Humour and pathos in essays of Gardiner
Humour is one of the salient features of Gardiner's essays. They abound in humour. Even his face irradiated humour. Robert Lynd says, "The dimple in one of his cheeks at the corner of his brown moustache was expressive of his good humour." There is an ever-flowing current of humour in his essays. His humour is usually subtle and suggestive. It is rarely broad and boisterous.
Gardiner is very witty. He makes use of irony to create humour. His essays like "On Choosing a Name", "All about a Dog", "On Saying Please", "A Fellow Traveller", and "The Philosophy of Hats" are replete with genial humour.
He describes G.K. Chesterton, who had a massive body, in good humour. He says that Chesterton, "emits an enormous and affable rumble that suggests an elephant doing his cake-walk" This shows grace in his humour which is not intended to offend.
Pathos is a salient feature of Gardiner's essays. In the essay "A Country Platform", he describes the pathetic condition of the young recruits to be sent to the front. Their "hallow gaiety suggests the amination of a trout with a hook in its throat."
"Happy Eienrich" is the most typical example of the mixture of humour and pathos. In this regard, Gardiner has something in common with Lamb and Dickens.
