What is the significance of the Laocoon reference in A Christmas Carol?

Scrooge wakes up on Christmas morning and is frantic to change his future. In his hurrying he entangles himself in his stockings, making the allusion to the statue of Laocoon, which depicts the Trojan as being entangled by serpents. This is an extremely sophisticated allusion which brings up an Excellent image, and is typical of Dickens, a master writer