What Lesson Did Tiny Tim Teach His Family

March 02, 2022 Post a Comment

Fictional grapheme from Dickens' novel "A Christmas Carol"

Timothy "Tiny Tim" Cratchit
A Christmas Ballad character
Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim Cratchit as depicted in an illustration past Fred Barnard
Created by	Charles Dickens
Portrayed by	See below
In-universe information
Nickname	Tiny Tim
Gender	Male
Family	Bob (father) Mrs. Cratchit (named Emily in some adaptations)(mother) Martha Cratchit Belinda Cratchit Peter Cratchit Unnamed sis Unnamed brother (siblings)

Timothy "Tiny Tim" Cratchit is a fictional graphic symbol from the 1843 novella A Christmas Carol past Charles Dickens. Although seen only briefly, he is a major grapheme, and serves as an important symbol of the consequences of the protagonist's choices.

Character overview [edit]

When Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present he is shown just how ill the boy really is (the family cannot afford to properly treat him on the bacon Scrooge pays Cratchit). When visited by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Scrooge sees that Tiny Tim has died. This, and several other visions, pb Scrooge to reform his ways. At the end of the story, Dickens makes it explicit that Tiny Tim does not dice, and Scrooge becomes a "second begetter" to him.

In the story, Tiny Tim is known for the statement, "God bless u.s.a., every one!" which he offers as a approving at Christmas dinner. Dickens repeats the phrase at the cease of the story, symbolic of Scrooge's change of centre.

As representative of the impoverished [edit]

Dickens oft used his characters to demonstrate the disparity betwixt social classes that existed in England during the Victorian era, and the hardships suffered at that time by the poor. These representative characters are typically children, presumably because children are almost dependent upon others for survival, especially when they come from the lower social classes. Tiny Tim is among these characters, and is the most notable example in A Christmas Carol.

When the audience showtime meet Tiny Tim, he rests upon his begetter's shoulder, suggesting that while the Cratchits love their boy dearly, his situation is in demand of intervention. Farther representative of this hard situation is Tiny Tim's crippled condition. That he is crippled evokes the financial issues that many poor families faced in 19th-century England. Although his spirit is robust, Tiny Tim'south life expectancy is questionable. His crutch and iron frame support his frail torso—he "diameter a little crutch, and had his limbs supported past an iron frame", but more back up is needed for Tim if he is to survive, every bit pointed out by the Ghost of Christmas Nowadays in stave 3: "I see a vacant seat in the poor chimney corner, and a crutch without an owner, advisedly preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the future, the child will die." The Spirit and then repeats Scrooge's own words to him, "he had meliorate do it and decrease the surplus population." These are a microcosm of the impoverished population: without support or charity, their family volition be reduced.

The human relationship between Scrooge and Tiny Tim is a condensed delineation of the human relationship between ii social classes: the wealthy and the impoverished. Tiny Tim plays a large part in Scrooge's change. Tiny Tim's fate is linked very closely to Scrooge'south fate, which tightens the connexion that Dickens establishes between the two social classes. If Scrooge does not change his miserly means, Tiny Tim is sure to die. Likewise, if the wealthy exercise not practice their part to support the impoverished, the impoverished are certain to struggle. That Dickens framed this relationship with Christmas seems to suggest the immense need for decreasing the distance betwixt English social strata. The proximity of the Christmas spirit to the result of social strata lends a sense of community to Dickens' message, urging the well-to-do upper course to consider the dependent poor, especially during the holiday, simply year-round likewise.

