Christmas is a time for oft told tales like Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.” At first glance, this story fills us with pity for the Cratchit family, always struggling to make ends meet. Poor Bob Cratchit is forced to work for Ebenezer Scrooge, whose personality makes an easy target for the cause of Bob’s financial troubles. But, the true source of the Cratchits’ poverty is not Scrooge but Bob’s own impulse to live a lifestyle worthy of the Lord Mayor himself.
Bob Cratchit is a clerk and a member of the British middle class. He lives a genteel life. He goes to work with a coat and tie on. His family lives in a four-room house and has a much easier working existence than most of Victorian England. Bob Cratchit earns more than an ample wage.
His salary, we are told, is fifteen shillings a week. The British pound was divided into twenty shillings, and each shilling was divided into twelve pennies or pence. So, Bob Cratchit makes 15 shillings or 180 pence each week-about the wage of a metropolitan police officer and well above the truly needy.
Essays of the Victorian era included titles such as, “How to live on eight shillings a week.” The Cratchit’s daughter, Martha, is apprenticed to a milliner and earns additional income. And Peter, their eldest son, is about to obtain a job earning five shillings and six pence weekly. He, too, is to be a man of business.
So why is the Cratchit family so poor?
Bob Cratchit is a spendthrift, or shopaholic. The shopaholic is one of eight different personality types in Bert Whitehead’s book, “Facing Financial Dysfunction.” Cratchit is on the opposite end of the spectrum from Ebenezer Scrooge. Whereas Scrooge combines greed with a propensity to save, Bob Cratchit combines fear with a propensity to spend.
Spendthrifts are some of the most pleasant people to be around. They are socially outgoing and often demonstrate their own friendliness by buying things for other people.
As a typical spendthrift, Bob was probably raised in poverty. Buying gives spendthrifts great pleasure in life. Spending produces an addictive high and helps them establish their social status. In Bob’s mind, raising his social status mistakenly depends on the amount he spends, not the amount he saves.
For Bob Cratchit, living within a budget and saving money would be like setting out to deprive yourself and suffer. Spendthrifts live for the pleasure of the moment. Eating out or buying clothes are viewed as immediate pleasures for relatively small amounts of money. They do not realize that the purpose of budgeting and saving is to make sure they are spending money on the things they really want instead of frittering it away.
On Christmas Eve, Mr. Scrooge has brought his banker’s book home with him to review all evening. Shopaholics, on the other hand, almost never keep any records of their purchases. But, records would show the Cratchit family that Bob’s spending habits are exposing his family to want and suffering.
Christmas grew in popularity during the Victorian era as a time of feasting and a time for those of stature to show their affluence. During the Victorian era, Christmas was more about food than about giving gifts and the Cratchit family is determined to show that they know how to keep Christmas.
The Cratchits buy a beautiful goose and then admired it for its cheapness. Spendthrifts typically go bankrupt saving money. We are not told what Bob paid for his Christmas goose, but stories of the day suggest that a goose conservatively cost about 400 pence (1.5 Pounds). At this amount, the Cratchit family goose is costing the family a year’s supply of medical attention for the entire family.
Many spendthrifts justify their purchases as “investments.” They often buy jewelry, clothes, or even fancy house wares as an investment to provide themselves an excuse to gain the trappings of a richer lifestyle. This purposeful self-deception shows the depth of a typical spendthrift’s denial. An investment is something which pays you money, not an article of clothing.
But the Cratchit family are typical spendthrifts when it comes to clothing. On Christmas day, Bob Cratchit confers on his son Peter a shirt in honor of his apprenticeship. It was common in the day for the rich to go through the Parks to show off their finery. And Peter is amazed to find himself so gallantly attired that he too is anxious to show off his fashionable new linen in the park.
Even Mrs. Cratchit is described as “brave in ribbons, which are cheap and make a goodly show for sixpence.” Making a good show is important for spendthrifts. Mrs. Cratchit’s ribbons cost about two to three weeks of medical attention for the entire family. Their second daughter, Belinda, is also brave in ribbons too-another three weeks of medical attention.
The Cratchit family is clearly living beyond their means.
While Bob Cratchit fears poverty, he also resents wealth. He is caught in the consumerism of the rising Victorian social and professional class. It is this propensity to spend that is the true cause of the Cratchit family’s lack of means.
The tendency toward over-consumption and immediate gratification isn’t limited to Victorian England. It is nearly the defining character traits of our baby-boomer generation. Like the Cratchit family, our generation has a tendency to blame financial troubles on the more productive members of society.
