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Definition of Tone
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical, and so on. For instance... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical... read full definition
Tone
Explanation and Analysis:
In keeping with the novel's heavy subject matter, the tone is somber and thoughtful. Narration in A Little Life minimizes its presence and often gets redirected toward the characters through free indirect discourse. In a story laden with grief, the narrator blends themselves with the novel’s characters—almost as though trying to take up as little space as possible.
Free indirect discourse allows the narrator to inhabit different perspectives and try out new styles. The narrator shows slightly satirical, playful flashes as she takes up the story from Willem or JB’s perspective. The only people who didn’t know of Willem’s movies, they note, “lived so far off the cultural grid that even the reading of The New York Times was treated as a seditious act.” And when Malcolm refuses to help JB with his hair project, his bedmate brands him a “self-hating Negro and Uncle Tom and a traitor to the race” in a characteristic bout of exaggeration. At times, then, A Little Life’s narration is hyperbolic and darkly humorous.
But above all, the novel’s tone is pensive and musing as the narrator guides the reader through one heartbreaking episode after another. Every so often, they also pause to grasp the inklings of revelation. “Wasn’t it a miracle to have survived the unsurvivable? Wasn’t friendship its own miracle, the finding of another person who made the entire lonely world seem somehow less lonely?” Jude—and indirectly, the narrator—thinks at one point to himself. In trauma and sadness, the narrator also makes space for reflection and deeper thought.
