Different connotations of adverbs (in the examples of “the pearl” and “the grapes of wrath”)

A literary work is a product of creativity that can vividly reflect the society. In it, the effectiveness of the language depends on the rules of the right choice of language units, while being related to the content of the text and performing a specific methodological task in achieving the goal of the writer in speech. This leads to the unique style of each artist.

John Steinbeck is one of the most prolific writers who won the hearts of readers with his works depicting human destiny in real colors. The author’s novels “The Grapes of Wrath” and “The Pearl” deserve special attention.

It should be noted that the works of John Steinbeck are widely appreciated in the world of literary criticism today due to its relevance to today’s life, vitality and reality. While the author’s works have been translated and published in dozens of languages, scientific works devoted to the analysis and reflection of his works have appeared in the country. It is noteworthy that a wide range of readers compose a work with their own worldview and opinion. For example, J. Benson and W. French, as critics of the author’s work, in a number of brochures and articles came to a certain conclusions about the artistic features of the author’s works, the originality of his images. Also scholars such as D. MacArthur, S. Burked, L. Owens, E. Loftis emphasized that in the works of John Steinbeck a person is depicted as a collective, not an individual. The scientific results of research on the study and analysis of the writer’s works in Russian literary criticism are reflected in the studies of such literary critics as Yu. Zasursky, M. Mendelson, A. Mulyarchik, S. Baturin, L. Andreev,N. Shakirova, O. Osmukhina.

• II.    Main part

While expressing the views in his novels, John Steinbeck pays special attention to the ideological and artistic structure of the work. The main key to the relationship between the thoughts of the writer and the characters is the harmony of the philosophical concept and auxiliary artistic means in covering the topic. The writer uses a variety of means – phonetic, lexical, morphological and syntactic possibilities of artistic style. It can be seen that some of them are used more, some less, and some are not used at all [4, 44]. It depends on the goal that the author has set for himself. It should be noted here that the expression of the means of language in a literary text is different in the case of form. In his novels, the author skillfully uses them to enhance the effectiveness of content, the affection of events, and colorfulness. In this article, we will discuss the peculiar features of the usage of the adverbs in the novels “The Grapes of Wrath” and “The Pearl”.

In both novels, the author makes extensive use of such adverbs as “now”, “slow”, and “slowly” . These techniques were used depending on the mood, psyche and state of the time of the main characters of the works.

When we talk about the adverb “now” in the novels we find such meanings as “ now” and “at the moment”. The writer manages to communicate the intended content to the reader by quoting “ now” at the beginning or end of the sentence. “ Kin’s eyes were now closed, his cheeks tight” [6, 46]. “Now she was looking at him, her mouth was open, as if in order to hear better, her eyes were digging to know better” [6, 98]. In the above-mentioned examples we see a gradation of the form “ now”, meaning “ at the same time”. In both cases, we see a critical situation – in the first example, the father for his child stung by a scorpion is ready to sell his jewel in order to save him (although this jewel was the way to a better life for him).The position of the protagonist is so tense that the writer uses this technique to draw the reader’s attention to this particular situation. In the second example, the author also describes how Juana is currently focused with her entire body as her husband waits for a decision to be made. In both cases, the author uses the adverb “ now” to highlight an important moment in the life of the main characters.

In the following examples, we will consider the meaning of “ now” . “She could endure fatigue and hunger almost better than Kino himself. In the canoe, she looked like a strong man. And now she's done the most amazing thing” [6, 9]. “Maybe we will have to fight to save our land, like dad and grandfather did. And now the man’s owner is angry” [5, 43] In the first example, we see that even a woman who has overcome hunger and adversity better than her husband can no longer endure the pain of her child. “Now he was behaving strangely ,” the writer notes. In the next example, we see the attitude of the protagonist to the problems in the society, when he fights to seize the lands inherited from his ancestors. Saying: “ Now the landowners are angry” the author wants to tell the reader that the protagonist has not done this before.

There are also "slow" and "quiet". The writer used these forms based on the characters of his main characters. Kino and Juan in Javohir and Tom, Ana and Joad in The Grapes of Wrath are simple, modest and calm people. They act coldly even in the most difficult and difficult situations, which is typical for them. The evidence of this can be seen in the examples below. “Kino and Juana slowly went down to the shore and approached Kino’s canoe, which was the only valuable thing he owned in the world”. [6, 19] “He (Kino) turned and quietly left, and people let him through” [6, 36]. “Noah moved slowly, rarely spoke, and then so slowly that people who did not know him often considered him stupid.” [5, 101] “Tom quietly reached into his pocket and took out tobacco, slowly rolled a cigarette and looked over it at the coals while he worked. ” [5, 72] The adverb “slowly” and “quietly” used in the examples are used in the context of “slowly” to help the reader understand the complexity of the situation faced by the main characters. The author describes the riots in the soul of each image, his actions in despair. This causes the reader closer to each image and empathizes.

• III.    Conclusion

In conclusion, we can say that while the writer sets himself a goal, he effectively uses all means to achieve it. Among the tools that have enhanced the power of John Steinbeck’s novels, we have seen the skillful use of the adverbs of

“ now”, “slowly” and “ quietly ”. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this factor was also a means of ensuring the immortality of “Pearl” and “The Grapes of Wrath”.