Jasper Jones
by Craig Silvey

Jasper Jones: 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
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis:

The tone of the novel is anxious and intense, but Charlie's seriousness is periodically shot through with youthful hyperbole and silliness. One good example is in Chapter 3, when Ruth makes Charlie dig a hole in the yard as punishment for spending the day at the library without permission:

In a few hours I’ve dug to the depth of my thighs. My burst blister is beyond pain now. This surely can’t go on for much longer. This is like Dickens or something. Surely the Geneva Convention protects me from having to dig anymore.

I keep going.

And I settle back into considering Cooke and his simple, bitter reason. He just wanted to hurt somebody. It sounds so vengeful. But was that really it?