why does tiny tim ride on his father's shoulders?

Question

and why does fred tell the guests he feels sorry for his uncle?

Answer 1

He's a cripple boy who needs surgery or something..may not live a long life, either, from what I remember. Not without special care.

Answer 2

Didn't you read the book? Or see the movie? Tiny Tim was crippled and walked with a crutch. His father loved him very much, and would swing him up in the air to ride on his shoulder, because Tiny Tim was small for his age and very light. Remember when your Dad did that with you?
That was what Scrooge saw during his visit with the ghost of Chrirstmas Present and Past. But during his visit with the ghost of Christmas future, Tim's chair by the fireside was empty, and his crutch leaned, unused, against the fireplace wall. Tiny Tim had died - and that, above all else, was what turned Ebenezer Scrooge's heart around. He awoke on Christmas morning back in his own bed, determined to prevent the vision that he had seen from happening. And he did, and they lived happily ever after and presumably Tiny Tim got so roly-poly that he was too heavy for his father to swing up onto his shoulder any more.

Answer 3

He is too sick to walk himself.

On a side note, my teacher was talking about Tiny Tim the other day. Apparently a doctor/literary person did an intense study into Tiny Tim's illness. He analyzed all the symptoms he had, and his recovery. His conclusion? Tiny Tim had a bad case of the pathetics. He was a character that was sick for a literary effect, he actually had no nameable disease. He couldn't have had polio, for example, because at the time there was no cure for it.

Answer 4

He is disabled and it's easier to get around. Besides, didn't your dad ever swing you up on his sholders for a ride or to view a parade or something?

Answer 5

his dear father wanted to give his cripple son a ride home after his christmas pagent.