Tone and Mood- Exit Slip

Water for Elephants

Lakin Steedly

(post for October 10, 2013)

Fearful.  May be a scary word for some or engaging different people have different views, that is the tone for the book Water for Elephants right now.  The mood for right now is suspenseful, many things are currently happening. I know this because in the chapter I am reading, Marlena stops by at Jacob's house to ask him some questions.  She confronts him with confusions on some diseases that others said he had, which he didn't.  After that was cleared up, they start to talk about their kiss.  The one thing that has kept her coming back to Jacob.   They're both conflicted and don't know what they should do.  This is a passage from the text in chapter 14 stating the conversation between Jacob and Marlena about the kiss.

“’Are you saying you didn’t want to kiss me?’
I drop my hat and raise my hands. “Marlena, please help me. I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“Because it would be easier if you didn’t.”
“If I didn’t what?”
“If you didn’t want to kiss me,” she says quietly.
My jaw moves, but it’s several seconds before anything comes out. “Marlena, what are you saying?”
“I . . . I’m not really sure,” she says. “I hardly know what to think anymore. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. I know what I’m feeling is wrong, but I just . . . Well, I guess I just wondered . . .”  (Gruen 563)

A particular moment in the independent novel when Jacob swayed the beliefs of others is when he and Marlena kissed,  Marelna is married to August and she always thought he was the perfect guy until now, she doesn’t know what to do.  The persuasiveness is impacted by the tone because it is given a more serious and fearful vibe to the piece of literature.