Tone Analysis Essay - Naomi Shihab Nye

Naomi Shihab Nye uses diction to create a tone of empathy in her poem "Flinn on the Bus". "Flinn on the bus" is told from the point of view of a bus passenger on September 11, 2001 who is sitting next to a man named Flinn who is "fresh out of prison after 24 months" who doesn't know of the attacks. Even though the poem is told from her point of view there are clips of Flinn talking to her and to himself inserted. By using this choice of diction the reader gains a better perspective of the story.

Nye choice of diction gives the reader a better understanding of the narrator and Flinn, but it also gives the narrator a tone of empathy towards Flinn. "Three hours after the buildings fell" creates an image of the twin towers falling on the day of the attack. Imagery helps contribute to the tone of empathy because the narrator didn't want to be the one to deliver the news to Flinn and she felt sorry for him for when he would find out and for the person that would have to tell him about the attack.

"Rolled through Oklahoma the bus windows made all the trees look bent." Little details like this make the narrator and the audiences feel even more empathy towards Flinn. All these different forms of DIDLS contribute to the tone of empathy.

The poem "Flinn on the bus" is about a prisoner getting released for jail on September 11. For those of us who remember the day know how we felt and how we felt for the families of those that lost family members. But the poem presents the day from a different point of view. "Flinn on the bus" shows the audience that having empathy for a person, even one that was just released from prison, help the person giving the empathy just as much as the person giving it.