Near the end of Tortilla Flat, Steinbeck equips his writing with a voice brimming with excitement and anticipation. During the great preparation for Danny’s surprise party, the town of Monterey is electrified. As his friends work hard in the squid yard to earn money to buy wine for the party, the news is spread around. Neighbors begin to watch Danny on his porch, and the moment he gloomily stands up and walks away, they are assaulting his house with decorations.
“Why, they hardly waited until he was out of sight. Oh, the twisting and stringing of green and yellow and red crepe paper! Oh, the candles shaved, and the shavings thrown on the floor! Oh, the mad children who skated the wax in evenly!
Food appeared. Basins of rice, pots of steaming chicken, dumplings to startle you! And the wine came, gallons of gallons of it. Martinez dug up a keg of potato whisky from his manure pile and carried it to Danny’s house.” (190)
Steinbeck uses repetition, placing “Oh” at the beginning of three consecutive sentences to create a dramatic effect. Also, an exclamation point is placed at the end of each sentence in the same manner. Phrases such as “thrown on the floor” and “the mad children” give a chaotic vibe to the situation. In the second paragraph, dumplings are personified. They “startle you”. Dumplings don’t startle me, and I doubt they ever will. In fact they’re quite tasty and un-startling, so Steinbeck is also using a reversal effect. The last sentence is the best. You know it’s going to be a smashing party when your neighbor goes to his manure pile to dig up a bottle of alcohol.
Tad -- Well chosen passage and great for analysis. You might also mention the momentum that is built through the rhythms of the repetition especially. Consider tying this to earlier parts of the book for comparison -- is this the voice throughout?
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