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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: In the Dingy of the Lady Vain
Explanation and Analysis:
The novel's tone is one of social responsibility. Prendick does not necessarily relish telling the story of his time on Doctor Moreau's island, but he often conveys the sense that he feels obligated to do so. For instance, Chapter 1 opens with his insistence that he has a story only he can tell:
I DO NOT propose to add anything to what has already been written concerning the loss of the Lady Vain. [...] I have now, however, to add to the published story of the Lady Vain another as horrible, and certainly far stranger. It has hitherto been supposed that the four men who were in the dingey perished, but this is incorrect. I have the best evidence for this assertion—I am one of the four men.
Prendick immediately admits that his story is "horrible." He is not the kind of person who simply enjoys telling horror stories about the traumatic events in his life. If he were, surely he would be eager to tell his own story about the shipwreck of the Lady Vain. Instead, he glosses over this traumatic event and tells the story no one else can. Prendick, who started as one of four, reveals himself to be the only survivor from the dinghy. As becomes clear over the course of the novel, he is the only survivor from Moreau's island. If he does not tell this story, no one will.
Prendick has a tone of repulsion toward his own story. When he finally escapes the island at the end of the book, he writes that, "I could not bring myself to look behind me." And yet he also understands that horror (not laws or morals learned by rote) is what has helped him see the social problems with Doctor Moreau's experiment. Prendick describes many instances of wanting to ignore and even flee from what is going on on the island, but his horror ultimately overwhelms him and draws him back in. His attempts not to hear the Beast Folk's screams always fail, and he eventually takes mercy on them. For instance, he shoots the Leopard Man to save him from being taken back to the House of Pain. Prendick attempts to convey his sense of horror to readers so that they too might develop a critical eye toward the atrocities committed by people in power and even by their neighbors.
Related Themes:
