What is the author's tone in Mystery and Manners; Occasional Prose by Flannery O'Connor?

The tone of the book is straightforward and simple yet written for a moderately sophisticated reader, especially one interested in the craft and dynamics of writing fiction. The only essay in the book, The King of the Birds, is lighthearted and humorous, but the tone grows increasingly more sober as the book progresses. As O'Connor puts forth her ideas on writers, especially Southern writers, her tone of voice becomes more opinionated and it is clear that she has put much thought into the topic. When the book reaches the essays on religion and writing, O'Connor is in her strongest voice yet as she attempts, almost violently sometimes, to get her points across. This is completely fitting because O'Connor believes that the Catholic writer must sometimes resort to violence in his writing in order to gain attention from uninterested or uninformed readers. By the end of the piece, when writing the introduction to A Memoir for Mary Ann, O'Connor has softened by the story of the disfigured girl who touched so many and died too soon. Overall, O'Connor's tone in these essays mirrors the tone in much of her own fiction: a hard look at reality and no fear in reporting what she sees.