Steinbeck relieve tension

Once Carlson has taken out Candy’s dog to shoot him, there is a very serious and tense atmosphere. One of the first things the reader notices in this extract is the way that Steinbeck uses adverbs to describe people’s actions. Steinbeck uses the phrase he lay ‘rigidly’ to describe the way Candy is feeling, which obviously is very upset about the fact that his dog has been taken away to be shot; George is being careful of Candy’s feelings and shuts the door ‘gently’. When Slim talks ‘loudly’, it is to fill the silence that is created as the men wait for the inevitable shot but because the silence is so strong, even Slim is intimidated by it.

Steinbeck uses repetition to emphasise the mood, making the silence into an almost physical presence. He does this firstly through the many repetitions of the words ‘silent’ and ‘silence’ but also by using personification when he talks about how ‘The silence came into the room’ and how, more aggressively, it ‘invaded’ the room. When the men try to break the silence their voices sound false and overly loud. The men are so tense and on edge that the slightest thing is annoying: when George shuffles the cards the ‘little snapping noise’ seems disturbing and makes all the men look at him, so he stops. Even Slim seems frustrated; he cannot keep up his attempt at conversation and his ‘voice trailed off’.

However, they are also grateful for any distraction such as the sound of the rat under the floor. The men are trying to behave normally and have a conversation but they are all feeling the tension and thinking the same thing, which Whit eventually voices, ‘What the hell’s takin’ him so long?’ They are just waiting for the sound of the gunshot which will confirm that Candy’s dog is dead.

The contrast with Candy’s behaviour is another way in which Steinbeck creates a feeling of tension. Whist the men are being falsely cheerful and keep trying to make conversation, Candy remains cold-heartedly quiet. Even Slim cannot get