Bob Cratchit's Salary

A few days ago when discussing "Dickens' Dream Children" (1901), I mentioned that the "dream-spirit" said that Tiny Tim's condition was Scrooge's fault because he underpays Bob Cratchit.

I'm still chewing on that!

It's a notion that pops up in various adaptations, but not really implied in the original "A Christmas Carol."

While it's true that if Bob made more money, he'd be able to afford medical attention for Tiny Tim, and indeed Tiny Tim does NOT die after Scrooge raised Bob's salary and became a second father to Tim, but Scrooge didn't cause Tiny Tim to have whatever condition he has.

All of which gets me to wondering if Bob is actually underpaid. He has a large family to support and it appears that they generally scrape by on his fifteen shillings a week.

Scrooge himself doesn't seem to think that's enough to support a wife and family, but no doubt Scrooge thinks a wife and family is an unprofitable proposition anyway.

But is Bob underpaid or does he get the prevailing wage for his position, said wage not being enough no matter who is paying it?

Bob has to contend with a mean boss and work in a cold little tank, but if he had a nicer boss, would he make more money, or just be warmer?

Going back to Scrooge's apprenticeship, he says that Fezziwig was wonderful to work for and we know he threw awesome Christmas parties, but did he pay Ebenezer and Dick Wilkins more than the going rate for apprentices?

I think the Fezziwig sequence illustrates to Scrooge that he should be nicer to Bob, but not necessarily give him a raise.

Is Bob particularly good at his job or just adequate? Could he actually get a better position? He's a loyal employee, but he does lack imagination.

In the book at least, Bob seems reasonably content with his job. We don't know how long he's been there, although some have adaptations have him working there when Marley was still alive, which would put his service time at seven years minimum.

Young Scrooge began to covet more money, so he gave up everything else in order to push ahead in business to make more money. Bob would presumably like more money (who wouldn't?), but he would not want to trade his happy family life for the pursuit of wealth.

Getting back to that "Dickens' Dream Children" book, it posits that Tiny Tim changed Scrooge. I think he was a large factor in Scrooge's conversion and definitely the impetus for Bob wanting to give Bob a raise, whether Bob should be making that much money or not!

And while we're at it, I get from the original book that Scrooge did not know that Bob Cratchit had a sick child, let alone that he was called Tiny Tim. I also can't imagine that Scrooge would know Martha's, Peter's or Belinda's names either.

But they all apparently exist in the "real" world, more proof that Scrooge was not dreaming. You can't dream about something real without knowing about it in advance!

Sorry for the rambling. Carry on!