What kind of diction dominates the text of Of Mice and Men?I don't understand how one can describe the diction of a text. John Steinbeck's Of Mice...

In order to achieve realism in his portrayal of the
characters of his novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses the
vernacular of the bindle stiffs.  That is, when George and Lennie speak, their diction
is that of uneducated men, some of whom cannot even read.  The vocabulary of these men
is very simple, often including the use of slang; their syntax, or grammatical
structures, are substandard. For instance, when George talks with Lennie after the
pugnacious Curley has stepped into the bunkhouse and demanded that Lennie speak to
him:

"I hat
that kinda b--d....I seen plenty of 'em.  Like the old guy says, Curley don't take no
changes.  He always wins....If he tangles with you, Lennie, we're gonna get the can. 
Don't make no mistake about that.  He's the boss's son....You try to keep away from him,
will you?  Don't never speak to him.  If he comes in here you move clear to the other
side of the room.  Will you do that,
Lennie?"

At yet, by employing
this diction, Steinbeck implies a certain empathy for the men.  For instance, in the
final section, as Old Candy watches George go, he looks helplessly back at Curley's
wife, and Steinbeck writes,  "gradually his sorrow and his anger grew into
words,"

"You
--- ---tramp," he said viciously "You done it, didn't you?  I s'pose you're glad. 
Ever'body knowed you'd mess things up.  You wasn't no good.  You ain't no good now, you
lousy tart."  He sniveled, and his voice shook.  "I could of hoed in the garden and
washed dishes for them
guys."

With the diction of
Old Candy, there is a certain poignancy for the poor disabled man who is bereft of all
hope for his future. In the bindle stiffs' simple diction there is the expression of
the essential needs of the alienated men of Of Mice and Men for
whom tomorrow is only the next day.