Government In Cannery Row

1487 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Government role in public policy

The Government is a source of help for many people. Sometimes this grand of a government fails on us. Then people begin to struggle. However sometimes the government takes over our lives to help us. Not like a National Socialistic take over of our lives, but a socialistic. However, there are also many different types of ideologies that the government controls its people. The people of Cannery Row have created a socialist atmosphere to replace the government that has failed them.

Socialism in America began in Chicago IL, June 15-21, 1897. This ideology was founded at a joint convention of the new combined American Railway Union. This was due to the two Railway Industries combining with each other, Eugene V. Debs and the Brotherhood of the Cooperative Commonwealth (Davenport). This caused a monopoly for the Railway Industry, which is how a Socialistic government does. The government takes over industries, with no competition the government controls prices and regulations. This is like Lee Chong’s store, he was the monopoly of the town stores in the Cannery Row. Lee Chong controlled prices of his merchandise that he sold in town. It did not matter if something was more expensive then it should be it was the only store in the town with produce, merchandise, and goods.

Socialism began as the 19th and 20th centuries progressed. “Socialism is a socioeconomic belief that stresses the importance of communal involvement in property and wealth distribution” (Socialism:). This explains exactly what Cannery Row does on a day-to-day basis. The community, the government, of Cannery Row distributes its wealth to help out the people of their town, but not very much so in distributing property. If the people of Cannery Row are dirt poor they kin...

... middle of paper ...

... during the Great Depression and after. The town’s people that had money, those people were the government officials of the town. They controlled the town in a Socialistic environment. This benefited the town greatly as town’s people being a mock government of the United States during hard times. The town’s people had health care, welfare, and were about to take out loans with horrible credit history. Thanks to Socialistic characteristics the town of Cannery Row continued without catastrophic problems.

Works Cited

Davenport, Tim. "Socialist Party (1897-1946): Party History." Early American Marxism website. N.p., 19 Sept. 2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. .

Socialism: History of Socialism. Dulcinea Media, Inc., 2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. .

Show More
Related

  • The Divided-Duality of Cannery Row

    898 Words  | 2 Pages

    As John Steinbeck publishes “Cannery Row” in 1945, the same year when World War II ends, some scholars claim that his book somehow relates to the war. The novel is one of the most admirable modern-American narratives of the 20th and 21st century. It is set during the Great Depression in Monterey, California. The entire story is attached to a sensitively complex ecosystem that creates different approaches for the reader. The system is so fragile that one’s mistake can be the town’s last. Steinbeck depicts unique characters like Mack and the boys (who will stand as one character and/or group), Doc, and Lee Chong. Although there are many themes that can be extracted from these characters, the theme that arises the most is the isolation of the individual as it can be split into two different categories, the psychological and the physical.

    Read More

  • Apush Dbq

    679 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is the first national organization raised by the American working class. Social Labor Party was founded in 1876 to form the center of the socialist movement in the United States, the decline of the late 19th century. In 1901, the American Socialist Party stead. 1919 suddenly decline. In the same year, the US Communist Labor Party and the Communist Party of the United States was born. In 1921 the two parties merged, said the US Communist Party. In the same year the rapid collapse after losing presidential campaign, only Minnesota agrarian labor longer exists, it is the history of the United States effective local third party. In the mid-1880s, it had a huge number of members. Later, due to the leadership class cooperation policy in the late 1980s it declined sharply. American Federation of Labor (the “AFL”) then took its place. Its predecessor was the trade unions and the Confederation of Labor of the United States and Canada organized. The organization was established in November 1881 in Pittsburgh. 1886, launched the “51” national general strike, the end of the restructuring is to AFL Gompers President. American Federation of Labor was founded in 1881 was a great influence of labor organizations. It was a loose coalition of various trade unions organized by industry for skilled workers. Because of the leadership’s extraordinary organizational skills and it lasted as long as 40 years, the AFL has absorbed many

