Diction and Tone.

Diction and Tone.

Diction and Tone: Section 1.

    The tone that starts in the beginning is not lively and somewhat confusing by starting off with Mary's suicide. " On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide- it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese- two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope." (Eugenides 1). Since we know nothing about the Lisbon girls besides them killing themselves, we're very confused about who they are. But then they tell about Cecilia's suicide (Eugenides 1) you aren't confused anymore but since they say "had gone slitting her wrists" (Eugenides 1), "blood", (Eugenides 2) "screaming" (Eugenides 2) and "attempt at suicide," (Eugenides 2) might have an uneasy tone from hearing about a touchy subject. Basically making an uneasy tone through the rest of the section.

Diction and Tone: Section 2.

     Section two starts out with a very sad and devastating tone. Using emotional words for diction like "funeral" (Eugenides 35) and "cemetery" (Eugenides 35).  Thinking about a thirteen year old girl dying or "a creature who in dog years was still a puppy- Cecilia Lisbon." (Eugenides 35). This can make people feel sad from wondering what would drive a young girl to do something like kill herself. But after Cecilia is buried, I believe the tone becomes more positive and you almost feel dizzy from the words used, or mystifying. The words "mind active and dreamy," (Eugenides 43) and "colors," (Eugenides 43) are words people usually like to hear. Or when we hear the words that describe the girls "women in disguise," (Eugenides 44) or how the boys say they were unable to "fathom" (Eugenides 44) shows how utterly beautiful and different from anyone and in a way we fell pleased by hearing those words.

Diction and Tone: Section 3.

     Section three's tone sounds more depressed by starting with, "Flower arrangements arrived at the Lisbon house later than was customary." (Eugenides 48). It's depressing because we know it's condolence for Cecilia's suicide. Words like "too sad" (Eugenides 50) "poorly" (Eugenides 50) and "crying" (Eugenides 51) in the chose of diction, makes the reader feel pessimistic about the situation. But once we meet Trip, we're somewhat ecstatic about learning that Lux has a love interest. Making the tone the same. "sense of honor"(Eugenides 69), "love" (Eugenides 75), and when Trip says "She was a still point in a turning world," (Eugenides 78), from the diction used were excited to see how this relationship continues.
     Near the end of the chapter, I believe the tone is very disdained. How Trip says he was "sick" (Eugenides 139) of Lux. Gives you a hatred towards the situation and Trip.

Diction and Tone: Section 4.

     The tone is bleak in section four because of the words to describe the Lisbon girls situation. Saying "maximum- security" (Eugenides 141) and "murk" (Eugenides 141) makes the reader read it with gloom because our main protagonists are stuck in a sad isolation. Or using the diction "derangement, desperation, self-destructiveness" (Eugenides 149) to describe Lux, even makes the reader feel down by knowing she's deterioration.

Diction and Tone: Section 5.

      I believe, for the last chapter, we have the tone of loving. Mostly because it talks about the boys unable to forget the girls. Saying "intimate treasures" (Eugenides 226) shows how the boys saw the girls things and "Cecilia's shrine" (Eugenides 230) shows how the boys portray Cecilia's belonging. "Her brain going dim to all else, but flaming up in precise points of pain, personal injury, lost dreams." (Eugenides 248) shows empathy for the girls. "but only we had loved them," (Eugenides 249) only show that the boys had always loved the girls and that we feel the same attachment.