Character Development in John Steinbeck's Cannery Row Essay

Despite common stereotypes given to the homeless and poor people in a society, these people make up an important role in humanity. As the author of the book Cannery Row, John Steinbeck’s manifestation of cannery row in Monterey California, shows the true potential and personality of the less fortunate members of society. In Steinbeck’s greenhouse of everyday, average people, he gives a representation of society’s key characters. One of the most influential characters in Steinbeck’s book, “Cannery Row” is the group of poor and homeless men who strive for better lives. However, in today's society, the homeless and poor people in a town are often looked at quite differently than Steinbeck’s representations of the minority.

Cannery Row is a town located in Monterey, California. Despite being small, dirty and crowded, it is a well functioned town and is home to people from different walks of life. In the novel’s prologue, John Steinbeck wrote the following: “Its inhabitants are, as one man once said, ‘whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches’ by which he meant Everybody” and “[have] the man looked through another peephole he might have said: ‘Saints and angels and martyrs and holy men,’ and he would have meant the same thing” (Steinbeck 1). He basically comments that the difference in viewpoints given the same event results from the power of perspective and duality observed in people. One might see Cannery Row as a low-down place while the others might see Cannery Row as a lively, vigorous town. One would see a character’s actions disputable while the others would see their behaviors admirable. The viewpoints of the readers and the way characters behave at various times explain the fact that Cannery Row and its inhabitants possess qualities crossing good and evil.

John Steinbeck’s “Cannery Row” shows how people living there dealt with the hardships brought by the Great Depression. Steinbeck set his novel in the 1930’s in Cannery Row, California. The canneries are an integral part of the fish industry and Steinbeck makes the ailing American economy a critical part of everyone’s lives in his novel. He show how different characters, with different points of view with the exact same situation.

Many themes were portrayed in Cannery Row.  These themes give the play depth and fascination.  The three most significant themes thought are Loneliness, Sympathy, and Remuneration, allowing the story to reach many areas in life.

The minor characters in John Steinbeck’s novel Cannery Row are a contradiction within themselves. Steinbeck shows two conflicting sides to each character; for example, Mack is smart and lazy and some of his colleagues are both good and bad. Doc is a father figure with some bad habits. Dora Flood is a kind-hearted saint who happens to run a brothel. Lee Chong is a shrewd businessman who likes to take advantage of others. Henri is an artist with a French background even though he isn’t from France. Through his characters, Steinbeck shows that humans are complicated and can have many faces.

When Mack and his friends fail because of the disastrous party that was supposed to be a surprise party for Doc, they affect everyone who is connected to him.  After their fallout Cannery Row becomes a sad and dull place. People of Cannery Row go through an unpleasant time.The happy and helpful Lee Chong who once gave the boys things from his store for free goes through a financial loss. There was rumors that the boys stole money and liquor for the party from his store. Dora’s Bear Flag Restaurant closed down for two months. Everyone who came to the disastrous party or were involved  in the party blamed themselves for their fall out.This shows how Mack and his friends are interconnected and how one affects

As night falls on Cannery Row actuality and fear overwhelms the souls as they lay awake at night. At this very moment they are alone to think to ponder their existence their importance their meaning. During the day the things the people of Cannery Row use to fill their void. To give them happiness is gone and for those long hours of the night they are truly alone. The cats, the parties, and companions are gone just for a second. But they return in the morning to calm the weary and the broken spirits of the people in Cannery Row. Each of us just like the people in Cannery Row uses something or someone to compensate for the loneliness in our lives. Money, relationships, and personal struggles are evident and bring about loneliness to

Human behavior is a function of the environment that he/she is brought up in because it is the environment that shapes the person’s morals. This statement is openly validated in the novel Cannery Row where an inclusive community is built as a result of good morals that have been developed and shaped by the environment. Cannery Row is novel that was published in 1945 by John Steinbeck in Monterey. It was named after a waterfront street in California which had sardine caning factories. According to Grasse et al (75), fellowship and warm-heartedness is all that is required to form a united and successful community. Wealth is important part of one’s life but it should not take away the person’s happiness. Steinbeck in his work uses the characters of the novel to communicate this message in a clear and understandable manner. The name of the novel matches with the actual meaning that the writer wanted to communicate the readers. He used the name to enable the readers to be able to relate the novel’s actual meaning with authentic opinions.

