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How does Tiny Tim represent society in Scrooge's time?

In A Christmas Carol, Tiny Tim represents the importance of charity in Scrooge's Victorian society. Tiny Tim is the son of Scrooge's employee, Bob, and suffers from a medical condition which has left him crippled and weak. In Stave Three, Tim is portrayed as a kind-hearted and humble little boy with a strong sense of Christian morality, as we see through his father's observations:



"He(Tiny Tim) told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day who made lame beggars walk and blind men see.”



Because of the poverty his family endures, Tiny Tim's future seems doomed by the prospect of a premature death, as we see in the fourth stave. But in the final stave, Tim is saved by the charity and friendship of the reformed Ebeneezer Scrooge who becomes a "second father" to him.


By portraying Tim in this way, Dickens evokes great sympathy for his character and ensures that  middle-class readers are moved by the challenges and burdens of his life. It is important to note that Dickens did this deliberately: he wanted to encourage his readers to realise that their charity and compassion were essential in combatting the problem of poverty.

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