The tone of “The Lumber Room” is humorous and ironic. While the aunt in the story demonstrates cruel (verging on abusive) behavior, the narrator’s comical tone helps readers understand that they shouldn’t take the story too seriously. The following passage demonstrates the lighthearted tone in the face of the aunt’s punitive conduct:
“You are not to go into the gooseberry garden,” said the aunt, changing the subject.
“Why not?” demanded Nicholas.
“Because you are in disgrace,” said the aunt loftily.
Nicholas did not admit the flawlessness of the reasoning; he felt perfectly capable of being in disgrace and in a gooseberry garden at the same moment.
Nicholas’s inner reflection that he “felt perfectly capable of being in disgrace and in a gooseberry garden at the same moment” at the end of this interaction is meant to make readers laugh. This moment shows that, for all of the aunt’s cruelty and powerful posturing, she actually does not have the kind of impact on Nicholas’s sense of self that she wishes to have. While she wants to shame and punish him, he continues to be the same upbeat and intelligent child.
It is notable that the tone becomes more serious—in a sacred rather than somber way—when Nicholas is in the lumber room. Here readers witness Nicholas’s more earnest side emerge, as he is taken by the “treasures” in the room. This moment demonstrates how Nicholas is not mischievous for the sake of it, but because he longs for more creative and sensory stimulation.