If Scrooge was shown the starving children of Ignorance and Want, Bob Cratchit would be shown the starving children of Addiction and Entitlement.
Scrooge has earned the financial means necessary to help the Cratchit family, but the Spirits don’t always give us a reformed Scrooge to bail us out of our financial problems. Sometimes they want us to become a reformed Cratchit! Perhaps this is why the Spirits visited Ebenezer? It was easier to make a frugal man generous than it was to make a spendthrift father financially responsible.
Bert Whitehead at the end of his section on shopaholics writes, “Before accepting a client whom I know is a severe shopaholic, I require them to begin intensive psychotherapy with a qualified professional.” That sounds even worse than being haunted by Christmas Spirits!
Photo used here under Flickr Creative Commons.
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David John Marotta is the Founder and President of Marotta Wealth Management. He played for the State Department chess team at age 11, graduated from Stanford, taught Computer and Information Science, and still loves math and strategy games. In addition to his financial writing, David is a co-author of The Haunting of Bob Cratchit.
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FAQs
Cratchit and his family live in poverty because Scrooge is too miserly to pay him a decent wage. Cratchit's son, Tiny Tim, is crippled and sick; according to the Ghost of Christmas Present, Tim will die because the family is too poor to give him the treatment he needs.
How does Bob Cratchit show poverty? ›
The Cratchits are regarded as Dickens's face of the poor in this novella: They are living on the edge as Bob Cratchit can only just afford all the family's needs. Mrs Cratchit's ribbons might be a luxury but they are also a symbol of her desperation to make her dress look new and respectable.
Is the Cratchit family poor? ›
The Cratchit family – The Cratchits give us an insight into what life was like for poor in Victorian. Despite their poverty and ill-health (Tiny Tim) they embody the Christmas spirit with their optimistic outlook and strong sense of family.
How much money does Bob Cratchit make? ›
"Time for your annual reminder that, according to A Christmas Carol, Bob Cratchit makes 15 shillings a week. Adjusted for inflation, that's $530.27/wk, $27,574/yr, or $13.50/hr. "Most Americans on minimum wage earn less than a Dickensian allegory for destitution."
How would you describe Bob Cratchit? ›
Bob Cratchit is Scrooge's clerk and works in unpleasant conditions without complaint. He obeys Scrooge's rules and is timid about asking to go home to his family early on Christmas Eve.
Is Bob Cratchit middle class? ›
Bob Cratchit is a clerk and a member of the British middle class. He lives a genteel life. He goes to work with a coat and tie on. His family lives in a four-room house and has a much easier working existence than most of Victorian England.
Who shows poverty in Christmas carol? ›
The novella shows these contrasts by presenting poverty in the Cratchit household, in the characters of Ignorance and Want who are sheltered by the Ghost of Christmas Present and also in the scene of thieves going through the dead Scrooge's possessions.
Where do we see poverty in A Christmas Carol? ›
Poverty is represented by the character Cratchit who is Scrooge's clerk. He symbolises their two classes through the motif of coal. Scrooge gets as much coal as he likes and gets the bucket to “top it up,” but Cratchit only gets “one piece” and daren't ask for another in case he gets fired.
How is suffering of the poor presented in A Christmas Carol? ›
Through the characters of 'Ignorance and Want' who lurk beneath the spirit's gown, poverty is presented as being incredibly harsh on those that suffer from it. The spirit reveals to Scrooge how their limbs might, “be a claw, for the flesh” upon it.
How would you describe the Cratchit family? ›
Cratchit family, fictional characters, an impoverished hardworking and warmhearted family in A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens. The family comprises Bob Cratchit, his wife, and their six children: Martha, Belinda, Peter, two smaller Cratchits (an unnamed girl and boy), and the lame but ever-cheerful Tiny Tim.
Dickens depicts him as a loving father and husband, which could be interpreted as an idealisation of the lower class. Despite his poor wages and cruel employer, Bob Cratchit remains grateful and compassionate, celebrating Christmas in a way that the significantly richer Scrooge never could.
What are two of the ways we know that the Cratchits are poor? ›
What are two of the ways we know that the Cratchits are poor? Mrs. Cratchit has cheap ribbons, they have a small dinner and worn clothes, Bob is underpaid.
How much is 15 shillings in 1843 worth today? ›
In Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge paid his clerk Bob Cratchit 15 shillings a week. What is the present-day equivalent of those 15 shillings? The MeasuringWorth comparator gives two answers. In 2020, the real wage value of 15 shillings from 1843 is £75.28.
