Dicken Vs. Waiting for Godot

As an unfortunate consequence of this aspect of human nature, there has always been a division of wealth, property, and power. There have always been those that have the power, wealth and property, and those that don’t: the haves and the have nots, the bourgeoisie and

The important underlying fact for the purposes of this argument is the fact that Scrooge does not consider himself immoral or unjust at all in his actions at the beginning of the story. In response to his clerk’s request for a day off on Christmas, he states “And yet you don’t think me ill used, when I pay a day’s wages for no work.” To Scrooge’s interpretation of moral values, giving someone a wage for work they did not perform is immoral and unjust, not in any way evil or heartless. In his mind, and in his morality it is unacceptable to give someone pay for work they have not performed. Furthermore, when asked for a charitable donation he replies “I don’t make merry myself at Christmas, and I can’t afford to make idle people merry.” It is a perfectly reasonable response. Considering he does not spend the money to have fun himself on Christmas, at least in his perspective, why should he, as a hard-working man, pay his honestly earned money to help those that are too lazy to work for themselves enjoy a holiday that he himself is not enjoying?

It is unfortunate that Dickens’ depictions of the poor are not nearly as dynamic and three-dimensional as his depiction of Scrooge. In fact, the way Dickens portrays the Cratchits is overly idealized. It is obvious that Dickens either did not know, or chose to ignore for the purposes of his story, the true image of the poor. The Cratchits are, in the context of the story, a highly moral, honest, and generous family, which thereby makes Scrooge seem all the more selfish and greedy. Furthermore, though they are only poor financially, they are rich emotionally and thereby find happiness in each other. Yet it is important to note that the poor were just as human as the rich. The poor felt the same greed, and selfishness it was simply less evident because they did not have money to hoard. They were not all honest and hard working as they are portrayed, many turned to crime and other means to gain what they could not afford to buy. Perhaps most importantly, the poor were not all so happy, they did not all feel that the bonds of family and friends were all they needed for happiness. In actuality many of the poor lived out what they had of their short, bitter lives in utter misery.

One can find an excellent example on another perspective in �

Some topics in this essay:
Ebeneezer Scrooge, Morality Throughout, Darwinism Utilitarianism, Scrooge Dickens, Estragon Vladimir’s, Samuel Beckett, Vladimir Estragon, Christmas Carol”, Carol” Dickens, Lucky Pozzo’s, upper classes, “a christmas carol”, human nature, ideal morality, selfish greedy, “waiting godot”, lower classes, wealth property, depictions poor, poor themselves, moral values,