Tiny Tim (A Christmas Carol)

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Tiny Tim is a fictional character in the classic story A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. He is the son of Bob Cratchit.

In the story, Tim is crippled and very ill, near to the point of death. Nevertheless, he is a very happy boy and is very much loved by his parents; he is best known for the line, "God bless us, every one!" His illness could be easily cured with the right money; however, Cratchit's low wage from Ebenezer Scrooge does not provide the funds to do so, and Cratchit dares not ask Scrooge for help.

When Scrooge is visited by The Ghost of Christmas Present he sees just how ill Tim really is. When visited by The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come all he sees of Tim is his crutch, as sadly Tim has died. This, and several other visions, leads Scrooge to reform his ways. At the end of the story, Dickens makes it explicit that Tim did not die, and Scrooge becomes a "second father" to him.

Renal tubular acidosis has been proposed as a diagnosis for Tiny Tim's unknown malady.^[1][2]

[edit] References

1. ^ Lewis D (1992). "What was wrong with Tiny Tim?". Am J Dis Child 146 (12): 1403-7. PMID 1340779. 
2. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977391,00.html

[edit] External links

• A Christmas Carol, available at Project Gutenberg.
• A Christmas Carol - In Prose - A Ghost Story of Christmas (with illustrations) - Special Collections, University of Glasgow