What is the significance of ignorance and want

Dickens is suggesting that the children Ignorance and Want as well as poorer children in general, will grow up in poverty and become locked in sordid jobs such as begging, thievery, prostitution, or workhouse labour.

This could be a reference to Scrooge's upbringing, when he isolated himself and became infatuated with 'Gain' of the 'golden idol' money. His behaviour from an early age dictated what he was to become in the future; a covetous, selfish miser. This further conveys that society will be 'doomed' to repeat the cycles of poverty and the chasm of inequality suffered by the poorest unless the 'writing'- representing the laws, norms and 'Ignorance' that have created the dire conditions for the poor e.

The Ghost is commanding Scrooge to pay attention to Ignorance and Want- throughout his life, Scrooge has demonstrated Want and Ignorance throughout his life by being covetous and selfish and ignoring the needs of the poor- 'are there no workhouses'. Dickens also uses this to convey that 'Man' or wider society have also displayed 'ignorance' and 'want' by turning blind eyes to the poor's suffering and depriving people of education so that they cannot escape the cycle of poverty.

With the revelation of these ragged, pitiful children, the Spirit is cautioning not only Scrooge, but all of mankind. He proclaims that they represent Man's worst enemies -- the state of Want for food, shelter, etc.

It also hints at some of the hardship Dickens himself knew as a boy and which gifted him the ability to empathise with others who had not had not been lucky enough to escape a fate he might so easily have shared. The Last of the Spirit is emphatically not a re-telling. Buy The Last of the Spirits at the Guardian bookshop. Read more. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - review. Chris Priestley's top 10 scary short stories for Halloween.

On the one hand were the rich who enjoyed comfort and feasting at Christmas, and on the other were children forced to live in dreadful conditions in workhouses. In A Christmas Carol Dickens shows the theme of social injustice through:. The Poor Law was amended in to reduce the cost of helping the poor.

Those desperate for assistance and having no other option were sent to workhouses. The novella shows these contrasts by presenting poverty in the Cratchit household, in the characters of Ignorance and Want who are sheltered by the Ghost of Christmas Present and also in the scene of thieves going through the dead Scrooge's possessions.

What elements of social injustice does Dickens highlight in this novella?