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Why did Charles Dickens write A Christmas Carol in 1843?

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Portrait of Charles Dickens seated at a desk, writing with a quill pen, dressed in a suit with a bow tie. — Charles Dickens English novelist Charles Dickens working at his craft. Dickens published some of most beloved novels in English literature, including *A Christmas Carol*, *A Tale of Two Cities*, and *Great Expectations*.

Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843 primarily to raise public awareness regarding the dire living conditions of the working poor in England.12

His motivation was deeply rooted in his own childhood experiences; at age 12, he was forced to work in a factory after his father was imprisoned for debt. This formative period instilled in him a lasting sympathy for the oppressed and the poor.12

The specific impetus for the book occurred in October 1843, when Dickens visited the Manchester Athenaeum, an organization dedicated to the working poor. Witnessing the exploitation and lack of education among this population, he became determined to confront the societal threats of "Want" and "Ignorance"—which he later personified as two children in his story—and believed he could use his influence as a successful novelist to advocate for social change. The short novel was conceived and written in just a few weeks while he was working on his novel Martin Chuzzlewit.341