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The Importance Of Diction In Marina's State Of Wonder

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In this passage from State of Wonder, Marina is a foreign individual placed in an area she is unaccustomed to as the author reveals how Marina was beginning to understand the city of Manaus. Marina faces troubles of her environment only heightened by the seemingly impossible task of locating Dr. Swenson. Through the use of imagery, insightful diction, similes, and flashbacks of a routinal past, Ann Patchett characterizes Marina as a helpless individual who was beginning to adapt to her situation and becoming more pleased from her environment which Ann reveals to be unusual, horrific, and harmful to Marina in her early encounters. Ann Patchett, in her novel State of Wonder, utilizes a vast array of literary devices to characterize Marina as an intelligent and earnest individual and portray her situation as hellish and hopeless. Marina’s objective of meeting Dr. Swenson is …show more content…

Ann Patchett reveals how Marina’s daily activities such as, “wandering through the city...in hopes...of Dr.Swenson,” were challenged by “rain...that ran ankle deep,” emphasizing her helplessness as she had no clue on how to find Dr.Swenson, ultimately leading her to simply “wander,” and qualifying the idea that the environment simply punctuated her troubles. She was met on frequently by heavy storms she was unaware of; however, she soon adapted and realized how when rain began to pour, “people moved calmly...backs against their buildings...while they waited for the storms to pass,” a learned behavior which enabled her to roam freely without regards to weather worries. This daily solution to a daily problem is used by Patchett to reveal her situation and defend her ability to adapt and learn the ways of her new environment. Furthermore, her early encounters of helplessness from the rain shifts to pleased as she gradually loses fear of wandering around and learns new coping

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