Irony
Another stylistic devise that Steinbeck uses in this novel is irony. From the beginning to the end of the novel there were many different scenes of irony. One of the biggest scenes however, was in chapter three. "If you want me to, I'll put the old devil out of his misery right now and get it over with"(Steinbeck 47). This quote is talking about when they are going to kill the dog since it was old and not in the best health. Although there is many different scenes of irony, there is an ultimate view says critic Howard Levant. "The ultimate irony in this tangle of violence is that none of the characters is evil or intends to do evil"(Levant 360). By saying that you realize no one meant to hurt anyone it kind of just happened like that back in this time period. So with stylistic devices irony is one of the main ones in the novel.