What is the author's tone in the novel, Whispers Through a Megaphone?

The novel’s prose and tone can often be characterized as relatively light or humorous. This characterization bears multiple functions in relation to the novel’s often dark, grave content. The novel addresses heavy, salient themes such as abuse, mental illness, infidelity, and personal crisis, and yet the tone of the novel often strives for humor. One function of this dynamic is to allow the reader to more easily process the book’s darker elements. However, the contrast between tone and content may also help to further highlight the darkness of the novel’s content. Additionally, this focus on humor may emphasize the value of humor as a mechanism for coping with hardships in life. This dynamic is established very early in the book. For example, in Chapter 1, the narrative describes Miriam’s agoraphobia as “Miriam’s hibernation” (10), which partially obscures the seriousness of her interior trauma until it can be further revealed and explored later in the novel.

The novel’s focus on relative humor and lightness also seems to support a generally optimistic narrative view in the face of life’s hardships and traumas. At the end of the novel, none of the main characters have reached a place of absolute happiness and recovery, but they are generally much closer than at the beginning of the book, thanks in part to love and support from other characters. Supportive words and actions from other characters support this sense of recovery and optimism, such as when Matthew offers Miriam a family trinket as a means of making her feel welcome. Matthew says, “Dad made it years ago. I kept it for you” (266).