The tone of a novel is defined as a way for the author to express his attitude towards elements of the story such as the characters, the setting or situation. Tone is present in every novel an author writes, because it is this literary device that sets the tone of the story for the reader. Henry James uses tone very effectively in the novel The Turn of the Screw. The story starts out happy and dreamy, then scary and angry in the middle and ends with heartbreak and sadness at the end. Changes in tone are caused by changes in the governess's attitude and actions. At the beginning of The Turn of the Screw, the tone is very happy and dreamy. The story begins with Douglas and his friends telling each other scary stories. It's very peaceful and everyone enjoys the stories told. The tone is very happy represented by “No one is going?” It was almost the tone of hope. Everyone will stay! (Jacques, 6 years old). This shows that everyone is having fun telling each other scary stories and is willing to stay and wait for Douglas' story. It was very encouraging because the stories told were enjoyable for the people around the campfire. The tone remains positive at the beginning of the governess's story. The governess arrives home and sees this beautiful girl, very polite and too good for herself. The housekeeper is very happy to have been able to get the job and to experience all this, which she says is almost a dream. This is evident when she talks about a place that would somehow, to distract from the idea of ​​you, take all the color out of storybooks and fairy tales” (James, 16 ). This proves that the governess believes that just like Bly, the place they are in...... middle of paper ......clusion, the ambiance represents that the governess has truly abandoned the children and is very sad that nothing else can be done to help them and get rid of the ghosts that haunt them. In conclusion, the changes in the governess's actions and attitudes cause the tone to change throughout the novel. The tone starts off happy and dreamy, then angry in the middle and sad at the end. All this concludes that the tone of the literary device is very effective in describing to the reader the mood of the story through the actions of the characters. Tone is perhaps one of the most important literary devices used by the author to connect the mood of the story to the reader's heart and make them really feel the characters and what they are going through. Works Cited James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw and other short fictions. Bantam classic ed. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1983. Print.