John Steinbeck has a great, long background of liberalism. Most, if not all of his novels carry messages of political and social issues. In Cannery Row, a novel based on people living in a small neighborhood during the Great Depression, Steinbeck includes perhaps one of the most important social issues, generosity.
The characters in Cannery Row bring their own perspective; some characters are based on people Steinbeck knew. Doc, the main character, is a passionate marine biologist, based on Steinbeck’s friend, Ed Ricketts, a well recognized marine biologist.
Doc always seems lonely, yet he is loved by everyone. He owns the Western Biological Laboratory which allows him to isolate from people. Doc shows generosity by being like a second father to Dora’s girls. He also takes in Frankie, a mentally handicapped boy, even though Frankie has trouble doing almost any work, Doc takes care of him without wanting anything back in exchange.
Throughout the book, Doc realizes that he is a huge part of Cannery Row, and he has to serve for others. Yet he never fully opens up to other characters. Here, Steinbeck brings the idea that we all have a reason for being. A society is made by people who are willing to give, without expecting something back.
Lee Chong is a store owner, he allows his clients to have debts and he believes in a free market, he is a capitalist. Yet Chong knows that he needs to build a loyal relation with his customers to prevent them from going to out to Monterey to buy supplies. Times were hard, for workers and merchants, which meant a man had to do, anything to survive. Although that meant frauds could happen easily, the people in Cannery Row were still people and united. Lee Chong shows generosity when accepting almost any transaction with his costumers in exchange for supplies. He lends Mac and the boys a fish-meal shack to live in, knowing that inevitably they will never pay for the service.
The characters in Cannery Row have an awakening moment at some point in the book. Dora Flood is a business woman with a great spirit, operates a whorehouse, but she has morals. She doesn’t allow hard liquor or vulgar words in her property and has a fair price for services. During the great Depression, she paid bills for many families. She also helped during the influenza outbreak. Despite the fact that she is very successful, she becomes a philanthropist. Her business is in danger of being shut down, so she makes more of an effort to help out in Cannery Row.
History does repeat it self, and issues haven’t been changed. They have been tailored to fit in today’s society. Characters from Cannery Row can be compared to people today; they will have most of the same dilemmas and different plans of action. Steinbeck tries to settle his ideas by using America’s toughest times and explaining through novels his ideas on issues. In Cannery Row, generosity was always among the actions many of these characters made. Just like the characters in Cannery Row, we have to find our strength in rough times, and change our superficial views to better our community.
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