Katherine Anne Porter Diction

Katherine Anne Porter, a phenomenal American writer born in the late 1800s, uses a variety of literary devices that she establishes through her writings as an author. While some critics say that “Porter’s stories [are] baffling and elusive,” others say she was an inspiring and astounding author who presented her stories in a way that no other writer could (Harper 2095). In the many works composed by Katherine Anne Porter, she establishes her straightforward and despondent writing style through her use of diction and tone.

In Porter’s works, she uses the literary device of diction to establish her clear and precise writing style. With her use of diction, Porter demonstrates that she “lacks what could be called vulgar appeal, but [has] meticulous

devotion to clear, plain writing and her conviction that human life has meaning, even in the chaos of world catastrophe…[she] appeals to readers who value serious subjects treated seriously and language that is precise and pure” (Harper 2091). Also, Porter “selects her details, the concentration of effect, the way that the impact of the story is sometimes felt only after one has finished it and put it aside, and most especially, the transcendent beauty of [her] style” with a keenness that makes her diction simple and intelligible (Harper 2092). In the collection of the three stories in the book “Pale Horse, Pale Rider,” Porter uses a “structured stream-of-consciousness form with [her] guiding the reader through Miranda’s dreams and describing the action that holds the dreams together in a plot” (Bloom 57). This shows that she uses a fluid diction to guide the readers into the minds of the characters to better understand what she is actually writing about. “Miss Porter wrote page after page of brilliantly fashioned sentences…” stated George Hendrick when talking about the fluency and structure in the writings of Porter (Hendrick 143).
Porter uses tone to establish her dark and despairing outlook on the human race.

In Porter’s novel “Ship of Fools,” she writes about the “parable of a corrupt faithless world” where she yearns to enlighten her readers about the innate sinful nature of human beings (Warren 136). This novel, “based on [Porter’s] voyage from Veracruz to Bremerhaven, [her] first voyage to Europe,” follows a group of strangers aboard a cruise ship who have secret thoughts and opinions on what they believe to be good for the human race-such as killing people for the “greater good” (Warren 29). This shows that it is always in a human’s nature to think, and sometimes do, things that are against the morals that should be set in a person’s mind. “First, she presumably believes that there is not merely pathology in the world, but evil-Evil with a capital E, if you will” (Warren 9). With this quote, Robert Penn Warren, the author of “Katherine Anne Porter: A Collection of Critical Essays,” tells how Porter viewed the world and those around it with a sort of detest and utrust because she believed humans are evil beings who are prone to sinning. Also, in the book “Flowering Judas,” Porter establishes the cruelness of humanity with the character of Braggioni. “He has good food and abundant drink, he hires an automobile and drives in the Paseo on Sunday morning, and enjoys plenty of sleep in a soft bed beside a wife who dares not disturb him” (Porter 154). With this, we see how the rich character,

Braggioni, likes to spend his money on luxuries for himself, while also promoting himself as a “professional lover of humanity” (Porter 152). The readers see through Porter’s tone how Braggioni likes to picture himself as a thoughtless giver when he really is just another rich person who spends all of his money on himself.
Overall, Katherine Anne Porter uses these two different literary devices to establish to her readers how she is “a moralist” (Warren 160). By using her distinctive style of diction and tone, Porter makes clear that she is a writer who likes to be precise and understandable, while also pointing out the sinful actions that appear in the daily lives of humans in society. With her diction and tone, Porter helps her readers to be able to understand and acknowledge the importance of being good human beings in the society that we live in today, while also teaching her readers that not all human beings are kind and compassionate people.