StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

John Steinbeck's novel Cannery Row - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
This essay, John Steinbeck's novel Cannery Row, presents the novel which explains the grassroots realities of life, in its positive and negative aspects, its glory and meanness and the Doc’s character is penned by the author to highlight the complexity of this philosophy. …
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER95.5% of users find it useful
John Steinbecks novel Cannery Row
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "John Steinbeck's novel Cannery Row"

 Introduction: With the quote, "Look at them. There are your true philosophers,"(141) John Steinbeck examines the characterization of Doc in the novel Cannery Row. The novel explains the grassroots realities of life, in its positive and negative aspects, its glory and meanness and the Doc’s character is penned by the author to highlight the complexity of this philosophy. Steinbeck observes, the inhabitants are, "whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches," by which he meant everybody. Had the man looked through another peephole he might have said, "Saints and angels and martyrs and holy men," and he would have meant the same thing (1). Doc is a man of scientific approach, but at the same time, he is interested in enjoying the luxuries of day to day life. He is not the one to chase the perfect disciplines in life, but is willing to carry on happily with the available levels of discipline. The readers first see him leaving his Western Biological Laboratory for purchasing five quarts of beer. He is not interested to tread the beaten and routine tracks of life and exhibits defiance towards the vested interests that take control of the society and his approach is evident in his suggested “method for getting revenge on a bank if anyone should ever want to: `Rent a safety deposit box, then deposit in it one fresh salmon and go away for six months.” (15)Thus Doc is an individual who accepts and lauds the contradictory facets of life and his Western Biological is a kind of experimental laboratory for the living things as per their levels of progression. A true philosopher (the realized soul) knows the past, present and the future and they are one with the, the great leveler of humankind, the Time. They are unaffected by the day to day agitations, ups and downs occurring in the world outside. The author compares Mack and the boys, the ordinary folks, to such philosophers as they have the capacity to survive in this world of pluralities and pairs of opposites, like happiness and sorrow, light and darkness etc. There are others, the simple types of people, to whom ignorance is bliss and they also remain happy, like philosophers, in all circumstances. The intelligent, successful and competitive people remain upset always; their mind is full of agitations over the business and secular challenges they face and the author categorizes them as men with “ bad stomachs and bad souls”(142) but Mack and the boys are fit physically and mentally. They are carefree people, eat what they like, and do what they wish. They are free in every sense of the term. Steinbeck is a master in depicting the lives of the ordinary people and their perspective of life. Such people do not have the predefined goals in life and craze for aggrandizement of wealth; they just live life. Even though they live different types of life, their trials and miseries of life are of different categories and grades, yet there exists the common thread that binds them all. Their minds are not small, their behaviors and motives are great. Steinbeck has understanding and sympathy for the poor and the common people. His love for the lowest strata of the society, the economically poor, and his admiration for the nobility of human existence, can be observed throughout the novel. This reflection of Doc reveals the inside working of the mind of Steinbeck: “It has always seemed strange to me” said Doc. “The things we admire in men, kindness, generosity, openness, honesty, understanding, and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits that we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism, and self-interest are traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.” (143)Steinbeck is able to read the minds of his common characters well, the delineation, dialogue and situation building is appropriate, observation on locating greatness in the life of the ordinary people is excellent and shows his genuine sympathy with their lifestyles! They may not be able to think big, but Steinbeck shows that their hearts are big and they are the ones who really enjoy life. They are clever and know the art of living, adjusting to the situations confronting them. Normally, varied happenings in the secular world do not surprise them, and they are mentally ready to accept any contingencies. They are calm and the worst ‘situations do not harm them. There is a charm even in their self-inflicted stupidity. Within his criticism, Steinbeck’s latent love for the common men is evident. He admires their limited intelligence. He describes one alcoholic mind as a museum of un-catalogued exhibits. He is charmed to observe the sleaziness of Monterey and its inhabitants. He writes that Cannery Row ''is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, nostalgia, a dream.'' (1) He depicts the picture of angels and devils living together as if, to make it a unique society. Conclusion: With his love for the common men and his constant efforts to find happiness through their daily trials and tribulations, Steinbeck’s leftist leanings are evident, though he is not a hardcore follower of philosophy of Marx, nor a card hold member of the communist party. His dislike for bourgeois respectability and their lifestyles runs through the veins of the plot. But he is touched by the appalling conditions of his hometown Monterey and his depth of humanism brings out sterling narrations about the poor people. It is his place and he remembers it most obsessively and loves it absolutely without any reservations. He has converted the subject matter related to the ordinary and mundane people into a brilliant plot and makes it a memorable reading experience with their hearty and touching interactions. Mac and his company are the true components of a happy society. Works Cited Steinbeck, John. Cannery Row, Penguin Books; 5th edition, February 1, 1993 Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“John Steinbeck's novel Cannery Row Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words”, n.d.)
John Steinbeck's novel Cannery Row Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/english/1610853-essay-on-john-steinbecks-novel-cannery-row
(John Steinbeck'S Novel Cannery Row Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words)
John Steinbeck'S Novel Cannery Row Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words. https://studentshare.org/english/1610853-essay-on-john-steinbecks-novel-cannery-row.
“John Steinbeck'S Novel Cannery Row Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/english/1610853-essay-on-john-steinbecks-novel-cannery-row.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF John Steinbeck's novel Cannery Row

