There are many examples of local
color used by author Mary Wilkins Freeman in her short story, "The Revolt
of Mother." Local color, or regionalism, is defined as
references within a story
... that focus(es) on specific
features--including characters, dialects, customs, history, and topography--of a
particular region.
The
dialogue includes many colloquial and dialectic word usage, especially the use of
dropping the "g" on "-ing" words, such as "diggin' " and "goin' ." Much of the
characters' speech is deliberately "inarticulate":
... He ran his words together, and his speech was
almost as inarticulate as a growl.
But the woman understood; it was her
most native tongue.
There are
specific references to the farmland and countryside. The names of the characters--Sarah,
Adoniram, Hiram, Samuel (Sammy)--are Biblical (and in some cases, very old-fashioned) in
nature. There is a reference to the speaking ability of Daniel Webster; and to the
Battle of Quebec and General James Wolfe's
... storming of the Heights of Abraham. It took
no more genius and audacity of bravery for Wolfe to cheer his wondering soldiers up
those steep precipices...
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