A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens A Christmas carol is a novella written by Charles Dickens during the Victorian times in London. It is said that the author throughout the “novella” shows how people can change by having the opportunity to think over their own actions. Moreover, Dickens shows that personal greed leads to loneliness, while kindness and generosity lead to personal happiness. Last but not least, the writer deals with the concepts of charity, family and money as moral messages. To start with, in the story, Ebenezer Scrooge has no feelings towards his family or acquaintances and holds a strictly professional relationship with them, creating a hostile bond between them.
Dickens however was sent to work in a warehouse with other child labourers. Dickens wrote ‘A Christmas Carol in the mid 1800’s and due to having had this background and experiences, the main purpose of ‘A Christmas Carol’, and many other novels not just by Dickens at the time, was a social commentary and to draw the attention of the readers to the hardships faced by the poor at the time. The story and message of a text can be closely linked. ‘A Christmas Carol’ is about a man named Scrooge and his journey to discover the true meaning of Christmas and the importance of being a good person. This happens through a series of supernatural events include visits from four ghosts and trips to his past, the present and his future, a very bleak one if he doesn’t not change.
The ghost of Christmas yet to come was a quiet, scary cloaked figure and just pointed. The author gives different descriptions for the ghost to make it interesting for the reader and to show the different sides to Scrooge’s personality. Dickens wrote this book for the rich people to know that it is not good not to share with poor people. Scrooge was a selfish man; stingy, greedy and mean. Nobody likes Scrooge and poor people were scared to go near Scrooge.
In Charles Dickens novel ‘A Christmas Carol’ the main character Scrooge makes an astounding modification from being an amoral person to someone who is overcome by many good virtues. At the beginning of the novel Dickens wants us to detest Scrooge. Dickens uses numerous language techniques to show why we as a reader should dislike him. Dickens portrays Scrooge as an icy cold withered man, and ‘tight fisted’. In the opening paragraph he depicts Scrooges personality as ‘wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching.’ Dickens uses these descriptive words in an elongated list, to emphasise powerfully the callous personality Scrooge has.
Although we might not show our selfish intentions we become arrogant and full of ourselves. The Bushman’s custom of bad mouthing is an attempt of enforcing humility that was successful on Mr. Lee. "Eating Christmas in the Kalahari" was a learning experience in the differences in our culture, but also vividly describing the way the Bushman think. They are a society that strongly holds onto humility. Even though they are thankful for Mr. Lee’s generosity they strive to hide their appreciation in order to keep him from feeling superior.
The main protagonist in Charles Dickens famous novella ‘A Christmas carol’ is Ebenezer Scrooge. A selfish and self-centred man, who loves nothing more than money. His way of life changes when three ghosts of Christmas the past, present and future visit him and persuade him to become a better person and honour Christmas day. At first Scrooge was selfish and alone but during the visits of the three ghosts Scrooge slowly changes to a better man and, by the end of the visit of the ghosts, he was a completely different man. He became as good a as “the good old city knew” and even became a “second father to a little, poor boy named Tiny Tim.” Ebenezer Scrooge was a wealthy man in the 19th century.
The jailer made his money by charging the inmates for food and drink and legal services and the whole system was corrupt. One reform of the sixteenth century had been the establishment of the London Bridewell as a house of correction for women and children. This was the only place any medical services were provided. One of the most notable reformer was John Howard who, having visited several hundred prisons across England and Europe, beginning when he was High Sheriff of Bedfordshire, published The State of the Prisons in 1777. He was particularly appalled to discover prisoners who had been acquitted but were still confined because they couldn't pay the jailer's fees.
The plotters The lower ground floor vault of the House of Lords where the gunpowder was stored . Their first meeting was on 20 May 1604. Catesby was joined by his friends Thomas Wintour, Jack Wright and Thomas Percy at the Duck and Drake, in the Strand. The fifth person was Guy Fawkes. Originally from York, he had been recruited in Flanders, where he had been serving in the Spanish Army.
It was considered a blessing, to care for these men; therefore the homeless were considered blessed by God. Moving toward the middle Ages the homeless were classified as “wandering poor” (Martin, p173). The wandering poor were men who usually migrated from one place to the next for employment opportunities. There were specific laws that had to be followed. These laws were known as the English Poor Laws.
Faith affecting the community The Salvation Army was founded in London's East End in 1865 by William Booth and his wife Catherine. Originally the organization was called the East London Christian Mission. He set it up because a lot of churches in Victorian times were all about image, if you were poor you either couldn't go, or had a sit pretty much on the floor, William made the Salvation Army a place where everyone was equal and could worship together. Also he wanted his church to be helpful to others, some churches then would do nothing for others but the Salvation Army was to also a sort of charity, in the name of god. Street teams run handing out warm clothes, blankets, food and hot drinks to people sleeping on the streets.