Perceptions of “Cannery Row” have been misleading throughout the book by the outsiders. Steinbeck have portrayed the realism of “Cannery Row” as a real society. The characters don't think money as its true success but living. In “Cannery Row” the characters Lee Chong, Mack , Doc, and Dora all have ups and downs in which the characters all depend on each other. Lee Chong is the owner of a grocery store and many people owned him debts. Doc was a marine biologist who collects sea animals and have a laboratory of his own. Dora is a respected woman who runs a whore house. Mack is the one who doesn’t have a job,no money, and no ambitions. You may think that the characters are eccentric and the community is imperfect, but in “Cannery Row” the community defines morality, warmheartedness, and humanity because even through poverty of many and lack of social grace,the characters in “Cannery Row” still help each other out.
The characters in “Cannery Row” value morality a lot . Lee Chong owns a grocery store in “Cannery Row” and people living in “Cannery Row” usually have no money. Lee Chong is a benevolent person who doesn’t press charges at his customer. As one day a customer named Horace had his debt to high , Horace traded the money he owned with a building he had . Mack heard of the place and asked Lee Chong to let them live there. With some hesitations Lee Chong had allowed even though he knew he “suffered a total loss, at least his mind did not work that way”(Steinbeck , 12). Lee Chong may have lost a lot because Mack didn’t pay rent or anything.He knew it was a bad idea but his mind had told him a different answer. His mind was telling him that it was a good thing because he was helping out someone who have no home. Lee Chong had done...
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... they went”(98).Dora and her girls went to give food and comfort for those in need. Even if Dora had a store to run, she rather give up the time to help others who need help instead of making money. Dora may no nothing to help cure them but she still contributed to help out the best she can do. She made the right choices of a human being to not take things selfishly but always help others because thats the true character of a human being. Dora have a heart of human nature. The choices the characters made in Cannery Row represent human nature.
The book “Cannery Row” demonstrates the true philosophy of society in general. Through out the book , all the characters face many different situations, but they all share similar choices. They all don’t take anything for granted and often rather help others then helping themselves. This creates the community of “Cannery Row”.
In chapter two, Steinbeck describes the functionality of Mack and the boys, as Lee Chong, a business man, addresses them: “Mack and the boys… the Beauties, the Virtues, [and] the Graces…and the laziness and zest[s] [of Cannery Row] (15). Mack and the boys are not just some “blots-on-the-town, thieves, rascals, and bums” who freeload off of Cannery Row; if one would look in between the lines, he can see that Mack and the boys play a vital role in the town even though they are physically isolated from the ecosystem (14). They run on their own economical system to which greatly contributes to Cannery Row as a whole; they are the bottom feeders, the cleanup crew, and the scavengers of the town; they are considered to be one of Doc’s marine animals such as the crabs and planktons. Although Mack and the boys have no source of income and are physically limited to a certain extent, their psychological mind...
Cannery Row is densely populated with a group of characters, in the narrative sense of the word and in terms of personalities. There is Dora, an imposing figure of a woman who runs a successful brothel, Henri, the non-French Frenchman, Lee Chong the shrewd but kind-hearted grocer, Doc the scientist, Mack, who leads a small group of men and is loved by the people of Cannery Row, and a host of other fascinating people who make Cannery Row so compelling. It may not seem obvious when reading John Steinbeck’s novel “Cannery Row,” but the main point or lesson in the novel is the importance of respect and Steinbeck uses his characters to tell this story about
John Steinbeck emphasizes the idea of a phalanx in Cannery Row. A phalanx involves a group of people that contribute to a main goal. Most of the time, good intentions are behind a phalanx. For example, a fundraiser directed to a good cause would benefit those in need. Thus, Steinbeck uses the idea of phalanx to promote a utopian society. He suggests that every individual is good, regardless of his or her background and circumstances. However, not all phalanxes are treated equally; some lead to unfortunate circumstances, such as social ostracism. With good intentions, cooperative communities can achieve significant goals if planned well.
‘“Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin. Its windows were merely open spaces in the walls. What passed for a fence was bits of tree-limbs, broomsticks and tool shafts. Enclosed by this barricade was a dirty yard.”’ Mayella only has one thing that keeps her sane from all the horrible things that has been happening.
In today’s society everyone strives to be successful. Society portrays the idea that success is getting a job and being rich. In Cannery Row however, Steinbeck goes against the idea of how society depicts success and suggests that it may be something else. We can see it through his writing style and characters that success really is more than just money, and more geared to how you see yourself. A successful individual is one who views themself as successful by not giving in to cultural stereotypes, not caring how others perceive you, and by being content with the effort you put into something.
Mrs. Hopewell is the first example that the audience sees who speaks on the issue about “good county people” versus “trash.” Her unconventional point of view that is based on a social ladder consisting of honest and hardworking people who are “good country people” and dishonest people who live in filth that are “trash”. She thinks that she is easily
Why is it important to have moral values? To know what’s right in a situation? To put the well being of others before yourself? For most people in the small fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, values and fairness are not important. The Maycomb townspeople only follow the social norms based on racism, and their decisions are influenced by these norms. However a certain few in the town do have moral values and look to do the right thing when faced with a tough decision. In the award winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, true understanding of courage and empathy lead Jem and Scout closer to maturity.
