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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
Tone
Explanation and Analysis:
Flowers for Algernon uses a first-person narrative voice that closely follows Charlie’s changing state of mind throughout the story. All of the novel’s writing is from Charlie’s perspective. At the beginning, Charlie’s childish voice sounds hopeful and naive. He trusts the people around him, believes in the promise of the surgery and the good intentions of his doctors, and tries as hard as he can to please others. Even when all of his companions treat him unkindly, Charlie does not question their motives because he’s not smart enough to see what they’re really doing. The blithe, trusting tone of the novel’s beginning matches his innocence.
As the effects of the surgery begin to surface, the narrative tone shifts. When Charlie learns the truth about how people treated him in the past, his tone grows bitter and angry. He resents the way others mocked him, and this bitterness comes through in the narrative voice. Charlie becomes much more proud and confident as his intelligence grows. His writing style grows more complex, his spelling improves, and his vocabulary expands.
At his intellectual peak, however, the tone takes on a sharp edge. Charlie’s words sound impatient and arrogant. He judges others, pulls away from people he once wanted to please, and loses patience with those who cannot follow his most advanced reasoning. In the last section of the novel, the tone becomes mournful and resigned. Charlie struggles against his declining abilities and the return to a simple life. However, it cannot be helped. As the experiment fails, the narrative voice slows back down again. Charlie’s world narrows down to an even smaller scope than where he started.
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