Cannery Row Essay, Research Paper
Cannery Row
By: John Steinbeck
Cannery Row is about a neighborhood in Monterey
Bay, California, during the aftermath of the
depression. The neighborhood is built around a
sardine company, but the main characters don?t have
much dealing with the workers there. The
neighborhood consists of a general store owned by
Lee Chong; a whore house called ?Bear Flag
Restaurant?, owned by Dora; a group of bums that
live in the Palace Flophouse; and Doc?s Laboratory.
It narrates their experiences and how they survive
during a short course of time.
John Steinbeck shows this era of the depression
in a positive perspective rather than a negative
one like it was frequently perceived. He shows the
humor in all situations and veers away from
pessimism. Steinbeck showed people?s place in
society, how they depended on one another, and the
exuberance of a community. He also let the reader
see the loneliness of an individual and their
acceptance of life.
The story?s setting had a huge relevance to
John Steinbeck?s life. He grew up in Monterey Bay,
California, during the depression. Although the
characters in the book are fictional, their
personalities are based off of real li
that Steinbeck encountered. The book was written
after the depression, so it is more of a realistic
approach to the actual life of people in that time.
The over all conflict was people?s survival
during the depression. It had many minor conflicts
as well. One was when Mack and the boys threw a
party for Doc and it all went wrong. Another one
was the outbreak of the flu.
The book had a resolution…somewhat. It ended
when Doc finally got a party and nothing went
wrong. The thing is, that Doc ended up throwing
the party for himself, so everything ended up like
it was before and how it had always been. Doc had
helped everyone in the community as usual. It
leaves the reader with the impression that things
will go on and everyone and everything will be all
right.
Cannery Row was published in 1945 and has lived
on for over 50 years. The themes represented by
this book have relevance to today?s society and
probably will have pertinence to the world in later
years. The author, John Steinbeck, won the Nobel
Prize for Literature because of this novel. The
book was appropriate for it?s audience and purpose
because so many people could relate to it, so
Cannery Row truly deserves it?s classical status.