Tone

Gulliver's Travels

by Jonathan Swift

Gulliver's Travels: Tone 1 key example

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
Book 1, Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis:

The tone of Gulliver's Travels is complex and undergoes several transformations over the course of the novel to reflect the narrator's changes in perspective. In Books 1, 2, and 3, Gulliver's tone is confident and sincere, reflecting his naive worldview. By the end of the novel, however, his experiences in the land of the Houyhnhnms have caused him to view his fellow humans with disgust and have rendered his tone bitter and cynical.