After the opening that sets the stage, Steinbeck refuses to stray from Elisa. We are put in her shoes from that point on. For example, when the tinker rides up in his worn out wagon, Elisa describes the tinker as handsome. Most people would not describe traveling salesman of …show more content…
The narrator rarely identifies a single correct interpretation of events that occur only giving us clues as to how to understand them. For instance, when Henry compliments Elisa’s strength, her irritable response might be assumed in several ways. Maybe she desires that Henry had the tinker’s cleverness or possibly she longs for her husband to call her beautiful. Any of these assumptions are likewise possible, and the narrator never points to any one reading as the precise