The children represent to major issue of the time (and to adegree these are true now) The levels of Want (The girl) that manysuffer, in the story this was poverty, homelessness and sicknessall leading to premature death. The use of children as labour whichplaced grown men and women out of work leading to many of theissues. Ignorance (The boy) of those who had money, had power anddid not use it to make changes to reduce that vast levels of want -These the ghost states are of mans make (just as a child would be)and warns scrooge to be ware of them both, but most of all bewareof the Boy (Ignorance) he then quotes Scrooges own words "Are thereno prisons, are there no work houses?"