Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic. The Chimes is his novella that concerns the disillusionment of Toby "Trotty" Veck, a poor working-class man. Trotty has lost his faith in humanity and believes that his poverty is the result of his unworthiness. Then he is visited by spirits on New Year's Eve to help restore his faith and show him that nobody is born evil, but rather that crime and poverty are things created by man.