The humor here, conveying both the ambagious quality of Mr Gould's writing and the absurdity of sending such letters to a child, also continues the novel's theme of isolating subjectivity, in which communication between any two beings is problematic at best. Note that what young Charles finally receives is not facts, but a "conviction," another indication by the novel that we live in ideas and can only grope toward a reality that may or may not exist.