Explain Ignorance and Want, who appear in Stave 3 of A Christmas Carol.

Ignorance and Want are children who appear
from inside the robes of the Ghost of Christmas Present.  Dickens says of them:

They were a boy and girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish;
but prostrate, too, in their humility.. . .No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity,
in any grade,through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half sohorrible and
dread.

Spirit! are they yours? Scrooge could say no more.

Theyare Man's, said the Spirit, looking down upon them. And they cling tome,
appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl isWant. Beware them both, and all
of their degree; but most of all bewarethis boy, for on his brow I see that written which is
Doom, unless thewriting be erased."

With the
revelation of these ragged, pitiful children, the Spirit is cautioning not only Scrooge, but all
of mankind.  He proclaims that they represent Man's worst enemies  -- the state of Want (for
food, shelter, etc.) that many suffer and live through every day, but most especially, the
self-imposed Ignorance of this state of affairs, the Ignorance in which Man chooses to live his
life.  Man, according the the Spirit (and Dickens ), must wake up and see what is needed by
others and the part each individual can play to ease the pain and suffering of his fellows.  The
Spirit cautions that, unless Man wakes from his self-imposed Ignorance, he will create his own
downfall, his own "Doom."

The Ghost then relates these general
predictions about all of mankind more specifically to Scrooge when he taunts him with his own
words from early in the story, a demonstration of Scrooge's choice to live in
Ignorance:

Have they no refuge or resource? cried
Scrooge.

Are there no prisons? said the Spirit, turning on him for the last
time with his own words. Are there no workhouses?

For
more on Ignorance and Want and the social responsibility of mankind as advocated by Dickens,
please follow the links below.