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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 Scarlet Ibis” is primarily wistful and melancholic. This comes from the fact that the story is told from the perspective of Brother (from an unknown point in the future) who knows that the story he is telling will end with his brother Doodle’s death. The story opens with Brother noting wistfully that “that summer has long since fled and time has had its way” and, as the tale continues, Brother’s dark narratorial tone communicates to readers that this story will not have a happy ending.
This proves to be true, as Doodle dies during a storm after Brother abandons him in the woods during a fierce storm. The final lines in the story capture the story’s sorrowful tone:
I began to weep, and the tear-blurred vision in red before me looked very familiar. “Doodle!” I screamed above the pounding storm, and threw my body to the earth above his. For a long, long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain.
The devastated tone—as well as the tragic nature of the story—comes across in the way that Brother describes Doodle as a “tear-blurred vision in red” and how he narrates himself “screaming” and “throwing” his body to the ground by Doodle’s. The final line exemplifies Brother’s distraught tone as he notes how “it seemed forever” that he lay with Doodle, protecting him from “the heresy of rain.” Here rain becomes “heretical” in the sense that it is desecrating the sacred ground upon which Doodle has died.
Related Themes:
