The tone of this novel is, for the most part, detached, reflective, and philosophical, though in moments of lightness or comic relief it can be witty and irreverent. The Return of the Native's tone is initially quite foreboding, as Hardy describes the powerful, deeply-colored landscape of Egdon Heath in detail. However, as characters and relationships begin to be introduced, the tone becomes briefly lighter. There’s a juxtaposition between a tone of optimism and possibility and one of looming dread at the beginning of the book. As the tale progresses, the tone becomes more consistently detached and serious. Hardy’s narrator doesn’t overtly sympathize with his characters, and so as things get worse for them, the narrator seems to draw further away. By the end of the novel, when the deaths are finished and the threads are being tied up, the tone has become consistently resigned and reflective.
The narrative voice of The Return of the Native is consistently in the third-person omniscient perspective. Hardy’s narrator presents events from an all-knowing height that allows the reader to see the inner thoughts, motivations, and feelings of those involved. This broad vision enables the narrator to provide a seemingly objective, critical commentary on characters’ actions and choices. Because of this, the reader is largely left to form their own judgements and interpretations of what characters do and say. The narrator also makes a lot of allusions, drawing comparisons between classical, folkloric, and historical events and the action of the novel. These references to things outside the events of the book broaden the distance between the narrator and the lives of Hardy’s characters. This makes the narrative seem academic and withdrawn rather than emotional and invested.
When the novel is funny, as it often is, the narrator’s voice actually becomes even more distant and philosophical. This icy removal adds to the mockery in the narrator's tone as they hold the actions and thoughts of characters up for scrutiny. This scrutiny is especially pointed when the narrator is poking fun at characters—like Eustacia Vye and Susan Nunsuch, for example—who take themselves too seriously.
