poor and societies ignorance in sight of this lack of social justice is central to this novella. The novella starts with Scrooge being a cold hearted, bitter old man, that has no care what so ever with the poor.
DICKENS SHOWS THE READERS THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE CANNOT BE MEASURED. DISCUSS Charles Dickens’ novella “A Christmas Carol” portrays the precipice humanity faces when overcome with greed and material wealth. A Christmas Carol has the purpose of educating society on how they need to change unless they want to be met with a bleak future. Dickens represents these changes through the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge, who embodies what most upper class people of society valued in the 1800s. Through this, Dickens is able to show readers that the things we should value most in life are priceless, and are the key to ultimately finding happiness.
"Because I fell in love." "Because you fell in love!" Scrooge thought Christmas was a waste of money and family was just another unneeded expense. He could not believe that love was worth the expense that having a wife and family would cost. Dickens describes Scrooge’s attitude to the poor when later in the evening two gentlemen call round collecting for the poor and destitute.
Netherland’s Emperor Charles V stated, “If begging for alms is permitted to everyone indiscriminately, many errors and abuse will result for they will fall into idleness, which is the beginning of all evil” (Doc.4). Charles V made the point in which it lead the Netherlands to become a welfare state, it could greatly influence the economy in which individuals would take advantage of the system and not do their job. Although the poor was looked down upon by many there were positive efforts done to help them thanks to nobles and others including religious priests, one who stated that the poor needs to be looked after and taken care of and those who help them will have direct entrance into heaven for their good deeds (Doc. 1). During a time in which
This makes the audience think that helping other people is good and that being selfish makes you look bad so that’s why they shouldn’t be selfish and help other people. Priestly wants to make them change and realise that this is wrong. J.B Priestley uses the character Mr Birling to illustrate the treatment of the lower class people in Nineteenth Century. He highlights this through Mr Birling where we learn that Mr Birling doesn’t care about the lower class people and the workers in his factory. Mr Birling says: “Have you got any idea what happened to her after that?
An Inspector Calls can be seen as a morality play, as it teaches a lesson, as well as conveying morality through Priestley's eyes, with the main aim being to show that capitalism has an effect on all members of society, in very different ways. He attempts to show that most of the public suffer due to the lack of moral fibre, which makes the audience sympathise with the plight of the lower-class. It is key that the play is set in 1912, as it was a difficult time. There were food shortages, strikes and continuous political tension. The audience are also aware that during this time, the world was on the verge of war.
Priestley uses a range of language and theatrical devices to criticise the selfishness of people such as the Birling family. To begin with, Birling shows his lack of understanding and disrespect for the working class. This is show. When he says, "If you don't come down sharply on some of these people, they'd soon be asking for the Earth." This shows a lack of compassion by Birling, as he only cares about his wealth and status, and the profits he can gain from his factories.
Mrs. Birling to display the greed and ignorance of aristocracy before the war. He shows them as selfish and ignorant and unwilling to admit their mistakes. Mr Birling is stereotyped by Priestly as a pride filled, over confidant,”rather portentous man in his middle fifties but rather provincial in his speech." Some examples of ths are “I say you can ignore all this silly pessimistic talk” and “we're in for a time of steadily increasing prosperity.” Similarly Mrs. Birling is displayed as stuck up and someone who enjoys looking down on other people also Priestley gives us the impression that she thinks wealth and status only are important. Priestly portrays her as a woman obsessed with how she and her family are perceived with in 'high society'.
The Devil which is a parallel to money is a motif so people such that in Tom's position, will borrow money from him. The Devil has essentially converted Tom into his spawn, as he is doing the same thing the Devil once did to him. The greed and money ultimately resulted in his death, and Tom's userer subjects led the end of their lives because of the debt they had to pay. The subjects indulged in the thought of free money, easily accessible money, ruining their lives, which is what the 'Devil' quiescently did to Tom Walker. This quote portrays the greed contained in people, "He was on the point of foreclosing a mortgage, by which he would complete the ruin of an unlucky land-speculator for whom he had professed the greatest friendship."
Voltaire shows how Candide slowly realizes this logic when he encounters constant conflict and disaster after leaving the Baron’s castle and his old “perfect world”. Candide sees how almost everyone in this world acts selfishly only to reap benefits for themselves and take away from their fellow humanity. Some people probably think that Voltaire may come off as a pessimistic, but he really is just trying to show how foolish optimistic people and corrupt religion can be when you live in a world that constantly challenges you and makes you suffer so much. Essentially Voltaire is trying to tell us that the happiness of humanity is impossible, because the only “real” life is the life where you endure good things and bad things and not the life where you live in the best of all worlds and have no problems and everything is handed to