To Kill A Mockingbird displays an environment where one must be inhumane to another in order to become socially compatible. Maycomb has established a hierarchy where social compartmentalisation is the way of life. Men with a profession and a career are superior, while the farmers are near the bottom of the social strata and are considered inferior. No matter which remarkable qualities Negroes possess, they are always s...
Located in central Monterey Rey, California, the real city of Cannery Row is home to thousands of current residents, but is really home to a small, concentrated sense of nostalgia for the characters of John Steinebeck’s American Classic. Cannery Row, written in 1945 by Steinbeck, faintly touches on the idea of the American dream, on what it has to offer to a crookedly, quaint town in the middle of central California. The characters in Cannery Row are initially perceived as inappropriate, childish, slavish, ignorant, and a general mistake of humanity, with disgusting morals and a true burden to the world. As the story starts to unfold upon it self, and not only does this compelling plot line seem to start to come into place, the audience comes to revelation and comes to an understanding as to what the American dream really is. Mixed with his stylistic diction writing, Steinbeck convolutes the idea the American dream with a grim sense of realism on how it's unattainable, from society's basic perception. The characters in Cannery Row, represent perseverance through strife in spite of a ...
In the story Cannery Row Loneliness is a main theme to the characters lives. One of these themes is Loneliness. 'He was a dark and lonesome looking man' No one loved him. No one cared about him'(Page 6). The severity of his solitude makes this theme one of the most important. The seclusion of this man can penetrate ones innermost thoughts and leave them with a sense of belonging after hearing of this characters anguish. In addition a man who was not entirely alone was still feeling secluded. ?In spite of his friendliness and his friends Doc was a lonely and set- apart man.?(Page 132). An individual could have many people around him but could still not have the one good friend that he needs. Seclusion comes in many different forms that can be d...
...in The Bean Trees, Taylor’s motherly love, Lou Ann’s sympathy, and Mattie’s generosity, all develop a community, a family, and a nostalgia of support. Mack and the boy’s innovative lives, similar to the women in The Bean Trees, both survive with the help of another. Dora’s and Taylor’s everlasting benevolence towards needy families, drives the community to prosperity. Furthermore, Cannery Row and the tide pool’s s reliance on each other, as well as the rhizobia are relevant, for the two depend on support, to survive. In conclusion, Cannery Row and The Bean Trees are sources of inspiration, Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, carries a lot of Cannery Row’s meaningful messages of the world. Simple fellowship from one person, in reality changes a community to be not just a location on a map, but a bond of unitedly support.
... authors conclude that it is through alienation within a small society that ultimately leads to the primary characters’ demise and death. Whether their individual cases are self imposed or externally imposed, the results and the impact are the same, annihilation of the human soul. Their craft make emphatic use of setting to the successful depiction of this theme. Both characters ultimately fall into the abyss of loneliness and despair proving that human existence cut-off and on its own is more destructive than positive . Thus their message seems to suggest that as humans, we need society in order to truly belong and have a connection, purpose and worth in this life, in order to truly live.
The concept of loneliness and community is apparent throughout not only the book, but also throughout the chapter as an overlying theme. The tide pool, through its clear waters, provides an insight view to what Cannery Row is like, in it of itself. The animals are all separate entities, living in a community, lonely in their own way. But it’s not until the interaction between two animals that it’s apparent that the community is what connects everyone together. Hazel, just like the animals in the tide pool and everyone else in Cannery Row, is lonely. Steinbeck sets up this description by telling the audience Hazel’s background and how he “got his name in a haphazard way as his life was afterword” and how he “was named Hazel before the mother
Sum up, the social relationship between these people here, this old town Maycomb is complicated and pretty tense. This novel has taught us so much, thanks to Harper Lee – one of the greatest writers of all time. It has opened our eyes wider about racism at that time and compared it to nowadays it has become so much better. People are equally, no matter what skin color you are, what religion you have, or where you’re from, what you’re appearance looks like, we are all equal, and we are all the same – human. So instead of treating badly to one another we should all united and make the world a better place.
Cannery Row is a novel John Steinbeck wrote after World War I. At first, the novel almost seems like a humorous book, written in a style commonly used by Steinbeck. The book has its main plot, but also has side chapters that periodically interrupt the main idea, which adds to the story. One would think that these side chapters are there to universalize the book, but in fact that is not true. The side chapters tell their own story, and they have a message that Steinbeck was clearly trying to show through his book. The novel has a main point about respect. In Cannery Row , Steinbeck is trying to say that respectability is the destructive force that preys on the world. Steinbeck uses his characters to tell this story about respect and its effect on society. The central figure of the whole book, Doc, better explains this point by saying, "It has always seemed strange to me . . . The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitive, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second" (131).