Ron Suskind's A Hope In The Unseen

TONE Ron Suskind documents the transition of a poverty stricken adolescent student from a low end, under-resourced high school to an Ivy League school. The Wall Street Journal writer, Suskind, in the book A Hope in the Unseen, recorded Cedric’s story. From page ninety-four to ninety-seven, Suskind’s tone shifts from optimistic to indignant when conveying Cedric’s encounter with Professor Trillings during his spell at MIT. Suskind intertwines his use of diction with tone to facilitate the reader in understanding Cedric’s plight and enabling the reader to experience Cedric’s emotional journey. “...Cedric realizes that something has happened. Something unexpected. Perseverance finally seems to be paying off,” (96) claims Suskind,

Suskind comments that Cedric’s mind and spirit had been “wrestling” (95) for days prior but still hadn’t stopped him from becoming “paralyzed” (95) once he stood in Trilling’s office. By using the word “wrestling” it infers that Cedric has been fighting over the idea that he could possibly come out victorious, evoking a sense of optimism. This changes, however, when he becomes “paralyzed” and, after all of the growth he has experienced, becomes static in the face of his ultimate fear of failure. Suskind shows that although Cedric is happy that he is in a better place academically he is still unsure and nervous that his standings are not fitting enough to fend against that of his fellow MIT peers. “His exhausting panic is steadily dissolving” (Suskind 95) revealed the author, his use of diction enhancing the sense of Cedric’s emotional extremes when it came to keeping up academically. Cedric’s “panic” (Suskind 95) was like a cloud looming over him that dissolved as he began to improve academically; yet again representing a sense of relief and optimism. Suskind isolated specific, key dialogue from the exchange between the professor and Cedric to reveal that the hardworking student that had coveted the opportunity to attend MIT for his whole life and that professor Trilling was abreast of this.