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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:
The tone of “The Postmaster” is, for the most part, calm and even-keeled. Even in the more emotionally charged sections of the story—such as when the Postmaster becomes sick or Ratan is distressed about the Postmaster leaving—the narrator does not dwell too long on the characters' pain. The descriptions of the characters’ inner worlds are evocative, yet the narrator’s tone always remains somewhat emotionally removed.
That said, the tone abruptly shifts at the end of the story, as the narrator moves from dispassionate observer to commenter on the human condition, as seen in the following passage:
O poor, unthinking human heart! Error will not go away, logic and reason are slow to penetrate. We cling with both arms to false hope, refusing to believe the weightiest proofs against it, embracing it with all our strength. In the end it escapes, ripping our veins and draining our heart’s blood; until, regaining consciousness, we rush to fall into snares of delusion all over again.
This shift in tone here is extreme—the narrator is no longer impartially telling a story but, with quite a bit of distress, philosophizing about false hope. The narrator’s grief and desperation come across in their exclamation about the “poor, unthinking human heart!” and in the metaphorical language about how “false hope […] escapes, ripping our veins and draining our heart’s blood; until, regaining consciousness, we rush to fall into snares of delusion all over again.”
The tone here is deeply pessimistic and pained, as the narrator shifts from focusing on the Postmaster’s inner experience to Ratan’s. Tagore’s decision to end the story with compassion for the more oppressed and exploited character—leaving the educated, middle-class Postmaster behind—shows his allegiance with the most oppressed people in India. This pained yet empathetic tone encourages readers to feel their own pain and compassion for people like Ratan who “cling with both arms to false hope” because they have nothing else to hold onto in an unequal society.
Related Themes:
