Scrooge in His Counting-House

On a cold, bleak, foggy Christmas Eve, Scrooge sits busy in his counting-house. The City clocks have just struck three, but it is already dark. He keeps his eye on his clerk, Bob Cratchit, who works in a dismal little cell, a sort of tank, copying letters. Scrooge's fire is small, but the clerk's fire is even smaller, a single coal, and Scrooge keeps the coal-box in his own room to prevent the clerk from replenishing it. The clerk tries to warm himself at the candle, but fails. This scene establishes the oppressive working conditions and the stark power imbalance between Scrooge and his employee.