‘..Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world they got no family they don’t belong no place.’ This is what many felt during the ‘great depression’ in the 1930’s. John Steinbeck gives us the sense that many felt lonely ‘they got no family they don’t belong no place. The main theme of this novel is alienation; the three characters, Curley’s wife, candy, and crooks are all alienated, and felt it by another person at some point. They all have dreams... it’s the American dream... but not all dreams come true...

“‘I been wondering for a long time… what we could do for him—something nice. Something he’d like’” (Steinbeck 42). “‘If we’re going to give him a party at all it ought to be a good one’” (Steinbeck 43). The quote represents the kindness of the community in this case Mack and the boys. They are aware Doc is a classy man and they do not want to embarrass themselves by throwing a trashy party. Thereby the take the initiative to save up and buy him nice whisky and throw a party they “won’t be ashamed of”. In cannery row, Steinbeck often uses the metaphor of the tide pool to demonstrate how all the organisms [people] live, breathe, and die together. The quote implicitly incorporates the theme of community because Mack and the boys show they are going to work together to save the money. Then through out their journey everyone becomes involved in the party planning. For instance, Mack and the boys agree to catch frogs for Doc in order to pay for the party supplies. The boys then include Gay because they need him to fix the truck that they lent the boys. Then they include Lee Chong, the Chinese grocer because they could not sell the frogs and needed to buy the supplies. Overall the boys include the town in their hectic and poorly organized party and they all happily help. Which again reinforces how as a community they come together to distract themselves from all the sorrow and hardships and focus on something exciting, the party for Doc, in attempts to be hopeful about the

John Steinbeck, an American novelist, is well-known for his familiar themes of depression and loneliness. He uses these themes throughout a majority of his novels. These themes come from his childhood and growing up during the stock market crash. A reader can see his depiction of his childhood era. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows the prominent themes of loneliness, the need for relationships, and the loss of dreams in the 1930s through the novels’ character.

Steinbeck spends the greater part of the book writing about a party that Mac and the boys plan to throw for Doc. The boys believe that since Doc has always been such a nice guy that

In John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, two main characters, Doc and Mack, set up the main plot for the book. Mack and his gang of misfit men, also known as “the boys”, decide that Doc is a good man and deserves a party. After careful planning and hard work to pull it off, the party still goes wrong and Doc’s house gets destroyed. The whole Row shuns Mack and the boys and everything in the town starts going wrong, until Doc helps the boys with their dog and they in thanks, throw him another, this time successful, party. Through many events in Cannery Row, it is hinted that the relationship between Doc and Mack affects the entire Row and is contingent with contrasting use of similar intellect.

In John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, Steinbeck focuses on traditional society but a society with different values. His society is the traditional society including class, the homeless, uneducated, but instead Steinbeck captures the humanity in the homeless, the bums, and prostitutes along with the uneducated. Steinbeck carries out the riches parts in the characters personalities and isn’t defining them for riches in their bank accounts. He uses friendship and sacrifice as their “humanity scale” in the novel.

“The greatest writers and the best readers know that literature is not always mere sugar candy;it can sometimes be a strong medicine:sour perhaps-at least to the untrained taste - but necessary for continued health” (1). A statement written by Professor Thomas Scarseth shows how without value in books, a reading life would never reach its intended purpose. By learning to apply knowledge that books provide through characters, we can improve ourselves as individuals. This particular book, Of Mice and Men, has values such as linguistics, sociological value, and historical value. Linguistics are shown through Steinbeck’s use of poetic devices such as imagery and repetition. Sociological value is given through the perspective of Crooks, who shows the struggle of achieving the great American Dream of having a place to call your own. Finally, historical value is provided through racism and how it affected Crooks, or any other black man at the time.