How shall I ever understand this world? There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty, and yet, there is nothing it condemns with such severity as the pursuit of wealth.
You have to admit, he’s got a point. Life is undeniably difficult, if not impossible, as a person in abject poverty. Ironically, people who keep that fact in mind and work hard and find ways to put as much financial distance as they can between themselves and poverty get villainized.
Dickens may have considered that with the character of Fezziwig, Scrooge’s original boss who got him into the money counting game. Even though Fezziwig was wealthy, he always threw a big party on Christmas, and one can assume he always helped the less fortunate he encountered.
It is all a balancing act. You’d hate to be poor. People will hate you if you’re rich. Either way, someone is going to hate something.
Bookshelf Battle 