"And then let any man explain to me, if he can, how it happened that Scrooge, having his key in the lock of the door, saw in the knocker, without its undergoing any intermediate process of change -- not a knocker, but Marley's face."
Ignorance and Want
"One major theme in A Christmas Carol was rooted in Dickens' observations of the plight of the children of London's poor. In 1839 it was estimated that nearly half of all funerals in London were for children under the age of ten. Those who survived grew up without education or resource and virtually no chance to escape the cycle of poverty. Dickens felt that this cycle of poverty could only be broken through education and became interested in the Ragged Schools in London." (Perdue)
Ignorance and Want, the children in A Christmas Carol, symbolize this cycle. The Spirit of Christmas Present shows them to Scrooge, and tells him,"This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased." In other words, ignorance breeds want, so beware the boy (Ignorance) more.
Dickens supported the idea of free, public education for the poor throughout his career, but mandatory, free, public education for all children was not instituted in England until 1870, the year Dickens died.
Perdue, David. "A Christmas Carol." Charles Dickens Page. 20 Oct 2008. 23 Oct 2008 <http://charlesdickenspage.com/carol.html>.
