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Metaphors
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Part 1, Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis:
The mood of White Fang is harsh, dangerous, and desolate. In Part 1, Chapter 1, two men (Bill and Henry) pull a coffin—a symbol of death and the fragility of life amidst the harsh cold of the Yukon wilderness—on a dog sled through a silent, snow-blanketed forest. Although it isn’t clear how the man in the coffin died, the presence of his corpse at the novel’s beginning immediately evokes a mood of foreboding, making it clear to the reader that this is a harsh and unforgiving landscape where death lurks just around the corner:
Dark spruce forest frowned on either side of the frozen waterway. The trees […] seemed to lean toward each other, black and ominous, in the fading light […] There was a hint in it of laughter […] It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild.
Related Themes:
Part 5, Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis:
The mood of White Fang is harsh, dangerous, and desolate. In Part 1, Chapter 1, two men (Bill and Henry) pull a coffin—a symbol of death and the fragility of life amidst the harsh cold of the Yukon wilderness—on a dog sled through a silent, snow-blanketed forest. Although it isn’t clear how the man in the coffin died, the presence of his corpse at the novel’s beginning immediately evokes a mood of foreboding, making it clear to the reader that this is a harsh and unforgiving landscape where death lurks just around the corner:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Dark spruce forest frowned on either side of the frozen waterway. The trees […] seemed to lean toward each other, black and ominous, in the fading light […] There was a hint in it of laughter […] It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild.
Related Themes:
