Analysis of Tone in “Live Free and Starve” by Chitra Divakuruni

In the essay “Live Free and Starve,” Chitra Divakaruni challenges the reader’s assumptions that anti-sweatshop legislation improves the lives of children in Third World countries such as Somalia.  She utilizes a satiric and rhetoric tone that is at the same time questioning in order to encourage the reader to challenge the assumptions that are made about child labor in Third World countries. This presentation will use three methods to analyze Divakaruni’s essay and assess her overall tone.  1) Word choice will be evaluated to determine how the words that are used in the essay contribute to tone.  2) Descriptive language will be evaluated to determine how the words that are used in the essay contribute to tone. 3)  Sentence structure will be reviewed to determine how the structure of sentences contribute to tone. In the essay “Live Free and Starve,” Divakaruni utilizes word choice to convey both a sarcastic and rhetoric tone.  In the first sentence example, the word triumphant is sarcastic because it points to the hubris of lawmakers who believe that they solved the problems faced by Third World children through their legislation.  In the second sentence example, “free and happy” is satirical because it challenges the application of American values to a problem that exists in a Third World country.  It highlights the simplistic thinking of Americans who fail to see the complex realities that poor youth face in other nations.

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