Cannery Row Symbolism

Cannery Row is a book written by John Steinbeck in 1945 towards the end of World War II. The story takes place during the “Great Depression” in the town of Monterey, California. The book differs from most of his work in that he attempted to write something lighthearted at the request of a group of soldiers who were tired of reading about war. Cannery Row displays symbolism, major themes, and characterization throughout the book.
John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California in 1902. He spent most of his life in Monterey County, California, which was the setting for most of his books. Steinbeck grew up with three sisters and had a happy childhood. He was shy, but intelligent, and formed an appreciation for his surrounding community, in particular
He attended Stanford University sporadically between 1920 and 1926 but did not graduate. He instead dropped out and chose to support himself by doing manual labor while writing in his spare time. His experiences among the working class of California led to a better depiction of the lives of laborers, who are the basis for many of the characters in his most celebrated novels. Steinbeck served as a war correspondent during World War II. He died of heart failure in New York City in 1968.
Steinbeck married his first wife Carol Henning in 1930 and they lived together in Pacific Grove, California. It was during this time; Steinbeck spent almost all of his time in Monterey with his friend Ed Ricketts at his Cannery Row laboratory. Spending time at Ed Ricketts’ laboratory inspired his popular novel, Cannery Row. In 1943, Steinbeck married his second wife, Gwendolyn Conger, with whom he had two children. In 1948 Steinbeck’s friend Ricketts died, and Gwendolyn left him. However, in 1950 he married Elaine Scott and moved to New York
Cannery Row is a small community with lots of different people: prostitutes, pimps, gamblers, and eccentric individuals. It can be a rough place to live in at times but there are many examples of people helping one another. For example during the flu epidemic the entire community comes together to help the sick. Another example is when everyone in Cannery Row chipped in and helped Mack and the boys pay for Docs second party after the first attempt went bad.
Many of the characters in Cannery Row have specific ambitions. Mack and the boys want to throw Doc a party, Henri wants to live life as a French Painter, and Mr. and Mrs. Malloy want to fix up their boiler to make it feel more like home. While Steinbeck respects these characters’ goals, he does not value ambition. The people of Cannery Row are not driven by the desire to assert their superiority but instead he presents a more simpler version of ambition: to survive and find one’s happiness within their environment in which they live