Blog Topic #2: Diction
• “; and every day the earth paled (1)”
• The reoccurring “dust”
• “, so the earth became pale, pink in the red country, and white in the gray country. (1)”
• “Inside a screened restaurant a radio played, quiet dance music turned low the way it is when no one is listening. (5)”
• “Lighted it (11)”
• “ the yellowness was disappearing under gray dust. (17)”
• “a snowball’s chance in hell (22)”
• “same on both sides, dusty and dry and dark green (28)”
• “He ate without relish (36)”
John Steinbeck’s use of diction creates a tone of contentment but he includes an undertone of hopelessness. Steinbeck creates the content although hopeless tone by explaining that all of the more vibrant colors are still present, but they are being covered by a shade of gray. When Steinbeck describes a small diner in the town, he mentions the volume of the music that is coming from the radio. The music is explained as a quiet dance song that no one is listening to, this even further conveys the tone of hopelessness and despair because it reflects the uncaring emotions of the town. The tone of the people also reflects the overall tone such as “he ate without relish,” which symbolizes that the people’s lives are becoming dull and unflavored, this implies that the mood of the people is reflected upon the land.
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I can see what you mean by the contentment and its undertone. Also saw this when the family were reassuring eachother that there was a better life and a new beginning in the promiseland of California, but Ma Joad(the glue of the family) was afraid that it was just the opposite; inside she was disheartened, but her role disallowed her to show such weakness: the fear that their situation was as good as it gets.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading The Grapes of Wrath I felt that Steinbeck was almost trying to convey a hopeful situation. Although there were many obstacles that the Joad's had to overcome, they seemed to always pull through and continue to focus on the future. In terms of diction I do understand how the darkness of the night and the lack of bright color may convey a hopelessness tone; however, the literal texts holds an underlying feeling of hope because they are constantly overcoming adversity.
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