In Stave Three of the story, we meet the Cratchit family as part of Ebenezer's tour with the Ghost of Christmas Present. While the family of eight (Mom, Dad, and six children) are poor, and while their Christmas "feast" does not feature much food, Dickens states that the family is "still content." This is so because they have each other, and it is evident from what Scrooge sees that they all have a strong relationship. While they do not have as much materially as they would like, their relationships, which mean more to them than money, are sound, and they find joy in each other. This is jarring to Scrooge, who has earlier made statements about the joylessness of the poor. This also confuses Scrooge because it causes him to question his own value system. He has all the money in the world, but is not happy, while this poor family wants for material possessions, but manages to be "content" nonetheless.
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