    Read More

  • Cannery Row

    943 Words  | 2 Pages

    The minor characters in John Steinbeck’s novel Cannery Row are a contradiction within themselves. Steinbeck shows two conflicting sides to each character; for example, Mack is smart and lazy and some of his colleagues are both good and bad. Doc is a father figure with some bad habits. Dora Flood is a kind-hearted saint who happens to run a brothel. Lee Chong is a shrewd businessman who likes to take advantage of others. Henri is an artist with a French background even though he isn’t from France. Through his characters, Steinbeck shows that humans are complicated and can have many faces.

    Read More

  • Socialism Coincides With American Values By Jedediah Purdy

    1176 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Socialism Coincides with American Values, Jedediah Purdy produces an interesting insight and argument about the theory of socialism. He believes that socialism can be incredibly beneficial to the United States political and economic systems but are swept aside due to harsh misconceptions of the idealism. He states, “There are essential insights that we lose track of when we let ‘socialism’ be turned into a slur.” Purdy then argues socialism is more American than most Americans want to believe.

    Read More

  • Theodore Roosevelt Big Stick Diplomacy

    1397 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Progressive Party Documents." Industrial Revolution Reference Library, edited by James L. Outman, et al., vol. 3: Primary Sources, UXL, 2003, pp. 192-204. U.S. History in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3425800072/UHIC?u=olat15213&xid=067e1fcd. Accessed 16 Oct. 2017.

    Read More

  • The Dust Bowl: Farming in the 1930s

    631 Words  | 2 Pages

    Farm life of the 1930s was really hard for all the farmers. They did lots to get through the 1930s without starving. In York county they didn’t indoor bathrooms, light or, heat unlike the people who lived in the towns of the 1930s.(Reinhardt n. pag.) to feed there family’s many raised their own food like chicken which gave them eggs, cows which also gave them beef and milk to drink. They grew vegetables for there from there garden. (Reinhardt n. pag.)Which families didn’t do it alone they had help from there neighbors to help them along the way.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Capitalism In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

    1449 Words  | 3 Pages

    The minority of the economy during the early 1900’s was the wealthy Capitalist class while the majority of America’s population was the poor working class (Bakthawar 2). Socialism is a political movement with the goal of changing the Capitalist economy, so that it no longer exists. Socialists want a society where industries are regulated by the government (Merriam-Webster). Socialism works towards ending the misery of those in poverty by increasing wages, decreasing working hours, and improving working conditions. “[Jurgis] would no longer be the sport of circumstances, he would be a man, with a will and a purpose; he would have something to fight for, something to die for, if need be!

    Read More

  • Loneliness in Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck

    1218 Words  | 3 Pages

    As night falls on Cannery Row actuality and fear overwhelms the souls as they lay awake at night. At this very moment they are alone to think to ponder their existence their importance their meaning. During the day the things the people of Cannery Row use to fill their void. To give them happiness is gone and for those long hours of the night they are truly alone. The cats, the parties, and companions are gone just for a second. But they return in the morning to calm the weary and the broken spirits of the people in Cannery Row. Each of us just like the people in Cannery Row uses something or someone to compensate for the loneliness in our lives. Money, relationships, and personal struggles are evident and bring about loneliness to the people in cannery. They bring about loneliness to everyone not just the people of Cannery Row. Cannery Row is not a fantasy or a dream for we can all learn something from each person in this story. Their lives can be a reflection of our own lives. We may not talk to cats or hang curtains in a room with no windows. But we share something with these people. And if we sympathize with these people it is because we feel we can relate in some kind of way. All of us as human beings on this earth use something to nourish the loneliness in our lives without these certain things we would feel neglected, distressed and misplaced. Cannery Row is filled with misfits people who just do not belong in what you would call a normal society. But they all seem to gather and blend in this one place where they can belong. In Cannery Row people go to the beat of their own drum. They go where they want. Do what they want and they say what needs to be said. The freedom to be different to be eccentric is something the...

