diction !

Blog #2: Diction

= “’Hazel’s all the time buyin’ these here charts and lookin’ up days and stars and stuff like that”’ (160).

= “They are the Virtues, the Graces, the Beauties of the hurried mangled craziness of Monterey…where men in fear and hunger destroy their stomachs in the fight to secure certain food, where men hungering for love destroy everything lovable about them” (15).

= “Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream” (1).

In Steinbeck’s vivid descriptions of various people, places, and events, diction plays a major role in portraying the tone of the narrative. By including several instances of dialogue between the residents of Cannery Row, Steinbeck shows readers the characters’ lack of education and portrays their everyday conversations, giving the novel a colloquial tone. During Steinbeck’s narration, however, he uses a very formal level of diction with words such as “mangled,” “craziness,” “hunger,” and “destroy,” which depict a disheartened tone that is apparent throughout the text. While Steinbeck does chronicle a number of depressing events, he also describes characters as finding beauty in such unfortunate situations. Choosing words such as “quality of light,” “a nostalgia,” and “a dream” to describe the run-down Cannery Row, Steinbeck gives the novel an optimistic tone that uplifts a few of the characters in Cannery Row. Steinbeck cunningly used formal as well as informal diction to add depth to his detailed account of the mishaps of Mac and the boys.