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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
Chapter 4: The Fight
Explanation and Analysis:
The tone of the novel is often tense and reflective as Dana meditates upon the difficult decisions and daily violence faced by those who were enslaved in the United States in the early 19th century. In a passage that exemplifies this fretful tone, Dana think about all the pain and suffering that Alice has experienced as a result of Rufus’s attraction to her:
But tired as I was, I couldn’t sleep. I thought of Alice, and then of Rufus, and I realized that Rufus had done exactly what I had said he would do: Gotten possession of the woman without having to bother with her husband. Now, somehow, Alice would have to accept not only the loss of her husband, but her own enslavement. Rufus had caused her trouble, and now he had been rewarded for it. It made no sense. No matter how kindly he treated her now that he had destroyed her, it made no sense.
Alice was born a free woman of color, but she is punitively enslaved after attempting to run away with her husband, Isaac, who is enslaved. Their desperate attempt to escape was sparked by Rufus, who attempted to rape Alice. After Alice and Isaac are caught and beaten brutally, Rufus purchases Alice and enslaves her at the Weylin Plantation. In this passage, Dana has a sleepless night as a result of her profound horror at Rufus’s actions. He has, she notes, gotten everything he wanted, separating Alice from her husband by force and taking “possession” of her. Unable to wrap her mind around the injustice of this situation and the pain Alice experiences, Dana notes that “It made no sense,” reflecting her inability to accept this harsh historical reality. Throughout Kindred, Butler employs a tense tone appropriate to the violence and suffering depicted in the novel.
Related Themes:
