For as long as human beings have existed, they have always been responsible for one another. Our society would not have progressed this much, if not for unity, and therefore in his first social diatribe, Dickens explored the importance of social responsibility and urged the Victorian readers at the time to take care of their fellow human beings. Dickens conveyed this message through the journey and lessons his protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge, learns about social responsibility. In the beginning of the novella, Scrooge is introduced as a grasping, scraping, covetous old sinner. This asyndetic listing implies how parsimonious Scrooge is, as he is always grasping for every bit of money in his business dealings. This emulates the Victorian business owners of the time who would always focus on profiting, just like Scrooge, and dismissed their social responsibility towards others. Therefore, by calling Scrooge a "sinner," it would be equivalent to calling most Victorian readers sinners and would implore them to change their ways. In this extract, Scrooge bluntly asks the charity collectors, "Are there no prisons?" highlighting his unwillingness to donate a single penny for a good cause. His cold tone reminds us of the Victorians who believed the ignorance of the poor was the reason they were poor. As a social commentary, Dickens, a former journalist, critiques Scrooge's Malthusian attitude toward the poor, which Dickens was highly critical of in order to teach his Victorian readers about social responsibility. In Stave 3, when the Ghost of Christmas Present visits and takes Scrooge to the Cratchit's Christmas Dinner, upon seeing Tiny Tim, Scrooge feels an interest he had never felt before and asks the Ghost, "What will happen to him?" The Ghost replies, "If the shadows remain unaltered, the child will die." This emotive language and harsh facts cause Scrooge to realize the impact he has upon his employee Bob's life, because if he raised his salary, Tiny Tim could be treated. By demonstrating this to his Victorian readers, Dickens is conveying how our actions have the ability to change someone's life, even going as far as to save someone's life. Along with Scrooge, the readers would have also realized this truth and contribute towards society. In Stave 4, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come introduces two yellow, wolfish, meagre children and says to Scrooge, "This boy is Ignorance, the girl is Want. Beware them both." The adjective "yellow" suggests how the children are plagued by sickness due to their poor situation and cannot afford health care, and the adjective "wolfish" connotes how their situation has been so dehumanizing for them. By presenting children in such conditions, this would have evoked pathos from the readers and forced them to acknowledge their current situation. The children are personified to represent the two main corrupting elements of Victorian society: Ignorance and Want. Ignorance represents the greed and deliberate dismissal of the poor people's situation, while Want symbolizes their greediness for power and money at the expense of the poor. By portraying these elements as children directly in front of Scrooge, Dickens is essentially forcing all readers, like Scrooge, to face the situation and reflect on their actions. The social responsibility towards the poor, which they have long ignored, is presented in front of them through the children to force them to change. By the end of the novella, after learning his lessons, Scrooge changes his ways and contributes towards his social responsibilities as he raises Bob's salary, donates to charity, and becomes a second father to Tiny Tim. By doing all this, he feels "light as a feather" and "happy as an angel." The similes connote how his past chains have been lifted off of him, and he has been blessed by God himself to feel happy as an angel. This shows how it is never too late to change, start being nice to people, and start fulfilling our social responsibilities. Moreover, by doing his social responsibilities, Scrooge is much happier and more positive, therefore Dickens, through Scrooge's transformation, might be implying that being a better person makes us feel better about ourselves too. In conclusion, throughout the course of this novella, Dickens has implored the Victorian readers to start contributing to their social responsibilities, and only then will society move forward. His message applies to us today even after 200 years, because everyone is our responsibility and we should always strive to take care of each other to the best extent we can.