The Chimes is Charles Dickens' 1844 novella that concerns the disillusionment of Toby "Trotty" Veck a poor working-class man. When Trotty has lost his faith in Humanity and believes that his poverty is the result of his unworthiness he is visited on New Year's Eve by spirits to help restore his faith and show him that nobody is born evil but rather that crime and poverty are things created by man.