The Revolt of “Mother”

by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman

The Revolt of “Mother”: 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 Revolt of ‘Mother’” is primarily lighthearted with moments of earnest emotion. The central conflict of the story is between Sarah, who wants a new house for her family, and her husband Adoniram, who ignores her wishes and builds himself a new barn instead. The tone of the story remains lighthearted as the couple clashes and then as Sarah schemes a way to get herself a new house by moving all of her family’s belongings into the new barn while Adoniram is away—a somewhat comedic turn of events.