The tone of “Clay” is somewhat contradictory. While both Maria and the narrator act as if Maria is happy with her life—contributing to a joyful tone—readers can tell that something is deeply amiss as Maria faces a series of challenging situations without acknowledging them as such. In this way, readers can sense Joyce’s pessimistic tone beneath the falsely positive tone of the narrator. Take the following passage, for example, which comes during the Hallow Eve party, right after Joe has an angry outburst about his brother Alphy:
Joe said he would not lose his temper on account of the night it was and asked his wife to open some more stout. The two next-door girls had arranged some Hallow Eve games and soon everything was merry again. Maria was delighted to see the children so merry and Joe and his wife in such good spirits.
Despite the fact that Joe has just had a drunken outburst about how he would rather “God strike him stone dead” than ever talk to Alphy again, the narrator asserts that “everything was merry again.” The narrator then doubles down on describing everyone as “merry” and also “in such good spirits.” The repetition here adds a layer of anxiety to the narrator’s tone (as well as to Maria’s inner thoughts), implying that they may be trying to convince themselves that everything is fine when it is not.
This moment hints at how Maria not only hides her feelings from others but also from herself. Because she is in denial about her own—and others’—discomfort, the tone of the story comes across as falsely positive and somewhat on edge.
