Question

Read the excerpt from "Fern” in Cane.

From the train window I saw her as I crossed her road. Saw her on her porch, head tilted a little forward where the nail was, eyes vaguely focused on the sunset. Saw her face flow into them, the countryside and something that I call God, flowing into them. . . . Nothing ever really happened. Nothing ever came to Fern, not even I. Something I would do for her. Some fine unnamed thing. . . . And friend, you? She is still living, I have reason to know. Her name, against the chance that you might happen down that way, is Fernie May Rosen.

What is the effect of the repetition of the word "nothing” on the tone of this excerpt?

It creates a defiant tone.
It creates a desperate tone.
It creates a resigned tone.
It creates a critical tone.

Answer 1

It creates a resigned tone.

The repetition emphasizes acceptance of stagnation and the inevitability that nothing changes or comes to Fern, conveying weary resignation rather than defiance, desperation, or criticism.