Cannery Row Essay Example

Published around 1945 by John Steinbeck, Cannery Row emphases on the recognition of life as it is by showing the loneliness of an individual and the excitement of community. Steinbeck drew on his memories of the actual inhabitants of Monterey, including his long term friend Ed Ricketts to come up with stories of his characters like Dora, Mac and his boys, Doc, Lee Chong among other characters where only the fittest survive, in a bid to create a novel that is at once the most humorous and best works. The novel shows, both in style and theme, much of Steinbeck's scientific detachment, empathy towards the lonely and depressed as well as terror of isolation and nothingness. It should be understood that the novel does not have a defined and cohesive plot, but it is comprised of a series of pictures about individuals residing in an area called Cannery Row (Steinbeck 3). This was compounded by the fact that Steinbeck was more concerned with creating sketches of people and place rather than telling a complex story or conveying a message about such people as well as their circumstances and life experiences. In as much as the novel has a dirty and violent exterior, it is an uplifting novel that mainly focusses on how people can create a favorable and ideal environment. The chapters are short and packed with irony and symbolism. "And maybe that might be the best way to write this book."

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The selected character is Doc. He owned and operated of a laboratory named Western Biological Laboratories. He collects and preserves sea creatures for shipping to other parts of the country. Doc is described as deceptively small, strong, charismatic and very passionate. On the positive aspects of Doc, he is described to be interested in almost everything, and he likes to make wisdom out of nonsense, described too as the source of philosophy, art, and science. This is observed when he rushes while going to give help to the epidemic victims while delivering food as well as enlisting Dora Flood's girls to sit with those who are hopeless and scared in life. In as much as Doc is described as a father figure, it should be noted that he equally has some bad habits like mostly living on beer and canned sardines (Steinbeck 29). He also likes watching pornography as well as bringing girls home, but he cannot form a stable relationship with them. This reveals his bad habits as a good father. In his part, Doc contributes massively in the Cannery row because he offers a source of livelihood to other members of the society by hiring Mac and the boys to gather specimens for him. In this sense, he offers employment to them which is a great contribution to the community. "Doc lived in a world of amazement, of excitement. He behaved like a rabbit and gentle as hell. And everyone who knew him thought next, 'I really must do something nice for him."

It is important to note that Steinbeck's main interest was to come up with some observation regarding man's behavior both as an individual as also as part of a group. This is a theme that is repeated in some of his other works. To clearly show the power of phalanx, he emphasizes on the ideal group formation. In his view, this involves a situation in which group members' act as individuals and at the same time contribute creatively in the formation of a harmoniously integrated whole. One of his major recurrent symbol that indicates the concept of the power of phalanx, the ideal group formation, is the communal meal. This is because this idea incorporates positive characteristics like participation, unity as well as sharing (Steinbeck 78). This is because, in his belief, eating together, partaking a meal has always had, from ancient times, some religious meaning which stresses communion among members of a social group. "To eat and drink with someone was at the same time a symbol and a confirmation of social community and the assumption of mutual obligation; the sacrificial eating gave direct expression to the fact that the god and his worshipers are communicants, thus confirming all their other relationships."

It should be noted that when the night of the parties arrived, it is confirmed that it started nicely with Mac and the boys making speeches about how they collected the tomcats as a gift for Doc. Other guests of the party too trickled in with different types of gifts. However, when the party finally came to a close, Doc read out a mournful poem that caused all the guests to remember some of the bittersweet memories. This was the point when the party started to slip away in style described as sweet sadness. This led to a fight. After the fight, the partygoers felt joyful and content again. It should be noted that it was Doc's poem that evoked emotions during the party that led to its failure. "I have been sorry all my life. This isn't ...new...it's always like this." This was when Mac apologized for wrecking the lab when he intended to throw a party for Doc (Steinbeck 196). Mac explains that he has always ruined things and that is it a pattern in his life. He seems to feel that he can't change from this behavior and that he shouldn't have to.

It cannot be denied that love is an essential aspect of life as it makes one happy. It is true that Doc is symbolized by a gopher when the novel is ending. We observe that the gopher is symbolizing Doc because they are both looking for love, but never finds it. Instead, after the gopher digs a burrow in a corner, there is no female to mate and instead attacked by another male gopher (Steinbeck 104). He is forced to abandon his carefully made burrow and moves to the garden where there are gopher traps instead. Just like Doc, they are all lonely, and they both end up hurt at the end of the book. "Selling of souls to gain the world is voluntary and almost unanimous...but not quite."

One of the characters in Cannery Row that appears similar to a character in A Girl from HOPPERS is Doc. In clear view of events, it is observed that circumstances surrounding Maggie and Doc indicate some similarities. This is observed in their love life as Maggie is struggling to find a stable love which is also a situation that faced Doc in the Cannery Row (Steinbeck 29). This is a similar problem to both the characters. However, the difference between them is that Doc owns a laboratory where he is always engaged in his scientific work. Maggie, on the other hand, has got no serious work compared to Doc's. Another difference between the two is that Doc has women around him but does not engage them in a serious relationship as Maggie does. "He lived in a world of amazement, of excitement. He behaved like a rabbit and gentle as hell. And everyone who knew him thought next, 'I really must do something nice for him." This quote further explains how much Doc was loved and adored by the author of the novel.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it cannot be denied that Doc, which is the hero of Cannery Row is a lonely and desperate man. This is because he is not part of any group. He always appears alone even in the close contact. This rounds up everything in the setting of the book in as much as a lot has been achieved through the party and among other events, the book ends when Doc is compared to a gopher who is equally desperate for love to mate with.

Work Cited

Steinbeck, John. Cannery Row. Penguin, 1994.