Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on the seventh of
February 1812. He had little education since he had to work in a factory after
his father was thrown into a debtor’s prison, but read a great deal. His father
was released from the prison after inheriting a sum of money from his
grandmother. He still worked at the factory for a while after the inheritance.
The terrible working conditions of the factory and his mother’s reluctance to
immediately send him home influenced him throughout his life.
Dickens obtained a
position at a law office as a junior clerk and then a reporter. It was this
experience along with his employment at the factory that gave him insight into
the struggles of the poor in England. After the success of a few minor works,
Chapman and Hall offered to publish a collaboration of engravings, provided by
Robert Seymour, and Dickens’s text. This turned into the Pipwick Papers, which
was the first national recognition of Dickens’s genius.
After a few successful novels Dickens thought his success
was waning, and he needed money since his wife was pregnant. Because of a
dispute with his former publisher, he self published A Christmas Carol, but due
to several printing problems, he did not make as much money as he had hoped in
the short term. The book would never go out of print, and there have been
numerous adaptations of the work, being the most successful Christmas novel of
all time.
Besides financial reasons, Dickens wanted to help the poor
by educating the public about them. He spoke at a fundraiser while writing A
Christmas Carol about helping the poor through education. Dickens uses a
combination of past Christmas traditions in the book and new ones that had been
recently introduced during his time. In this way he created a Christmas tale
that was largely secular, although the message parallels the hope of the
Gospel.
It has been speculated that Ebenezer Scrooge was based on
Dickens’s father, who had left him in the factory by living beyond his means,
and didn’t immediately send for him after receiving his inheritance. Scrooge
was also a symbol of the rich who oppress the poor. By his redemption.
Dickens’s father was redeemed, the poor were saved, the sinners were
enlightened, and even the reader has hope.
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