Blog Entry #2: Diction
Doc finds a dead girl in the water as he is looking for octopuses: “the face burned into his picture memory…Doc’s heart pounded deeply and his throat felt tight” (105).
After the party, Doc fills with anger: “Doc’s eyes flamed red with anger…his body weaved a little in his rage…Doc’s eyes shone with a red animal rage” (122).
In the fist example, Doc is frightened at the sight of finding a dead girl in the water. Doc’s horror is reflected though the author’s strong, powerful diction. Words such as “burned” express the shock Doc feels upon seeing this dreadful sight. He cannot get the horrible image out of his head and it is burned into his thoughts. The author’s choice of words such as “pounded” and “tight” express Doc’s overwhelming distraught and builds onto the frightened and disgusted tone.
In the second example, Doc’s house has just been destroyed after the part Mack attempted to throw for him. Steinbeck uses phrases such as “flamed red with anger” to express how Doc has finally been pushed over the edge and is overwhelmingly angry. He promotes this angry tone filled with rage through this dark diction. He also uses the color red several times to display how angry Doc truly is. Red is the main color associated with rage so Steinbeck uses it several times in his diction to add to the aggravated tone. Also through this dark diction, Steinbeck shows how the most benevolent character in the story can loose his temper and express true feelings of rage and anger that he soon takes out on Mack. These are the only two significant times in the novel in which Doc is associated with a dark tone.
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