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Metaphors
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Chapter Forty-One: Free At Last
Explanation and Analysis:
Jacobs cultivates a mood that is both hopeful and angry. She wants the reader to get upset about the injustices the institution of slavery props up, but she doesn't want to discourage the reader from acting. On the contrary, she wants the reader to be galvanized to action for a better world.
The best example of how Jacobs cultivates this angry but hopeful mood occurs at the close of the book, in Chapter 41:
Reader, my story ends with freedom; not in the usual way, with marriage. I and my children are now free! We are as free from the power of slaveholders as are the white people of the north; and though that, according to my ideas, is not saying a great deal, it is a vast improvement in my condition. The dream of my life is not yet realized. I do not sit with my children in a home of my own. […] I wish it for my children’s sake far more than for my own.
Related Themes:
