I think it is absolutely typical of the style of Dickens
that he manages to combine humour in his narration with the serious moral that shines
through the text. From the start, the narration provides an ironic commentary on Scrooge
and his failings, ever-keen to point out what kind of character that he is in a humorous
fashion. Notice how he is described:
The cold within him froze his old features,
nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red,
his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on
his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature
always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn't thaw it one degree
at Christmas.
Note here how
hyperbole is combined with matter-of-fact description for humorous effect, presenting
Scrooge in his chilly manner by literally referring to how his presence spreads the cold
ice that is so much a centre of his character. And in this fashion the novel continues,
mixing humour with its narrative and the serious moral message that Dickens has for us
and for Scrooge.
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