A Christmas Carol suggests that there are different kinds of poverty. To what extent do you agree?

It is standard human curiosity that prompts the practice of delving into allegorical texts with hopes of surfacing with some obscure message buried by the author in its pages. However when no greater meaning is found, overly complex interpretations are devised for some satisfaction. Such is the case in Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol where the novella is incorrectly proposed to contain many categories of poverty. The condition of having minimal material goods can only be applied to those who lack physical things, such as food and money. While it could be assumed that Dickens implied a more abstract-poverty; such as an emotional poverty or a poverty of awareness, this is but a misinterpretation of flawed characters that Dickens highlighted in society. Material poverty is the most rife form of penury in the world of A Christmas Carol and becomes a major topic. Dickens conveys the struggle of the destitute continually with the impoverished existing in an innumerable quantity and in dire conditions. Ebenezer Scrooge is informed of the many thousands who are in want of common necessities and many without common comforts. The proposed pleasure to offer the poor at Christmas time is meat and drink and means of warmth; typically, these would be seen as basic essentials not as an indulgence, exemplifying the extent of the deprivation. Scrooge soon learns how rich this deprivation is with the Ghost of Christmas Present who reveals its abundance in almshouse, hospital, and jail, in misery's every refuge. So prolific are the poor that the establishments created to reduce this poverty under the Poor Laws are in full vigour. Indicating how prominent the impoverished populations were in society. Thus poverty in the physical sense is indubitably common in the novel, however, the presence of any other poverty is delusional. To say that there is any another form of poverty would require loose assumptions about Dickens and his novel to be made, yet it is understandable why they could be made. Being an allegorical narrative, subliminal messages are sought for and symbolism expected. Emotional poverty could be assumed in the character Scrooge who lacks any compassion towards his fellow-passengers in his world. Being described as solitary as an oyster Scrooge liked avoiding the crowded paths of life. He himself warned all human sympathy to keep a distance so as to maintain his isolation from emotions. Moreover his mentality that the common welfare was not [his] business Scrooge lacked any sympathy for his the poor. Certainly Dickens is not in support of characters such as Scrooge; hence he undergoes a moral transformation to then possess the desired traits that Dickens encourages. Since Scrooge is the embodiment of a cluster of the higher social class, this can therefore be seen as a mentality that applies to a group. This evidence insinuates that a

greater populace like Scrooge lack compassion to such a degree. So like Scrooge, that they share his emotional insufficiency. Thus creating the assumption that there could be another form of poverty. Nevertheless, Dickens does not suggest that Scrooges inability to feel creates a hypothetical form of poverty. Scrooge is an imperfect man who personifies a larger group by encompassing their disposition, including their flaws. These unfeeling qualities are shortcomings of Scrooges that Dickens addresses in the novella by having him undergo an alteration to change him from the latter to a as good a manin the good old world with compassion that he has never felt before. Thereby fulfilling his purpose as Dickens vessel to present the ideal characteristics. Additionally, Scrooge quite [likes] his approach to life and is not suffering, he rich enough to live comfortably and has his own business to occupy him constantly. Unlike the destitute who are in actual poverty and in need of the most essential items for life. Therefore Scrooges personality traits do not show a lack of anything that is so hard as poverty that effects scores of citizens, in contrast to one man who represents a privileged few. The widespread lack of basic needs is rigorously examined in A Christmas Carol by Dickens with the emphasis almost exclusively on those who barley have the requirements for life. It is not impossible for it to be suggested that there is more than one form of poverty in action. Such as the emotional drought that Dickens stresses in the character Scrooge. However, this is a misinterpretation of flaws that Dickens was keen on removing from society, not poverty in the sense of suffering and desperate need because Scrooge was otherwise content with not being compassionate. This is unlike the true desperation that is encompassed in the lower classes need for material items that ensure survival.