What Does the Cratchits' Goose Symbolize in 'A Christmas Carol'?

Throughout Stave 2 and 3 of A Christmas Carol, Dickens emphasizes money and value, and how a person’s financial aspect can change their perspective on the quality of an item or person. By comparing the size and worthiness of possessions, Dickens gives the reader a new aspect on one’s perspective on money. While using the notions of others’ finances, Dickens creates the theme that money has different values to different people, which is fluent throughout the staves. The Cratchit’s goose is a prime example of the value of money. On page 101, Dickens exclaims, “Such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the rarest of all birds; a feathered phenomenon, to which a black swan was a matter of course.” Also, when Dickens once again describes the Cratchit's goose, on page 102, he states, “There never was such a goose. Bob said he didn't believe there ever was such a goose cooked. Its tenderness and flavour, size and cheapness….” After synthesizing these passages, one may come to the understanding that even when the goose was of low quality, the Cratchits thought it was of high quality, due to their financial aspect. This statement represents how a family’s value on money

On page 75, she states, “There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the pursuit of wealth.” Dickens’ goal of this passage is to explain the how Scrooge’s fiancee feels about his search for financial satisfaction. While she views his scavenge for wealth as a negative endeavor that puts money before her, Scrooge views the wealth he yearns to gain as a way to fill the empty pit of his childhood and adolescence of poverty. This statement shows how an item usually looked down upon as pleasing does not always bring an equal amount of joy to one as another, exhibiting the statement of money has different value to different