Scrooge's impoverished assistant, who can't afford to buy more coal to kindle up warmth in his office. If he had enough money to improve his working condition, he would. On the other hand, Scrooge had more than enough money to buy coal for his office and Bob's. He didn't find that necessary. Dickens makes reference to this as he shows how Scrooge doesn't find it necessary to build up more warmth in his office, or even to offer to keep his assistant's office warm, when he writes "But he (Bob Cratchit) couldn't replenish it (the fire), for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part."
             The situation is much deeper than it appears. Dickens has not only created a spiteful and stingy character, but he creates a Scrooge whose very body is cold. The fact that Scrooge doesn't mind that his office is cold reveals that he is both physically and mentally a cold person. Throughout literature the use of hot and cold plays as two basic metaphors for love and hate: loneliness. Scrooge doesn't need warmth as a result of being a malevolent and bitter person. He doesn't have family or friends to share his love and heart with, so he developed into a person who was numb to his own warm feelings. The only emotions that are left are the bitter ones he has for his society.
             ...