The Buried Giant

by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Buried Giant: 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 1
Explanation and Analysis:

The tone of The Buried Giant is mournful and bleak, as the speaker describes with a defeated spirit the ancient English landscape, the lives of the characters, and the future of their world.

At the start of the novel in Chapter 1, the speaker introduces the story’s setting as a desolate one, that the characters endure their lives of desperation without reason for celebration:

Mostly you would have found communities like the one I have just described, and unless you had with you gifts of food or clothing, or were ferociously armed, you would not have been sure of a welcome. I am sorry to paint such a picture of our country at that time, but there you are.