Norwegian Wood
by Haruki Murakami

Norwegian Wood: 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 4
Explanation and Analysis:

Toru is a detached and removed narrator, and the tone of the novel reflects this. He writes candidly, relating events and feelings as they occurred. He recounts emotional memories in a straightforward tone, without veering into sentimentality. As he is watching Hatsumi in the back of a taxi cab in Chapter 8, he says:

Her midnight blue dress seemed to have been made to match the darkness of the cab. Every now and then her thinly daubed, beautifully formed lips would quiver slightly as if she had caught herself on the verge of talking to herself. . . Hatsumi had some quality that could send a tremor through your heart. . . I watched her all the way to Shibuya, and wondered, without ever finding an answer, what this emotional reverberation that I was feeling could be.

Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis:

Toru is a detached and removed narrator, and the tone of the novel reflects this. He writes candidly, relating events and feelings as they occurred. He recounts emotional memories in a straightforward tone, without veering into sentimentality. As he is watching Hatsumi in the back of a taxi cab in Chapter 8, he says:

Her midnight blue dress seemed to have been made to match the darkness of the cab. Every now and then her thinly daubed, beautifully formed lips would quiver slightly as if she had caught herself on the verge of talking to herself. . . Hatsumi had some quality that could send a tremor through your heart. . . I watched her all the way to Shibuya, and wondered, without ever finding an answer, what this emotional reverberation that I was feeling could be.

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