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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
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis:
The tone of Burmese Days often verges on cynical or pessimistic, with the narrator making heavy use of irony and other forms of contradiction throughout the text. These ironies are used to draw attention to the hypocrisies and dehumanization wrought by the British Empire. The narrator's tone also frequently adopts a distinct moralistic quality. Through tonal subtleties, Orwell's narrator often seeks to condemn and pass judgment on characters. Observe an instance of this in the following passage from Chapter 1:
U Po Kyin's laugh was a disgusting bubbling sound deep down in his belly, like the preparation for a cough; yet it was merry, even childlike.
Note the use of the word "disgusting" in the passage above. The narrator uses this word as a moral qualifier, telling readers how they should feel about U Po Kyin's laugh, and therefore his character. He is a villainous, unscrupulous man—and, therefore, a disgusting one.
In a novel where the characters themselves often lack moral character, it is the narrator who drives the reader's moral orientation within the text. The narrator's tone helps guide the reader, providing either explicit or implicit context through which to judge a character's integrity. More often than not, it is the narrator's tone, as opposed to dialogue or action, that informs readers about a character's principles.
