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Irony
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis:
The mood of the novel is often official and serious, but increasingly despairing and frantic as Obi learns more about the corruption and hardship of Nigeria under English rule. A great example of both these mood registers occurs at the end of Chapter Eleven:
He pointed at the now empty glove box. They stared at it in silence. He opened his door quietly, went out, looked vacantly on the ground, and then leaned against the car. The street was completely deserted. Clara opened her door and went out too. She went round to his side of the car, took his hand in hers, and said: “Let’s go.” He was trembling. “Let’s go, Obi,” she said again, and opened his door for him.
The short and simple sentences that open this passage illustrate the serious and straightforward mood that often dominates the work. But as the short sentences become even shorter, the mood becomes tense and fraught. Readers feel Obi’s anguish alongside him; because Achebe leaves so much to the imagination of the reader, the words he does offer carry strong emotional weight.
This progression in this passage from serious and straightforward to frantic and anguished matches the reader’s experience of the novel as a whole, too. While at first readers, like Obi, might be idealistic, they eventually experience Obi's sense of powerlessness in the face of the hardships and demands of life in Lagos. The mood is governed primarily by this trajectory. And because Achebe is a master of being concise, mood in this novel is both prominent and powerful.
