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Style
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:
The tone of “Marigolds” is primarily wistful and melancholic. The story is told from the perspective of an older woman reflecting on the moment in her youth when she went from being a child to being an adult, after destroying her neighbor Miss Lottie’s marigolds and realizing the harm that her actions caused the older woman. Since Lizabeth’s coming-of-age experience is not a pleasant one but one of reckoning with poverty, anger, and regret, the tone of the story is sad and pained.
That said, the story does have its lighthearted moments, as Lizabeth recollects the joyful innocence of her childhood before the incident with Miss Lottie’s marigolds. The following passage from near the beginning of the story captures the way Lizabeth’s tone as narrator shifts from cheerful to wistful at times:
I remember squatting in the road drawing a picture in the dust, a picture which Joey gleefully erased with one sweep of his dirty foot. I remember fishing for minnows in a muddy creek and watching sadly as they eluded my cupped hands, while Joey laughed uproariously. And I remember, that year, a strange restlessness of body and of spirit, a feeling that something old and familiar was ending, and something unknown and therefore terrifying was beginning.
In this passage, Lizabeth joyfully remembers “drawing a picture in the dust,” which her brother Joey “gleefully” erases, as well as playfully “fishing for minnows in a muddy creek” while Joey “laugh[s] uproariously.” Most of her language here hints at the joys of being a child in summertime, before switching into a more melancholic tone when she notes that she also remembers “a strange restlessness of body and of spirit, a feeling that something old and familiar was ending, and something unknown and therefore terrifying was beginning.” This tonal shift hints to readers that this story is going to be about a significant and serious experience of Lizabeth coming of age, rather than one of simply reminiscing about the joys of youth.
Related Themes:
