Expert Knowledge- “The treadmil and Poor Law are in full vigour then?”

Quote

‘The treadmill and Poor Law are in full vigour then?’

Sentence 1

At this point in the text, Scrooge refuses to donate to charity for the poor in Victorian society.

Sentence 2

Dickens conveys Scrooge’s callous nature through his questions that show he believes he already supports society by paying his taxes for workhouses and prisons.

Sentence 3

Here, Dickens alludes to the cruelty of the Poor Laws that criminalised poverty.

Sentence 4

The ‘treadmill’ was a feature in prisons where inmates would walk endlessly, pushing a huge wheel that would grind corn.

Sentence 5

This was a notorious Victorian ‘solutions’ - the idea being that this harsh regime would discourage people from falling into poverty.

Sentence 6

The construct of Scrooge represents the selfish attitudes of the middle class who abdicate their responsibility to the community by labelling the poor as ‘idler’.

Sentence 7

Dickens highlights the unfair distribution of wealth and raises awareness of the plight of the poor to create a more empathetic Victorian society.