What is satire in A Christmas Carol?

Charles Dickens’ satire is always based upon the issues of the industrial revolution and how it specifically affected Victorian England.  Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is no exception.  During the industrial revolution the rich become richer (in that they own the workhouses and factories) while the poor become poorer (in that they are left to work in the factories for low pay and are often unable to feed their families while they grow ever sicker because of poor conditions).  Scrooge, of course, is an example of the rich in society.  Luckily, he has a grand transformation to see the error of his ways.  The poor are exemplified by many characters such as Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim. 

Satire, of course, is the use of elements such as humor, irony, and exaggeration in order to highlight the problems in society.  In my opinion, the best examples of satire are provided by the ghost of Christmas present quoting Scrooge’s own words.  Earlier in the novel, Scrooge tells a couple of humanitarians that the poor, if they want to, should simply die to “decrease the surplus population.”  Later in the novel, Scrooge becomes well acquainted with the poverty stricken (and crippled) Tiny Tim.  The second spirit wastes no time in telling Scrooge that Tiny Tim is the very kind of person for whom Scrooge suggested death to decrease that surplus in the population.  The spirit then reprimands Scrooge severely by using exaggeration saying the following:

Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may be that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child.

It is examples just like this one (that often make the reader chuckle) that show Dickens’ satire of the rich in Victorian England in order to indicate the plight of the poor.