The Fly

by Katherine Mansfield

The Fly: 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
Tone
Explanation and Analysis:

The tone of "The Fly" is conversational and colloquial, as the narration often mimics how the characters themselves speak. This means that—in the beginning of the story, at least—the tone is somewhat humorous, since it aligns with the casual, glib comments that Londoners might say in jest to each other. Consider, for example, the following passage, in which Mr. Woodifield's wife and daughters try to imagine what he does when he goes into London once a week:

Though what he did there the wife and girls couldn't imagine. Made a nuisance of himself to his friends, they supposed.... Well, perhaps so.