The Themes Of Survival In Cannery Row By John Steinbeck

830 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analyzing literacy program

Imagine if you will, Cannery Row, Monterey. Now, imagine Cannery Row during the great depression. The floods of tourists that we often see today were far and few, but the bustle of workers struggling to can someone else’s meal was always about. The noises of these factories were constantly whirring, and the stink of freshly caught fish was always present. The shops were scarce, and people were often there purely for work and less so for entertainment. People were trying to survive working with what they had, and this is what John Steinbeck’s novel, Cannery Row was trying to portray.
Most people can agree that Steinbeck’s Cannery Row doesn’t have much of a solid plot. Instead, the book is incredibly character driven, and also attempts to …show more content…

The first time survival ever comes up in a strong way was in chapter six, where Steinbeck described The Great Tide Pool and described the various murders that occurred purely for food. “A small wave breaks over the barrier, and churns the glassy water for a moment and mixes bubbles into the pool, and then it clears and is tranquil and lovely and murderous again” (Steinbeck, 27). Even in chapter 20, there are themes of survival when it comes to Mack and the boys giving the frogs that they found to Doc in hopes that they’d get a nickel for each one. “We’re in the chips”, Mack said enthusiastically. “Doc pays us a nickel a frog and we got a thousand.” Lee nodded. The price was standard. Everybody knew that. “Doc’s away,” said Mack. “Jesus, is he going to be happy when he sees all them frogs” (Steinbeck, …show more content…

The crab was a fairly dark character as Steinbeck described. “Here a crab tears a leg from his brother” (Steinbeck, 28). Despite the fact that the crab ripped a leg off of his own brother, I want to focus on the octopus because I definitely believe that this was foreshadowing. “Then the creeping murderer, the octopus, steals out, slowly, softly, moving like a gray mist, pretending now to be a bit of weed, now a rock, now a lump of decaying meat while it’s evil goat eyes watch coldly. It oozes and flows towards a feeding crab, and as it comes close it’s eyes burn and it’s body turns rosy with the pulsing color of anticipation and rage. Then suddenly it runs lightly on the tip of its arms, as ferociously as a charging cat. It leaps savagely on the crab, there is a puff of black fluid, and the struggling mass is obscured in the sepia cloud while the octopus murders the crab” (Steinbeck, 28). I believe that this could be foreshadowing how ambitious the townspeople can

Show More
Related

  • The Divided-Duality of Cannery Row

    898 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of John Steinbeck's 'The Grapes Of Wrath'

    1845 Words  | 4 Pages

    When times get tough, many people turn away from everyone and everything. It must be part of human nature to adopt an independent attitude when faced with troubles. It is understandable because most people do not want to trouble their loved ones when they are going through problems, so it is easier to turn away than stick together. Maybe their family is going through a rough patch and they reason they would be better off on their own. This path of independence and solitude may not always be the best option for them or their family, though. Often times it is more beneficial for everyone to work through the problem together. It is not always the easiest or most desirable option, but most times it is the most efficient and it will get results in the long run. In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck makes this point very clear through several characters. Many characters throughout

    Read More

  • Comparing Steinbeck's Standard In The Grapes Of Wrath And The Road

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Row: Respect Is Important In John Steinbeck's Cannery Row

    1306 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Success In John Steinbeck's Cannery Row

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • How Does Steinbeck Overcome Homelessness In The Grapes Of Wrath

    716 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion the Grapes of Wrath is a literary masterpiece that portrays the struggles of man as he overcomes the adversity of homelessness, death, and the wrath of prejudice. Steinbeck fully explores each faucet coherently within the boundaries of the Joad family’s trials and

    Read More

  • Cannery Row And Grapes Of Wrath

    1764 Words  | 4 Pages

    John Steinbeck is a brilliant storyteller capable of crafting such vibrant and captivating literary works that one can effortlessly exit their own life and enter another. John Steinbeck has a passion for divulging the flaws of human nature and he is not afraid to write about the raw and tragic misfortune that plagued the lives of people like the Okies in the Grapes of Wrath and residents of Cannery Row. He was also a brilliant commentator who contributed brilliant opinions on the political and social systems in our world. In heart wrenching words he tells us the story of peoples lives, which were full of love, corruption, faith and growth. However in the novels of Cannery Row and The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck specifically attempts to convey the thematic elements of socialism, survival and the role of women to blatantly present the lifestyle of down trodden migrant workers and the diverse ecosystem of prostitutes, marine biologists, store owners and drunks in a way that is unapologetic and mentally stimulating.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

    560 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck the author uses excessive profanity, religion, and migrants to show the hard times family’s had to go through in the 1930’s. Most people believe that Steinbeck novel is too inappropriate for high school students because of its content. This novel should be banned from the high school curriculum.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Grapes of Wrath is a novel written by John Steinbeck, which focuses on an Oklahoman family that is evicted from their farm during an era of depression caused by the Dust Bowl. The Joad family alongside thousands of other refugees (also affected by the dirty thirties) migrates west towards California seeking employment and a new home. John Steinbeck’s purpose for writing this novel was to inform his audience of how many of their fellow Americans were being mistreated and of the tribulations they faced in order to attain regain what they once had. As a result, The Grapes of Wrath triggered its audience’s sympathy for the plight of the Dust Bowl farmers and their families.

    Read More

  • Parrallels in the Life of John Steinbeck and the Characters in his Works

    2511 Words  | 6 Pages

    John Steinbeck was perhaps the best author of all time. He was the winner of a Nobel Prize, and among other accomplishments, Steinbeck published nineteen novels and made many movies during his lifetime. All of his experience and knowledge are shown through his novels. A reader can tell, just in reading a novel by Steinbeck, that he had been through a lot throughout his life. Also, Steinbeck worked very hard to accomplish everything that he did during his lifetime. Nothing came very easily to him, and he had to earn everything he owned. This helped him in his writing, because he was able to write about real people and real experiences. John Steinbeck got his inspiration from life experiences, people he knew, and places he had gone.

    Read More

  • Loneliness in Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck

    1218 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 the people in cannery. They bring about loneliness to everyone not just the people of Cannery Row. Cannery Row is not a fantasy or a dream for we can all learn something from each person in this story. Their lives can be a reflection of our own lives. We may not talk to cats or hang curtains in a room with no windows. But we share something with these people. And if we sympathize with these people it is because we feel we can relate in some kind of way. All of us as human beings on this earth use something to nourish the loneliness in our lives without these certain things we would feel neglected, distressed and misplaced. Cannery Row is filled with misfits people who just do not belong in what you would call a normal society. But they all seem to gather and blend in this one place where they can belong. In Cannery Row people go to the beat of their own drum. They go where they want. Do what they want and they say what needs to be said. The freedom to be different to be eccentric is something the...

    Read More

  • Steinbeck Figurative Language

    964 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Loneliness And Community In John Steinbeck's Cannery Row

    284 Words  | 1 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Importance of Respect in John Steinbeck's Cannery Row

    1550 Words  | 4 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Unmasking Capitalism in Steinbeck´s The Grapes of Wrath

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    The novel focuses on the negative aspects of capitalism and sheds a positive light on communism. Steinbeck proves that there are many problems in capitalism with the way the migrants suffered during the era of the Great Depression. The economic slump, which many people assume affected the urban populations, was even harsher on the migrants. Steinbeck, throughout his novel, reveals the plight of the migrant workers during the Depression and how capitalism has crushed them. He reaches out to his readers and plants the idea that the glorified capitalism in America is not what it seems, and that any path, even communism, is preferable.

    Read More

More about The Themes Of Survival In Cannery Row By John Steinbeck

Open Document