Can Values and Morality have Different Meanings

John Steinbeck reminds people about this fact with the help of his famous novel cannery row published in 1945.... This paper analyses the relationships between the characters Mack, Doc and Henry in the novel cannery row to prove that values and morality can often been travel in opposite directions.... In the novel, cannery row, Mack and his friends are trying to do something nice to their loyal friend Doc, who actually demanded nothing from them....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

John Steinbeck's Writing Style in The Pearl

The paper "john steinbeck's Writing Style in The Pearl" describes that John Steinbeck employs a variety of writing styles in The Pearl in order to teach and demonstrate a few truths in life.... The external characteristics of the novel include the use of local color in a Spanish setting.... hellip; Steinbeck also never fails to use various figures of speech throughout the novel (Tanto and Kosasih).... Throughout the novel, Steinbeck employs various writing techniques not only to teach the moral lesson of the story but to demonstrate the theme of naturalism....
5 Pages (1250 words) Case Study

The Moon is Dawn

His immediate postwar work-cannery row (1945), The Pearl (1947), and The Wayward Bus (1947)-contained the familiar elements of his social criticism but were more relaxed in approach and sentimental in tone.... Steinbeck avoided the easy mechanism of casting the "Nazis" in a demonic fashion, instead portraying them as humans torn by the brutality of what they must do. During World War II Steinbeck wrote some effective pieces of government propaganda, among them The Moon Is Down (1942), a novel of Norwegians under the Nazis, and he also served as a war correspondent....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Taoism Reflected in Cannery Row

John Steinbeck's cannery row, (1945) presented a deceptively simple series of events, with a cast of characters, apparently equally lacking in complexity, at least on the surface.... It could be the place, the time, the people, the events, that all combined to create a literary… But like the Tao Te Ching, cannery row portrayed a philosophy of how to live life in a way that achieved levels of balance, happiness and moral virtue.... In two short chapters, cannery row and many of its important players began to come alive, and the significant places, the shop and the flophouse were established....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Cannery Row a novel by John Steinbeck

This essay discusses the setting for John Steinbeck's novella "cannery row", that is the city of Monterrey, south of the San Francisco Bay area.... Fewer economic advantages in this time and place meant things such as respect in the community The story of cannery row begins by slowly introducing each important character.... The whole party erupts in a huge fight featuring the residents of cannery row against the outsiders.... Doc's lab is only slightly damaged and luck returns to cannery row with the successful completion of the party....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

John Stienbeck, the author of cannery row has been regarded and very well received for this particular novel, and the novel itself has also been adapted into a stage play as well as a film soon after its publication.... Published in the year 1945, the story is told along the lines… A number of sardine fisheries line the sides of cannery row, thus giving it its name.... John Steinbeck writes, “cannery row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

How is Cannery Row like a tidepool

In his novel cannery row, John Steinbeck relates life culture, values and class of the people in the town of Cannery to the structures of the tidal pools.... cannery row is a story about a group of poor friends (Mack and his friends) who try to raise money to buy beer and throw their friend (Doc) a second party after the first one went out of control and ruined his lab.... The life structures in the tide pools directly relate to the social structures of the cannery row....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Rethinking the Politics of The Grapes of Wrath

This paper 'Rethinking the Politics of The Grapes of Wrath" focuses on the fact that john steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath criticizes American culture during the dustbowl years of the 1930s.... Instead, the driving force of this collapse, steinbeck's story, and the problems faced by the Joad family in the story are the result of the capitalistic system itself – the banks, the landowners and the incessant need for profit to be gained by all....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us