Adventures of the Cosmic Woman

Chapter Four

'Looking at A Christmas Carrol, what do you think Dickens' views of the poor were?' Father Foad tapped the stylus to the e-board.

'That they're dirty.'

'Yes, dirty,' Foad wrote it on the board.

'Sickly.'

Nodded. Wrote it on the board.

'That they don't like rich people?'

'Ooh, that's interesting,' Foad said without writing it down. 'Why would you say that, Craig?'

'Because they all don't like Scrooge.'

'They don't trust him, do they? But they change their mind in the end, don't they? Why do you think that is?'

'He shares his money.'

'He shares his money,' Foad said, pointing the stylus at Jordan, the boy who spoke last. 'So do you think it's that poor people don't like rich people, or that they're jealous of what rich people have?'

'Jealous,' Rowan said, quietly.

'Say again?'

'They're jealous.'

Foad wrote JEALOUS on the board.

'What do you think would happen if rich people just shared their money around poor people like Scrooge did at the end of A Christmas Carrol?'

'They'd like them.'

'Mmm,' Foad tilted his hand side to side.

'They wouldn't work,' big Josh said.

'They wouldn't work,' Foad said. 'How do wealthy people help poor people, then?'

'By giving them work,' Shaun said.

'So why are poor people poor?'

'Because they're lazy,' Shaun said.

Foad wrote LAZY on the board.

'Everybody wants to be rich,' Foad said. 'And anybody can be rich if they work hard enough. But that's the part that people don't see, isn't it? They only see the rich man who wants to make the poorer people work for their money. They don't see how much work the rich man did to get all that money and they don't appreciate that he gives them work so they can earn money because they are...'

He wrote RESENTFUL on the board.

'Everyone know what this word means?'

Silence.

'Come on. Anyone want to define this word for us?'

'It's like... like... bitter.'

'Bitter and ignorant,' Foad said. 'What did the poor people do when Scrooge shared his money with them in A Christmas Carrol?'

'Bought food,' Rowan said.

'They spent it. Straight away.' Foad wrote IRRESPONSIBLE on the board. 'So why did Scrooge give them money?'

'He felt guilty,' Ashford said.

'Guilty?'

'He was afraid,' Shaun said.

'Afraid,' Foad smiled. 'What of?'

'Ghosts,' Josh said.

'What might the ghosts have symbolized?'

'Cultural Marxism,' Shaun said.

'Fantastic.' Foad wrote CULTURAL MARXISM on the board. 'Why do you think Dickens – here's a history question for you – why do you think Dickens would have had Cultural Marxism on his mind in 1843?'