tone


 * Tone**: the reflection of a writer’s attitude towards his/her subject, characters and, readers. The tone could be humorous, ironic, sarcastic, satirical, solemn etc. Tone can also be used to express the writer's mood and moral views.
 * Mood** and **atmosphere** are also related to tone.
 * Mood** is the general feeling or impression conveyed by a passage. Mood can be created by imagery, word choice, events etc.
 * Atmosphere** is the mood pervading a literary work, particularly created by the setting. It helps establish the expectations and attitude of the reader.

"You have slept precisely one hundred years. I was left here to guard your slumbers; and for one hundred years I have been out under the shed reading a book. The only evil I couldn't prevent was to keep a broiled fowl from drying up." (37) This passage reflects sarcasm and lighthearted humor. The material of the quote is overstretched; one hundred years is highly unprobable. This conveys a lack of seriousness and inclination towards glee, flirtatiously hinting the over-friendliness in the characters' relationship.
 * __The Awakening__ by Kate Chopin**

"'Don't go; don't go! Oh! Edna, stay with me," he pleaded. "Why should you go? Stay with me, stay with me."(103) Robert's pleads reflects his desire and longing for Edna. His sense of desperation is transmitted through the exclamation marks and his repeated phrases "don't go!" "stay with me".


 * __Wide Sargasso Sea__ by Jean Rhys**

"'What is the matter, Antoinette? What have I done?' She said nothing. 'You don't wish to marry me?" 'No." She spoke in a very low voice. 'But why?' 'I'm afraid of what may happen.' 'But don't you remember last night i told you that when you are my wife there would not be any more reason to be afraid?' 'Yes,' she said. 'Then Richard came in and you laughed. I didn't like the way you laughed.' (48) The tone in which Antoinette states her concerns is cold, accusing, and indifferent towards Rochester. These qualities are revealed through her "very low voice", silence, and short sentences.

"'And that,' I said coldly, 'is where you took charge, isn't it? You tried to poison me.' 'Poison you? But look me trouble, the man crazy! She come to me and ask me for something to make you love her again and I tell her no I don't meddle in that for //beke//. I tell her it's foolishness.'"(99)


 * Feminism within the novels**

Jean Rhys has a criticizing and accusing tone towards the gender bias in Creole society of which she portrays through Rochester and Mr. Mason's authority over their wives, made advantageous just by being men.

"The fact is that Santiago Nasar went in through the main door, in full view of everyone, and without doing anything not to be seen. Flora Miguel was waiting for him in the parlor, green with rage, wearing one of the dresses with unfortunate ruffles that she was in the habit of putting on for memorable occasioins, and she put the chest in his hands. "Here you are," she told him. "And I hope they kill you!" Santiago Nasar was so perplexed that he dropped the chest and his loveless letters poured out onto the floor." (114 Penguin version)
 * __Chronicle of a Death Foretold__ by Gabriel Garc****ía M****árquez**

Gabriel García Márquez mixes an ironic tone with a humorous one in this passage. He uses the double negative "without doing anything not to be seen" which highlights the irony in the situation. His phrases such as "green with rage", "unfortunate ruffles" and "loveless letters" set a humorous tone to the scene which, ironically, just precedes the murder.

"The light leapt up off the steel and it was like a long, flashing sword lunging at my forehead. At the same time all the sweat that had gathered in my eyebrows suddenly ran down over my eyelids, covering them with a dense layer of warm moisture. My eyes were blinded by this veil of salty tears. All I could feel were the cymbals the sun was clashing against my forehead and, indistinctly, the dazzling spear still leaping up off the knife in front of me. It was like a red-hot blade gnawing at my eyelashes and gouging out my stinging eyes. That was when everything shook. The sea swept ashore a great breath of fire. The sky seemed to be splitting from end to end and raining down sheets of flame. My whole being went tense and I tightened my grip on the gun. The trigger gave, I felt the underside of the polished butt and it was there, in that sharp but deafening noise, that it all started." (59 Penguin version)
 * __The Stranger__ by Albert Camus**

This passage has a very dramatic atmosphere and mood to it. Camus creates this atmosphere by using powerful and harsh diction and phrases in almost every line such as "leapt up off", "flashing sword", "lunging", "blinded", "clashing", "dazzling spear" "red-hot blade" "gnawing" etc. Camus also uses overwhelming imagery that appeal to the reader's sense of pain: "it was like a long, flashing sword lunging at my forehead" and "It was like a red-hot blade gnawing at my eyelashes and gouging out my stinging eyes". Relating back to the definition, this dramatic atmosphere hints at what is to come, and thus establishes the expectations of the reader, as the vivid description of the setting gets more and more dramatic and eventually leads to the climax of the novel, the murder.