As John Steinbeck publishes “Cannery Row” in 1945, the same year when World War II ends, some scholars claim that his book somehow relates to the war. The novel is one of the most admirable modern-American narratives of the 20th and 21st century. It is set during the Great Depression in Monterey, California. The entire story is attached to a sensitively complex ecosystem that creates different approaches for the reader. The system is so fragile that one’s mistake can be the town’s last. Steinbeck depicts unique characters like Mack and the boys (who will stand as one character and/or group), Doc, and Lee Chong. Although there are many themes that can be extracted from these characters, the theme that arises the most is the isolation of the individual as it can be split into two different categories, the psychological and the physical.
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...
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...reely. The quote can be taken in many ways, however in this case, the rats of Cannery Row represent Mack and the boys and Lee Chong, as they are both limited in their own environment. The venomous rattlesnake obviously represents Doc because of his limitless mind, but if an individual would look in between the lines, he would see that another representation of the rattlesnake would be Doc because he is the most powerful character in Cannery Row. Mack and the boys, Lee Chong, and Doc are all limited in their own ways; Mack and the boys are physically isolated due to their financial status causing them to create a system of their own. Lee Chong is psychologically limited because of his old fashion ways; thus, he is also physically bound to the community. And although Doc is not psychologically impaired, he has put himself in a physical routine of all work and no play.
Steinbeck meets his standard by celebrating the migrant workers’ drive and sense of community in the face of the Great Depression. The Joad family and many others, are dedicated to conquering all odds: “[t]hus they changed their social life–changed as in the whole universe only man can change” (Steinbeck 196). There are no other options available for these tenant families than to take the trek to California in hopes of finding work. The fears they once had about droughts and floods now lingered with
In the 1930s, America’s Great Plains experienced a disastrous drought causing thousands of people to migrate west. As their land was devastated by the Dust Bowl, deprived farmers were left with few options but to leave. The Grapes of Wrath depicts the journey of the Joads, an Oklahoma based family which decides to move to California in search of better conditions. Coming together as thirteen people at the start, the Joads will undertake what represents both a challenge and their only hope. Among them are only four women embodying every ages: the Grandma, the Mother and her two daughters, the pregnant Rose of Sharon and the young Ruthie. Appearing in Chapter Eight the mother, who is referred to as “Ma”, holds a decisive role in Steinbeck’s novel. She is, along with her son Tom (the main character of the book), present from the early stage of the story until its very end. We will attempt to trace back her emotional journey (I) as well as to analyze its universal aspects and to deliver an overall impression on the book (II).
In conclusion, the phalanx of Cannery row expresses that when everyone comes together as a community, nothing bad will happen. However, if the rest of the community is not involved to achieve a goal, then it would happen otherwise. The idea of a phalanx creates a close knit community. With good intentions, a phalanx will allow individuals to work together and achieve goals. Once a phalanx is formed, the community sticks together during times of happiness and hardship. Therefore, Steinbeck attempts to create a utopian society through Cannery
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.
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 ...
The tale of The Grapes of Wrath has many levels of profound themes and meanings to allow us as the reader to discover the true nature of human existence. The author's main theme and doctrine of this story is that of survival through unity. While seeming hopeful at times, this book is more severe, blunt, and cold in its portrayl of the human spirit. Steinbeck's unique style of writing forms timeless and classic themes that can be experienced on different fronts by unique peoples and cultures of all generations.
The triviality of frogs becomes a major theme throughout “Cannery Row” as a symbol of subjective greed. Doc needs Mack and the boys to get frogs for him only because he does not have the time when a tide is coming in and the boys do. He offers them pay in exchange for their services and treats the business transaction in a fairly trivial manner. He needs the frogs, yes, but they take a back seat to more important matters like collecting octopi at La Jolla. He notes that his, “dealings with Mack and the boys had always been interesting but rarely had they been profitable to Doc” (Steinbeck 48). So if it were a high priority Doc would probably utilize the services of some one more reliable. Rather, Doc uses Mack and the boys as mere entertainment and hopes they will provide a good show. Mack and the boys, however, list the job as their highest priority as it is their first step towards celebrati...
