The purpose of John Steinbeck’s passage is to demonstrate the decay of the inner city as the city expands and grows. Steinbeck illustrates his purpose through the use of various rhetorical devices. Steinbeck’s use of imagery helps him achieve his purpose. Throughout the passage, various descriptions of poverty-filled, dirty, and negative images help him show how the inner city is spiraling towards a much harsher, ill city as time goes on. Steinbeck displays his view of the inner city’s decay as he describes previous commercial properties: “...and small fringe businesses take the place of once flowering establishments.” By using the words “fringe” and “flowering,” the reader is easily able to visualize the negative trend of the inner city. Steinbeck uses the word “flowering” to create the image in the reader’s mind that at one point businesses in the area were doing well, and were certainly making profits, as flowers have a positive connotation. On the other hand, …show more content…
He uses an allusion to perform this task. Steinbeck uses an allusion as he describes the men of the inner city: “...the vague ruins of men, the lotus eaters who struggle daily toward unconsciousness by way of raw alcohol.” In this passage, Steinbeck alludes to the Odyssey, a Greek story of Odysseus and the men of his crew. Steinbeck refers to the “lotus eaters” as the men in the inner city who tend to drink alcohol daily. However, the term “lotus eaters” refers to the Land of the Lotus Eaters in the Odyssey, where Odysseus and his men are intoxicated by the fruit of the natives. Using this allusion, Steinbeck makes it clear how the men of the inner city act by referring to the Land of the Lotus Eaters in the Odysseus, showing how the men are intoxicated daily. Therefore, since Steinbeck shows how the men drink daily and how this is a negative thing, he is able to contribute to his purpose of illustrating the decay of the inner