Great Expectations: Chapter Analysis

In stave 3 Dickens introduces two children called Ignorance and Want who are described as: ‘wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable.’ This list of negative adjectives makes the reader empathise with the young children as they are innocent and haven’t chosen to live this saddening life. Dickens also used the adjectives scowling, wolfish’ to describe the children which is describing them as wolves and monsters, indicating that they have been neglected to live like savages. Poor people, throughout Dickens’ time, were expected to live a life of crime which also emphasises Dickens imagery of “savages.”

Throughout the extract Dickens suggests that these two children are ‘man’s’ showing that he is trying to make the reader see that by not helping those less fortunate than ourselves and the rich people, then you are turning them into creatures that are shown here. During the 19th century
By using children as synecdoches (Ignorance, Want and Tiny Tim) he makes sure that the reader feels sympathetic and focus on the troubles a majority of people in London were suffering with. He is able to empathise the social injustice caused by the ignorant rich people (like Scrooge) by using these young, fragile children as representatives of the poorer social classes. Dickens personifies age as a ‘shriveled hand’ and says that it ‘twisted them, and pulled them into shreds.’ This means that they are looking old where they should be youthful due to the adult responsibilities they face as they have been neglected by society.

A Christmas Carol is a Christian allegory it highlights the importance of repenting and correcting your sins. Dicken shows that if Scrooge carries on his ways he will be stopping the children from returning to a “normal” state. This is suggested when the ghost of Christmas present states ‘unless the writing be erased’, this can be accomplished by Scrooge