Towards the end of the essay, the tone of the author changes. How does it change and why?

Discuss in groups of four. The group secretary will share the group's thoughts with the class.

Towards the end of the essay, “The Hum of Insects”, the tone of the author changes. The essay begins on a very light-hearted note, describing the manners and mannerisms of various insects, and their interception by humans. The author, through comparisons and exaggerations, proceeds to exalt insects and personify them. The tone of the essay is rather humorous and interesting.

As the essay gradually progresses toward some deeper issues, it ends on a more serious note, because the humour is replaced with tones of irony and sarcasm, and a wider issue is brought to light – how the world has become no more than a stuffy, run-down machine, for people who lead mechanised lives, in spite of their being so many reasons for mirth and joy. The author, in stark words, addresses the adults, who have lost their love for life and being alive, and have forgotten their childhood days when they saw the world as a greener place. Even if they haven’t forgotten, they have pushed it to the deepest corner of their mind and covered themselves in a black shroud of stress, hate and sorrow.

The change of tone occurs because the author wishes to convey a very strong message to the reader, and this is possible only in stern words, and not in joyful pictures of the past.