Grapheme development [edit]

In earlier drafts, the character's proper noun was "Piffling Fred."^[1] Dickens may have derived the name from his brothers, who both had "Fred" as a part of their names, 1 named Alfred and the other Frederick.^[1] Dickens also had a sister, Fanny, who had a disabled son named Henry Augustus Burnett (1839–1849) who may have been an inspiration for Tiny Tim.^[two] ^[3] Information technology has also been claimed that the character is based on the son of a friend, who owned a cotton manufactory in Ardwick, Manchester.^[4]

Dickens tried other names such as "Tiny Mick" after "Little Fred" but eventually decided upon "Tiny Tim".^[5] After dropping the proper name "Piffling Fred," Dickens later used information technology for Scrooge'southward nephew, "Fred".^[5]

Illness [edit]

Dickens did not explicitly say what Tiny Tim's disease was. However, renal tubular acidosis (type 1), which is a type of kidney failure causing the blood to become acidic, has been proposed as one possibility.^[half-dozen] Rickets (caused by a lack of vitamin D) has been proposed every bit another possibility, as it was a not uncommon disease during that fourth dimension period.^[6] Either affliction was treatable during Dickens' lifetime, but fatal if not treated, thus following in line with the comment of the Ghost of Christmas Present that Tiny Tim would die "[i]f these shadows remain unaltered by the Time to come".

Notable portrayals [edit]

The part of Tiny Tim has been performed (live action, voiced or animated) by:

Phillip Frost in the 1935 movie Scrooge
Terry Kilburn in the 1938 picture A Christmas Ballad
Glyn Dearman in the 1951 picture show Scrooge
Dennis Holmes on Ronald Reagan's Full general Electric Theater in the 1957 episode "The Trail to Christmas"
Joan Gardner (as a properly speaking Gerald McBoing-Boing) in the 1962 animated television film Mister Magoo'due south Christmas Carol
Richard Beaumont in the 1970 film Scrooge
Timothy Chasin in the 1977 telly movie A Christmas Ballad
Mel Blanc (as Tweety Pie) in the 1979 animated brusque film Bugs Bunny's Christmas Ballad
Dick Billingsly (as Morty Fieldmouse) in the 1983 blithe film Mickey's Christmas Carol
Anthony Walters in the 1984 telly film A Christmas Carol
Nicholas Phillips (as Calvin Cooley, in this case a depressed boy of few words) in the 1988 film "Scrooged'
- Mary Lou Retton (as herself) played Tiny Tim in the moving-picture show-within-a-film.
Jerry Nelson (every bit Robin the Frog) in Disney's 1992 moving picture The Muppet Christmas Carol
Don Messick (as Bamm-Bamm Rubble) in the 1994 television special A Flintstones Christmas Carol
Jarrad Kritzstein in the 1997 animated television pic A Christmas Carol
Ben Tibber in the 1999 goggle box film A Christmas Carol
Jacob Collier in the 2004 TV film A Christmas Carol: The Musical
Tara Strong (every bit Priscilla Pig, in a similar but not identical role) in the 2006 video Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas
Ryan Ochoa (Mocap performance by Gary Oldman) in the 2009 film A Christmas Ballad
As a fieldmouse in Nature Cat: a Nature Carol
Lenny Rush in the 2019 BBC iii-office miniseries A Christmas Ballad (the commencement time a disabled actor has played this role in a major adaptation)

References [edit]

^ ^a ^b Cowan, Alison Leigh (2009-12-24). "A 166-Year-Old Manuscript Reveals Its Secrets". City Room . Retrieved 2020-09-01 .
^ Nelson, Roxanne (24 December 2002). "The Case of Tiny Tim". The Washington Mail service.
^ "Charles Dickens Characters List C-D". world wide web.charlesdickenspage.com . Retrieved 2020-09-01 .
^ "Charles Dickens". 2007-07-20. Archived from the original on 2007-07-20. Retrieved 2020-09-01 .
^ ^a ^b Leigh Cowan, Alison. "A 166-Year-Old Manuscript Reveals Its Secrets," New York Times (Dec 24, 2009).
^ ^a ^b Lewis, Donald W. (1992). "What Was Wrong with Tiny Tim?". Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. 146 (12): 1403–7. doi:10.1001/archpedi.1992.02160240013002. PMID 1340779. Lay summary – Fourth dimension (December 28, 1992).