In this anecdote, Steinbeck parks Rocinante by a stream with a farmer’s permission. Later, the farmer comes in and they talk about the news over coffee.
When writing of his conversation with the Yankee farmer, Steinbeck always uses simple speech tags like “said,” or nothing at all. He captures the farmer’s dialect to help the reader perfectly envision how their conversation sounded. “...and the flat vowels we consider Yankee pronunciation” (Steinbeck 28). Steinbeck also utilizes imagery so the reader visualizes his events. “...one entire ream of paper, five hundred sheets, had drifted like snow to cover the whole place” (28). His style is formal and methodical; he phrases words so the audience knows exactly what is occurring, the order, and what he thinks of it. “He slipped in the seat beside the table....He looked at me with the contained amusement that is considered taciturnity by non-Yankees” (29). Towards the end of the anecdote, Steinbeck’s tone opens up into something more contemplative. “...for man has to have feelings and then words before he can come close to thought...” (33). The pathos he uses makes the audience think positively about this instance, as well as glad that Charley is there to drive away unwanted people. “I can’t say how comforting it is to be told that someone is approaching in the dark” (29). During the end of the anecdote, he uses …show more content…
“And I felt at last that my journey was started” (33). He could not stop thinking about his conversation with the farmer, and it made him reflect on man. “...the conversation of the farmer stayed with me...and maybe he had put his finger on it” (32). Later in the book, Steinbeck says he knows exactly when his trip ended, and that everything after that point seemed grey and dull. “The way was a grey, timeless, eventless tunnel...” (275). This further emphasizes that this anecdote was integral to launching his journey and giving it