In a short story, it may be more of a challenge to delve into great depths of characterization. However, Susan Straight is able to convey these deep levels of character in her short story entitled “Mines”. She does so by smartly employing diction and syntax. Central in this story is the narrator of Clarette, who Straight gives great insight to through her clever writing style. Aside from this, Straight also creates a clear division in character between the men and women in the story. In overview, Susan Straight reveals a great talent of characterization primarily through her clever manipulation of syntax and diction. By relying on varying syntax, the author is able to create a strong vision of Clarette’s outlook on the world and on her
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The primary difference between men and women is created in the fact that the author chooses to only use the word “mines” (pg #s, alfonso and fred) when men speak. Using this word only for the men creates the sense that the men feel entitled and believe that all things belong to them, or that all things are “mines”(pg #). Clarette’s nephew, Alfonso, says “I’ma get mines” (pg #), as he decides that he does not want to wait to obtain material values like everyone else because he feels that he is entitled to more. Ultimately, this winds Alfonso up in the very prison that Clarette finds herself working in. In contrast to the men, the women are characterized as not really being able to be in control themselves but as being subject to men. This is clear in the conversation that Clarette has with Fred about her single friend, Tika. Fred asks Clarette about the fact that she and Tika went to school together, and while Clarette responds with no negative feelings, she internally thinks, “except she’s teaching African-American studies there now, and I married Ray,” (pg #). This shows that Clarette believes that Tika is successful because she is single, and because she does not belong to a man like she does. This characterizes how the women in this society feel that they are not entitled to things unlike the men, as they are in fact controlled by the men. Once the men “own them”, they must obey them, or so Clarette seems to believe. The author’s use of the word “except” in this situation shows how Clarette seems to be envious of Tika’s freedom from men, and that she seems to wish she did not marry Ray so that she could also be free from their
The primary difference between men and women is created in the fact that the author chooses to only use the word “mines” (pg #s, alfonso and fred) when men speak. Using this word only for the men creates the sense that the men feel entitled and believe that all things belong to them, or that all things are “mines”(pg #). Clarette’s nephew, Alfonso, says “I’ma get mines” (pg #), as he decides that he does not want to wait to obtain material values like everyone else because he feels that he is entitled to more. Ultimately, this winds Alfonso up in the very prison that Clarette finds herself working in. In contrast to the men, the women are characterized as not really being able to be in control themselves but as being subject to men. This is clear in the conversation that Clarette has with Fred about her single friend, Tika. Fred asks Clarette about the fact that she and Tika went to school together, and while Clarette responds with no negative feelings, she internally thinks, “except she’s teaching African-American studies there now, and I married Ray,” (pg #). This shows that Clarette believes that Tika is successful because she is single, and because she does not belong to a man like she does. This characterizes how the women in this society feel that they are not entitled to things unlike the men, as they are in fact controlled by the men. Once the men “own them”, they must obey them, or so Clarette seems to believe. The author’s use of the word “except” in this situation shows how Clarette seems to be envious of Tika’s freedom from men, and that she seems to wish she did not marry Ray so that she could also be free from their