    Read More

  • The Significance of Mr. Norton and Fate in Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

    2152 Words  | 5 Pages

    Kelly, Robin D.G. "Communist Party of the United States." Encyclopaedia of African-American  Culture and History. 1996 ed. Lawler, Mary. Marcus Garvey.

    Read More

  • Unmasking Capitalism in Steinbeck´s The Grapes of Wrath

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 2008, Rudra Sabaratnam, the CEO of the City of Angels Medical Center, committed health care fraud when he attempted to extort money from Medicare and Medi-Cal. He was wealthy, yet, his greed for more money led him to cheat the taxpayer-funded healthcare programs of millions of dollars, depriving the people who actually need the help and money. The greed that Sabaratnam had was partly caused by the profit seeking capitalist system. The desire for wealth in capitalist society leads to corruption and causes a divide between the rich and the poor, so perhaps a system that supports equality and fairness is a better choice. The Eastern-European expression,“Capitalism is man exploiting man; communism is just the opposite,” summarizes one of the main ideas in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck’s aversion to a capitalist society is a motif that appears in several of his literary works, but in The Grapes of Wrath he attacks capitalism constantly and he exposes the poverty, cruelty, and greed found in our capitalist system. By emphasizing the wealthy’s insatiable appetite for profit, which forces the migrants to face hardships, Steinbeck accentuates the inequitable aspects of capitalism, and promotes communism as an alternative.

    Read More

  • Socialism In The Progressive Era Essay

    2093 Words  | 5 Pages

    This paper proposes to argue that the rise of Socialism in American society was due in large part to the reaction to the disenchantment of American citizens with their governments and the effect industrialization had on society. This historian proposes that while the victim of a great deal of opposition, the Socialist movement contributed to a number of the reforms made during the Progressive era. The historical evidence will show that many of the beliefs that drove the reforms of the era were propagated by individuals and groups associated with the Socialist movement in America, and that it affected all geographical regions of the United States, though some more than others. Ultimately the goal is to show how Socialism, despite being considered in some circle anathema to being American, was heavily involved in shaping society in the twenti...

    Read More

  • South Central Farm Environmental Racism Analysis

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    South Central Farm was a 14-acre plot of land that was ran and operated as a fully functional urban farm. It provided much needed support to the community around the farm, that consisted mostly of lower-income and minorities. The farmers, who ran the largest urban city farm at the time, used it for monetary benefit as well as psychological benefit to the community. By growing their own steady supply go goods, many who would not have access to these products normally, benefited immensely from the farm’s existence. If the farmer’s had had the monetary means for remaining on the land, the closing down of the farm could have been avoided.

    Read More

  • Is Democratic Socialism a Better Form of Government?

    1906 Words  | 4 Pages

    “When people in the United States are introduced to the concept of socialism - whether in the popular media or in a high school class - they are presented with a simple equation: socialism = a crippled economy that fails to meet people's basic needs + a totalitarian government” (Robertson). Robertson proves a good point in saying this, because generally children in the United States grow up either being taught that socialism is bad or evil, which is completely wrong, or they end up being taught nothing of socialism at all. It is until these children are exposed to a socialist government, through education or experience (which few usually have the privilege of doing) t...

    Read More

  • Cannery Row

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    John Steinbeck’s “Cannery Row” shows how people living there dealt with the hardships brought by the Great Depression. Steinbeck set his novel in the 1930’s in Cannery Row, California. The canneries are an integral part of the fish industry and Steinbeck makes the ailing American economy a critical part of everyone’s lives in his novel. He show how different characters, with different points of view with the exact same situation.

    Read More

  • Marxism and Leninism

    1618 Words  | 4 Pages

    World Socialist Movement. Socialist Standard, n.d. -. Web. The Web. The Web. 11 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

More about Government In Cannery Row

Open Document