How many hours did Bob Cratchit work? ›
Bob works six days a week, for at least eight hours a day. Yes, Scrooge reluctantly gives Bob Christmas day off, but, for our purposes, we will assume no days off but Sundays. For the first 40 hours of the week, Bob is entitled to at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, or $290.
How much is a shilling worth today? ›
A pound was worth twenty shillings and each shilling was worth a dozen pennies. Today, a shilling from Churchill's England has the purchasing equivalent of 5 pence in the decimal currency system.
What does Bob Cratchit symbolize? ›
Bob is a prime example of the virtues of Christmas and provides the antidote to Scrooge. He is also a symbol of forgiveness – he toasts to Scrooge, despite his horrible work conditions, and in the face of Scrooge's eventual remorse, is open and accepting rather than bitter.
Why is Bob Cratchit important? ›
In the extract, Dickens uses Bob Cratchit to symbolise the poor working conditions of the working classes in the Victorian era. Bob's office is referred to by the noun 'Tank' which has obvious connotations of claustrophobia, imprisonment and containment.
Why is Bob Cratchit called Bob? ›
During the Victorian era the word 'bob' was often used as a slang word for 'shilling'. Therefore, it could certainly be argued that there is greater meaning behind Dickens' choice for Bob Cratchit's name. This is highlighted when he draws attention to it by the pun“Bob had but fifteen 'Bob' a-week himself”.
How much did Bob Cratchit make in A Christmas Carol? ›
“Bob Cratchit was paid, according to 'A Christmas Carol,' 15 shillings a week. The average clerk in an accounting house was paid 11 shillings, 6 pence a week.” So, although Dickens portrays the Cratchit family as poor, de Mesquita says just compare Scrooge's lifestyle with Cratchit's.
Why is it called the middle class? ›
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
EBENEZER SCROOGE (m) ........................ (126 lines) BOB CRATCHIT (m) ................................... (24 lines) MRS. CRATCHIT (f) ...................................
Is Ebenezer Scrooge rich or poor? ›
In Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge learns that he is not truly rich. Since young adulthood Scrooge has clung to money alone, which led to him losing his joy in living, and in return he becomes a "squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner" (Dickens 1358).
Is Ebenezer Scrooge a Millionaire? ›
Plummeting demand for fur coats hit puppy-hating Cruella De Vil especially hard, while playboy billionaire Arthur Bach died from liver failure. Ebenezer Scrooge gave the bulk of his $1.7 billion fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Is Ebenezer Scrooge poor? ›
Despite having considerable personal wealth, he underpays his clerk Bob Cratchit and hounds his debtors relentlessly while living cheaply and joylessly in the chambers of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley. Most of all, he detests Christmas, which he associates with reckless spending.
How does Dickens feel about poverty? ›
' Dickens identified the reality of poverty many years before that. He acknowledged that poverty was not the fault of the people who endured it, but rather, the fault of the establishment, including the government. Indeed, I daresay that he would be of the same view today – that poverty is the fault of the government.
How do you think Dickens feels about poverty? ›
Generally speaking, Dickens believed—and strongly insisted in his work—that crime was a result of poverty and its corollary, ignorance; but despite his sympathetic treatments of characters like Magwitch in Great Expectations, there is a barely-controlled anxiety in many of his works about an unredeemable evil in some ...
What is Dickens telling us about responsibility and poverty? ›
Dickens felt that every individual had a responsibility for those around him or her: Fred describes Christmas as a time when men and women think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys (p.
Who said to a poor one most because it needs it the most in A Christmas Carol? ›
To a poor one most." "Why to a poor one most?" asked Scrooge. "Because it needs it most." "Spirit," said Scrooge, after a moment's thought; "I wonder you, of all the Beings in the many Worlds about us, should desire to cramp these people's opportunities of innocent enjoyment."
What did Scrooge say about the poor? ›
I help to support the establishments I have mentioned: they cost enough: and those who are badly off must go there.” “Many can't go there; and many would rather die.” “If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”
What is Scrooges attitude towards the poor? ›
Scrooge is apathetic about the plight of the poor. He believes that his taxes pay for the prisons and workhouses, so he doesn't feel the needs to donate anything to charity. He suggests that if they would rather die, "they had better do it", and "decrease the surplus population".
Mrs Cratchit
HIGH MEZZO SOPRANO Female, 30's, a strong woman with a heart of gold. She is loving and caring to her family and like a lioness in her protection of them. She can stand her ground, as she does to Scrooge.
