Kimball Post One

A Southern aspect that immediately make it's presence known, within chapter one of "All The King's Men", is the diction and language used to describe. In many descriptions concerning physique and mindset of a character, humorous words and long phrases are used for the explanations, which could be done in a couple simple sentences, but the approach used gives them a district Southern drawl. When the narrator, Jack, is describing Tiny Duffy, a member of the crew of people that he travels around with, he says, "If the wind was right, you knew he was a city-hall slob long before you could see the whites of his eyes. He had the belly and he sweated through his shirt just above the belt buckle, and he had the face, which was creamed and curded like a cow-pattie in a spring-pasture, only it was the color of biscuit dough..." (p.18). The use of Southern images, like that of the cow pasture and biscuit dough, is what gives Robert Penn Warren's writing finesse and sets it apart from other author's work. From just reading the description of Tiny Duffy you could guess the setting. Warren sets the scene without having to mention the exact location, making his writing flow smoothly and envelop the reader in sensory details.