by Anja Emerson

Created on: September 19, 2010

‘Cannery Row’ was published in 1945 after the depression-era in Monterey, California. It offers an accurate portrayal of the life of the community living on Ocean View Avenue (later renamed in honor of the novel) in the 1920s, revealing the struggles for success of the characters, in a context where earning a living and achieving contentment was very difficult.

The novel lacks a cohesive plot: the author, John Steinbeck, focuses on the individual stories of the characters by creating a series of vignettes and anecdotes that are meant to accurately depict life as it was during that period of time and convey a feeling of realism to the reader. It becomes apparent that this narrative approach also confers the author more freedom to focus on the mundane aspects of the characters’ gritty everyday life.

The main character is Doc, a marine biologist based on the real life of Ed Ricketts, a friend who had a great influence on John Steinbeck. He owns a biological supply house on Cannery Row, where he collects sea creatures. His group of friends, lead by the charismatic Mack, also known as "Mack and the boys", decides to throw him a party while he’s away from the laboratory. However, the party gets out of control and at dawn, when Doc is back from his sea creature collecting trip, he finds his laboratory damaged and ruined. Advised by Dora, a very kind local woman, his friends decide to regain his friendship by throwing another party that Doc will be able to attend. The second party goes well and the novel ends with Doc cleaning his house in the morning after the party, while contemplating on his life.

Though having a simple storyline, ‘Cannery Row’ manages to capture the essence of the lives of the characters it presents. It reveals the strength of their friendship, their contentment with the little they had in life, the struggle to survive after the Great Depression and shows how complex human beings truly are. The author also expresses a surprising and perhaps controversial view: he regards prostitution with respect, but at the same time, allows the reader to draw his own conclusions.

‘Cannery Row’ is a novel that depicts society shortly after the Great Depression in a realistic, gritty way, exposing the misery of daily life and balancing the image of hardship with images of the simple joys that kept people fighting to get ahead. Nostalgia, humor and sadness blend together, offering an authentic and vivid portrayal of circumstances like poverty, the daily struggle to survive and the human ability to bravely confront the difficulties of life.

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