When we think of the tone of a given work of literature,
we are referring to the attitude a writer takes towards a subject, a character, or the
reader. I think it is clear that the grimly serious nature of the tale, and in
particular, the kind of existence that Sarty has. Because of his father's penchant for
barn burning and his clear resistance or conflict with any form of authority, he finds
himself cut off from society and isolated. In addition, he has to constantly struggle
with his own sense of right and wrong, and whether to disobey his father by revealing
his guilt. This is of course what he nearly does at the beginning of the story, and his
father realises this, and beats him for it. However, by the end of the story, this is
what he decides to do, and we are left with a moving image of Sarty looking up at the
constellations above him and then walking away from his father and family, without
looking back.
Such events suggest a serious tone to this
excellent work. There is no indication of irony or humour. Sarty is presented as a
characer growing up in a grim, unforgiving world that is shaped by the malice of his
father that forces him to grow up well before his time and to make a decision between
his family and his morality that nobody should be forced to
make.
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