In Warren's novel All the King's Men, the language and diction used to describe characters and various situations are the strongest apparent aspects of the South depicted in chapter one. Almost immediately, one could tell that this novel takes place in the confederate South from the vivid descriptions of cotton fields, the unique style of dress, and the authors seemingly casual racism; all of which are known elements of the South in the early 1900's.
When Jack Burden imitates the general public, the language is very homespun to the South. As Burden questions the reasoning behind Willie's choice of not repainting his home, Jack imagines one of Willie's neighbors saying, "Seen Old Man Talos got his house painted? Yeah, putten on airs. Hit looks lak hit wuz good enuff fer him to live in all his life lak hit wuz, and his boy gits up thar in the cappy- tell, and hit ain't good enuff no more" (34). Robert Warren purposefully makes these conversations seem like they are in a foreign language to emphasize unique provincial language of the South. The South has a very unique, fascinating way of describing people. Warren proves this in many instances when he talks about different characters in the novel. For instance, Lucy Talos' skirt is portrayed as having "a little more beam on them for the fabric to crawl up than no doubt had been the case when she led the fourth grade in singing..." (7), while a fan of the Boss is "a tall, gaunt- shanked, malarial, leather-faced side of a jerked venison..." (9). Western insults tends to be more direct and blatant, while the south uses more vulgar language that would make the person being insulted not even realize it! It is intriguing how witty these descriptions are, especially that those insults were such a common occurrence those days- and maybe even in the present. Dialects and descriptions like these bring the audience into Mason County; where conversations like these occur daily.
While most people these days find the word "nigger" to be extremely offensive, the South used it simply as an adjective. When Burden sees the maid in Willie Talos' home, he describes her as, "the nigger woman puttering around the kitchen..." (42). This word reoccurs throughout chapter one to show the extreme racism in most Southern states. It also distinguishes the south from the north, since that word was not thrown around as easily; even that early on in history.
I like "homespun". Yes! It's interesting how Jack combines homespun lingo with more high-faluntin lingo, to humorous effect. When he says that Lucy's hips (not skirt) "has a little more beam on them" he means they are WIDER than they were when she was a young school teacher. It's a circuitous way of saying she's put on curves.
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