. In particular the outsiders and bohemians. The result was the novel Cannery Row. Knowing that civilians in general and GI’s in particular wanted to read something peaceful and funny, Steinbeck, mulling over pleasant experiences in the 1930s, decided on a second novel about Monterey, California, or rather about one area of that celebrated town.
Barbara Kingsolver once said, I wrote The Bean Trees because Steinbeck wrote Cannery Row.” The novel, Cannery Row, crowded with various anecdotes, chases the ambitions of Mack and his group of eccentric men. However, the story incorporates little plot, instead, John Steinbeck is more interested in the community as a group. The meager town of Monterey, California conserves its sentimental value of fellowship and team effort. Although, the Row is established as a sluggish town, in reality its commoners are a bunch of warm-hearted fools. Mack and the boys live rich, innovational lives, yet are a bunch of unemployed misfits, who aid one another in difficult situations. Similarly, in The Bean Trees, distant individuals with diverse experiences, despite their power in society, come together, creating a loving and supporting family. Barbara Kingsolver was inspired to write The Bean Trees, because of her admiration for Cannery Row’s fellowship and prospering community; throughout the two novels, community and the character’s support for one another during hardship, leads them to success.
John Steinbeck’s use of figurative language and local color in Cannery Row, Sweet Thursday and Of Mice and Men show his growth as a writer and highlight the reoccurring theme of loneliness and ostracism. The time gap in between these books show that Steinbeck grows as he experiences more throughout his life. Steinbeck’s novels are always set in California due to his extensive knowledge of the area since he has lived in the area his entire life. In all of his works the characters use parts of speech and actions that are customary to that area.
... However, these three do show the literary freedom taken by Steinbeck as we follow his characters George and Lennie. Although George and Lennie didn't live the high life compared to most readers, they would have lived the high life compared to actual migrant farm workers. This supports the notion that Of Mice and Men does not accurately portray the lives of migrant farm workers. Steinbeck improved their lives so vastly that reading The Harvest Gypsies was a total shock and difficult to imagine that conditions were as bad as they were.
Novels that exhibit what the life is like for the people at ranch can help readers reflect on how they might react in comparable situation. George and Lennie who struggle to transcend the plight of inerrant farmworkers are followed by the novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck. Readers are positioned to respond to themes through Steinbeck’s use of conventions that are dispirit. Themes such as Freedom and confinement, loneliness, and racism are pivotal in the novel and draw out a range of responses from the readers.
Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is a realistic novel that mimics life and offers social commentary too. It offers many windows on real life in midwest America in the 1930s. But it also offers a powerful social commentary, directly in the intercalary chapters and indirectly in the places and people it portrays. Typical of very many, the Joads are driven off the land by far away banks and set out on a journey to California to find a better life. However the journey breaks up the family, their dreams are not realized and their fortunes disappear. What promised to be the land of milk and honey turns to sour grapes. The hopes and dreams of a generation turned to wrath. Steinbeck opens up this catastrophe for public scrutiny.
The "Failure" As Hero in Cannery Row It is Doc, in Cannery Row, who provides the objective and nonteleological point of view which is to be found in so many of Steinbeck's works. For Doc, himself freed from the get-get-get philosophy of the world of the machine by virtue of his science, his detachment, his gentleness, and his personal refusal to be pushed into either Social Importance or the role of Social Judge, insists that the boys of the Palace Flophouse are universal symbols rather than mere ne'er-do-wells. And what they symbolize is simply this: the madness of a world in which those who enjoy life most are those whom the world considers "failures." For Mack and the boys most certainly are failures-in everything but humanity and life itself: Mack and the boys . . .
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).