Analysis Of The Book ' Cannery Row ' By John Steinbeck

Polar Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck, is a book that follows the relationships the inhabitants of the Monterey community have to one another. The adventures of the degenerates of the community revolve around the highly respectable Doc, making up the main plot of the book. However, the story of the dynamic between the two is laced with segments of distraught that paint the cannery into something other than a home to American industry. Steinbeck creates this little community to represent any other, however gives the reader different perspectives of the activities within in order to deconstruct the expected utopia that everyone assumes to plague local communities. He shifts the outlook on the cannery from a lifeless snapshot of a community located within Monterey California, to a living image bustling with reality. Steinbeck creates a rift in perspective to reflect the hidden values and realities of the ugly and beautiful through the interactions and pursuits of the degenerates of the community, “Mack and the boys,” and the figurehead of Cannery Row, Doc. Throughout the entire book, Mack and the Boys are proven to be quite noble men, despite their social rank. Each of the men in this group are shown to possess one unique quality that seems to be the moral of a folktale or mythological story. Even the purposes these men serve within the book are rooted within good intent. Meanwhile, the highly-respected Doc drowns himself in women and music to hide from his loneliness. This