Writing Style In John Steinbeck's The Pearl

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O. Henry writes with many distinctive techniques and styles seen in his work such as situational irony and moral characters. Situational irony is when something unexpected happens, like a plot twist at the end of a book, that leaves the reader in awe. This style is a key part of O. Henry’s writing style as used in many of his stories. In After Twenty Years, when two old friends reunite, the policeman friend realizes the other is a criminal, so he sent a co-worker to arrest him and act as the old friend, Jimmy Wells. “ ‘You’re not Jimmy Wells,” he snapped ‘Twenty years is a long time, but not long enough to change a man’s nose from a Roman to a pug” (228). This shows situational irony because no reader expected the policeman to be his friend, …show more content…

One example of Steinbeck’s unique writing styles is symbolism. This is when an object can represent something other than what it is`. An example of how John Steinbeck writes with symbolism is in his story The Pearl. When Kino was cutting oysters at the lake and getting worried he might not find one, he states (SPP), “It was the greatest pearl in the world... In the surface of the pearl he could see dreams form. He picked the pearl from the dying flesh and held it in his palm, and he turned it over and saw its curve was perfect” (19). This passage shows that the pearl gave Kino hope for his family’s future. This shows the reader how Steinbeck uses symbolism throughout his books to show the unique style in which he writes in. (CX) Another unique style that Steinbeck uses in his work is social differences. For example in chapter 1, when Kino and Juanna 's son gets stung by a scorpion and they do not have enough money to pay the doctor, he states, ”’Have I nothing to do than cure insect bites for little Indians? I am a doctor, not a veterinary’” (11). This shows the view the rich has on the poor and how they view the poor irrelevant to themselves. Steinbeck’s unique style helps us to better understand his work and the view of people around the

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