Why did Dickens want to help the poor? ›
Dickens was a social reformer and was devoted to helping poor people in society. This was due to Dickens' own experiences with debtors prison, which forced him to drop out of school as a boy and work at a factory.
How is poverty presented in A Christmas Carol quotes? ›
Terms in this set (6)
- "Many thousands are in want of common Necessaries" quote from a charity collector. ...
- "brave in ribbons" ...
- "reeked with crime, and filth, and misery" ...
- "If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population" ...
- "This boy is ignorance, this girl is want" ...
- "Dismal little cell"
Inflation in 1843 and its effect on dollar value
$1 in 1842 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $0.90 in 1843. The dollar had an average deflation rate of -9.76% per year since 1842, producing a cumulative price change of -9.76%.
What is a $100 in 1984 worth today? ›
$100 in 1984 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $286.83 today, an increase of $186.83 over 38 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 2.81% per year between 1984 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 186.83%.
How much is 1 pound in 1919 worth today? ›
The British pound has lost 98% its value since 1919
£100 in 1919 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £6,102.40 today, an increase of £6,002.40 over 103 years. The pound had an average inflation rate of 4.07% per year between 1919 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 6,002.40%.
How much is 15 shillings a week in american money? ›
Converted to dollars at today's exchange rate, that's $6,712.11.
What is Bob Cratchit quotes? ›
Bob Cratchit Quotes
- “Mr. Scrooge!” said Bob; “I'll give you Mr. ...
- “A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!” ...
- “As good as gold,” said Bob, “and better. ...
- “A poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty-fifth of December!” said Scrooge, buttoning his great-coat to the chin.
15 Shilling = 0.260837 US Dollar (USD)
Do shillings still exist? ›
shilling, former English and British coin, nominally valued at one-twentieth of a pound sterling, or 12 pence. The shilling was also formerly the monetary unit of Australia, Austria, New Zealand, and Ireland. Today it is the basic monetary unit in Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The angel, first issued in 1461 with a value of 80 pence (6s8d), was raised to 90 pence (7/6) in 1526, and then further to 96 pence (8s0d) in 1544.
How much was half a crown? ›
The British half crown was a denomination of sterling coinage worth 1⁄8 of one pound, or two shillings and six pence (abbreviated "2/6", familiarly "two and six"), or 30 (old) pence.
Are the Cratchits poor in A Christmas Carol? ›
Dickens uses the cratchit family as poor in the whole novel because they are spending time together at christmas. Bob cratchit wishes all his family by saying, “A Merry Christmas to us, all, my dears. God bless us.” This suggests they are full of joy and happiness.
How is the Cratchit family described? ›
Cratchit family, fictional characters, an impoverished hardworking and warmhearted family in A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens. The family comprises Bob Cratchit, his wife, and their six children: Martha, Belinda, Peter, two smaller Cratchits (an unnamed girl and boy), and the lame but ever-cheerful Tiny Tim.
Which characters represents the poor in A Christmas Carol? ›
Poverty is represented by the character Cratchit who is Scrooge's clerk. He symbolises their two classes through the motif of coal.
How much is 10 bob? ›
The Bank of England 10 shilling note (notation: 10/–), colloquially known as the 10 bob note was a sterling banknote. Ten shillings in £sd (written 10s or 10/–) was half of one pound.
Why is Bob Cratchit called bob? ›
During the Victorian era the word 'bob' was often used as a slang word for 'shilling'. Therefore, it could certainly be argued that there is greater meaning behind Dickens' choice for Bob Cratchit's name. This is highlighted when he draws attention to it by the pun“Bob had but fifteen 'Bob' a-week himself”.
How much money does Ebenezer Scrooge have? ›
Plummeting demand for fur coats hit puppy-hating Cruella De Vil especially hard, while playboy billionaire Arthur Bach died from liver failure. Ebenezer Scrooge gave the bulk of his $1.7 billion fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
What is Bob Cratchits purpose? ›
In the extract, Dickens uses Bob Cratchit to symbolise the poor working conditions of the working classes in the Victorian era. Bob's office is referred to by the noun 'Tank' which has obvious connotations of claustrophobia, imprisonment and containment.
What kind of character is Bob Cratchit? ›
Bob was a very kind and merciful person; he forgave everyone. The image of Bob Cratchit was created by Dickens to show the importance of family. As you know, Scrooge did not have good family relations. The spirit wanted to show him the warmth of the family fire, to get to his heart.
