"The surface of the earth crusted, a thin hard crust, and as the sky became pale, so the earth became pale, pink in the red country and white in the gray country." (1)
When I think of crusty I think of a crusty pie, just ready to collapse. Thus when Steinbeck says the earth is crusty, I believe he is trying to say that the earth is really fragile, and beginning to break. This point is further proved with the addition of the crust being "thin". The repeated "pale" shows how earth has become sickly almost, unable to function and missing vital nutrients. The repetition makes me believe that Steinbeck was trying to portray the earth as a crumbling, weak place, clearly in need of some help.
Minimal discussion!
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