Families were very important in Victorian times, and tended to be quite large. Dickens had a large family and was one of eight children. Despite being relatively well-off, Dickens saw himself as a “very small and not-over-particularly-taken-care-of boy", and at the age of 12 his father was sent to a debtors prison and Dickens had to work to help support his family. Because of this, Dickens felt that he could empathise with all families, and sought to highlight the plight of struggling families in much of his writing.
Scrooge's attitude to family
The Cratchit family
Scrooge's attitude to family
- At the start, Scrooge doesn't seem particularly interested in his only remaining family member, Fred. He mocks him, his love and his beliefs.
- Despite Fred inviting Scrooge to Christmas dinner, and his persistent attempts to get along with his uncle, Scrooge repeats “`Good afternoon,'” several times in a bid to get him to leave. This shows Scrooge's seemingly uncaring nature.
- Scrooge was left at school, alone, as a child. Perhaps this is reason for his lack of interest in his family.
The Cratchit family
- Dickens created this family to generate pity from the middle and upper classes and he continues to pull on our heartstrings. Despite being poor, and suffering the hardships and emotional toil of having a sickly child, the Cratchits are a happy and loving family.
- Bob and Mrs. Cratchit struggle because their family is large: there are six children - Martha, Belinda, Peter, two unnamed "young Cratchits", and Tiny Tim.
- Bob is a mild man who is badly treated by Scrooge, but echoes the generosity of Fred.
- It is the love and kindness seen in the Cratchit household, particularly from Tiny Tim, that most causes Scrooge to change. Despite being ill, Tiny Tim says “God bless us everyone!” and asks God to bless not only his family, but Scrooge and every single living human being.
- In Stave Four we see how the family pull together and console one-another after the death of Tiny Tim – this is a stark contrast to the lack of emotion felt by people at the death of Scrooge.