What is the author's tone in the story collection, Young Skins?

The tone of the book’s prose is often somber and understated, while evoking a sense of deep pain underneath the characters’ quiet facades. For example, by the end of “The Clancy Kid,” it becomes quite evident that Jimmy is devastated at the fact of Marlene’s engagement to Mark. At first, Jimmy attempts to maintain an air of nonchalance, even in narration: “Marlene is the nearest thing I’ve had to a steady girlfriend—and if we’ve been on we’ve never quite been off, either, even after Mark Cuculann got her pregnant last year” (5). Jimmy’s rage and desperation becomes evident when he orders Tug to vandalize Mark’s car, and when Jimmy then writes “MARRY ME” (12) on the window. This sense of internalized pain and desperation is present throughout the collection’s stories.

Although the stories are often defined by a sense of pain and possible tragedy, many of the stories still allow for possible currents of hope and optimism. Although these stories tend to end with a mixture of ambiguity and despair, the characters and the reader may still maintain hope for improvement. The only story which arguably ends without hope s “Calm with horses,” as Arm is deceased by the end: “…the poor creature inside that van was dead” (142). However, even that story has some positive tonal elements. Multiple facets of the story enforce the idea that, contrary to Arm’s belief, he could have made other decisions and avoided such a fate. These positive narrative facets include characters such as Ursula and Maire.