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What is Tone in Literature? (Definition)

Tone is the attitude of a writer, narrator, or speaker toward the subject matter. This attitude can be expressed by style, word choice, or other literary elements. For instance, an author might utilize foreshadowing or specific sensory details to create an ominous tone, or humor to create an ironic one. The tone of a piece of writing can change, or stay the same throughout, but all writing—even writing that is neutral, distant, or objective, like a news report or an academic paper—possesses a tone. Ultimately, tone shapes the reader’s perception of a work, and identifying tone is crucial to understanding the author’s message.

Examples of Tone

Example 1: Tone in Lord of the Flies

The tone of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is fairly aloof, creating a sense of removal from the events. The boys on the island generally treat each other with a lack of sympathy, and, similarly, the overall tone of the book expresses neither shock nor sympathy toward what happens. Events such as the deaths of Simon and Piggy are related in matter-of-fact detail, the tone resigned, expressing no surprise at the violent deaths of the main characters. The sense is that the deaths are as inevitable as the tide: “Then the sea breathed again in a long, slow sigh, the water boiled white and pink over the rock; and when it went, sucking back again, the body of Piggy was gone.” By focusing on the natural world in the immediate aftermath of the death, instead of the boys, Golding distances the reader from the emotion of the scene.

Example 2: Tone in Jane Eyre

The tone of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is largely confessional and philosophical. Jane often addresses the reader directly. She speculates as to why others behave the way they do, often pausing to philosophize, and explains herself and her actions. These asides suggest Jane, plagued by insecurities and often alienated from her peers and desperately seeking a sense of belonging, may be self-conscious that her audience could judge her. The reader can also interpret these direct addresses from a feminist perspective. Although Brontë originally published Jane Eyre under a male pseudonym, her insistence on giving Jane an opinionated voice—in contrast to the Victorian ideal of the docile woman—demonstrates the intelligence and value of women’s voices.

Example 3: Tone in The Scarlet Letter

The tone of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is skeptical, often questioning events as they are being described. The narrator frequently suggests several interpretations of events, or acknowledges how preposterous his tale sounds, as when he says about Pearl playing in the forest: “a wolf, it is said – but here the tale has surely lapsed into the improbable – came up and… offered his savage head to be petted by her hand.” This tone of disbelief maintains an ironic distance between the events the narrator describes and how literally he expects the reader to take them. It also privileges the reader as more sophisticated and evolved than most of the characters in the book, who lived in an earlier time and believed in witchcraft and supernatural phenomena. His constant questioning and qualifying of events underscores the idea that the underlying themes of the story are more significant than the specifics of Hester and Dimmesdale’s tale.

Common Misunderstandings about Tone

It’s important to distinguish between tone and mood, though the terms are similar and related. While tone is the author’s attitude toward a subject, mood is the story’s emotional atmosphere, as evoked by setting, imagery, word choice, style, and, of course, tone. The mood may expand, deepen, or shift over the course of a work. A literary work's tone and mood can certainly be the same, as the writer’s attitude toward the subject may evoke the same feelings in the reader. A cheerful tone may make the reader feel cheerful as well, and likewise a fearful one could garner the same reaction. In short, tone can be thought of as something that the author expresses, whereas mood is the feeling that the tone (among other elements) evokes in the reader. 

Why Does Tone Matter?

When crafting a piece of writing, tone is important to keep in mind because it impacts the reader’s understanding of the overall message. Tone is just one part of many; to establish the proper tone, writers make conscious decisions about sentence structure, style, foreshadowing, irony, point of view, and more. As a reader, identifying the tone of a work of literature is the key to identifying the author’s intentions. Are they attempting to criticize some aspect of society by way of a biting or satirical tone? Is the tone cautionary, as in a dystopian novel that serves as a warning to the reader? Does the tone change as the narrative progresses? How, and why? Asking these questions and pinpointing specific literary elements that contribute to the work’s tone enable the reader to analyze the work's purpose, and the extent to which the writer was successful in achieving it.

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