How Dickens Criticizes Victoriana In A Christmas Carol
             Everybody has an obligation to scrutinize, dissect, or otherwise work towards reform in his or her given society. The status quo should always be held up to a highly critical eye, as it is perpetually flawed. Dickens, more so than most people of his time, was well aware of this duty to arrest the progressively growing feeling of complacency within his culture. He saw the danger in contentment (especially how it would hinder growth and betterment), and decided he had to do something to undermine its adverse effects. So Dickens used his literary prowess to appeal to the masses, thus awakening them from self-satisfaction. In his landmark work, A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens focuses in on three ills co-existing in Victorian society: callousness toward the poor, the purity of youth being subdued in adulthood, and the plight of not seeing one's own evils.
             When asked to contribute to a fund for the destitute, Scrooge implies that they are already sufficiently taken care of by taxes. He says that if they would rather die than live in poor houses and work the Treadmill, then perhaps that is for the best (Dickens). This is a prime example of how Scrooge, symbolizing all Victorians, has little concern for anyone but himself, and for anything but his own "problems." On a more drastic level, Dickens is saying that many sheltered (read: inconsiderate and apathetic) socialites would rather have indigence eliminated by death of the poor than by contributions of the wealthy. Also, Marley's ghost has a small soliloquy about altruism being his business: "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business." After this chastising speech, aimed at Scrooge, he implores Marley to not be "hard upon" him (Dickens). This indicates that Scrooge views these virtues as for...