As the title suggests, Cannery Row is a glimpse into the life and times of the residents of Cannery Row, which is situated in the beautiful Monterey, California. Written by John Steinbeck in 1948, Cannery Row has an array of characters each with their own story to tell right in the middle of the great depression. First there’s Lee Chong, he owns the local grocery store which with all the stuff he has in stock can fill almost any need. Lee Chong had all one could wish for living on cannery row. Then there’s Mac and the boys, after striking a deal with Lee Chong they now live in the Palace Flophouse. While Mac and the boys could make something of themselves for some reason they like where they are and how they live. Next we come to Doc, the local scientist, who resides at the Western Biological building. Doc is everyone’s friend, anything you need or need answered Doc is the one to call. After Doc, comes the girls at Dora’s. During this time in our country each community all had a group of local whores, in this case the women a
Dora’s which any man could goto for a good time at a modest price. Then comes along Henri, a man that loves building his boat yet hates the water. These characters encompass most of the main players in Cannery Row. And what happens to them is even more amazing.
For someone like me who has had it easy all his life it makes it difficult to relate to what happens to the characters in Cannery Row. I can however relate to the good friendships we see here. Even though these people were living right through the great depression on top of already living a disadvantaged life for the most part, they all manage to find joy and redemption in there own little world. One of Steinbeck’s great strengths in his writings is always to have some lowly person on a search for redemption. In Cannery Row he does this again with a group of people just trying to survive life and maybe get something out of it.
There are many sub-plots in Cannery Row, but the main plot is obviously the most important. It all starts off very simple. Mac and the boys all see what a great guy Doc is, he is
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