John Steinbeck is an intriguing and intelligent author native to the grapevine-woven and sun-soaked Salinas, California. Many of his works, including Of Mice and Men, and Cannery Row, have striking similarities such as similar characters, and setting , seeing as they ‘took place’ near each other in real life. As any good book, both of these novels have many ideas that are in fact complete opposites, like the overall story progression and the plot, or absence of one in the case of Cannery Row. To understand these two books clearly, this essay will compare and contrast the setting, characters, plot, and the themes present in both books. Like Of Mice and Men, Cannery Row is about people trying to fit in. Both books are “evocative, beautifully rendered portraits of ‘outsiders’ struggling to understand their own unique places in the world” (Stephan 1). But unlike Of Mice and Men, Cannery Row shows a community of people whereas in Of Mice and Men, the main focus is on George and Lennie. In Cannery Row, the environment of the Row is shaped just as much by the characters inhabiting it as the characters are shaped by the Row. In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie must adapt to their surroundings immediately. To focus on two characters in specific, take Lennie from Of Mice and Men and Frankie from Cannery Row. Frankie is described as a mentally handicapped boy who, “...couldn’t learn and there was something a little wrong with his coordination.” (Steinbeck, Cannery Row, 58) Frankie resembles our dear friend Lennie, who was always a little off. Both Lennie and Frankie were rejected and forced to find someone to care for them. In Frankie’s case, it was Doc, and for Lennie, of course, there was George, These two caretaker characters are ve... ... middle of paper ... ...quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream. Cannery Row is the gathered and scattered, tin and iron and rust and splintered wood, chipped pavement and weedy lots and junk heaps, sardine canneries of corrugated iron, honky tonks, restaurants and whore houses, and little crowded groceries, and laboratories and flophouses.” (Steinbeck, Cannery Row, 1) In a very unique way of describing the Row, Steinbeck has captured every concept that makes it up. But for every different person who reads it will have a very real yet very different understanding of what the Row is like. As for Of Mice and Men, the setting is a little more fathomable, taking place east of Monterey, so presumably alike in aspects such as weather or terrain. For both, however, setting is a very crucial part of their respective stories. Setting in general is very important to Steinbeck as well.
John Steinbeck does not portray migrant farm worker life accurately in Of Mice and Men. Housing, daily wages, and social interaction were very different in reality. This paper will demonstrate those differences by comparing the fictional work of Steinbeck to his non-fictional account of the time, The Harvest Gypsies.
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.
Cannery Row is densely populated with a group of characters, in the narrative sense of the word and in terms of personalities. There is Dora, an imposing figure of a woman who runs a successful brothel, Henri, the non-French Frenchman, Lee Chong the shrewd but kind-hearted grocer, Doc the scientist, Mack, who leads a small group of men and is loved by the people of Cannery Row, and a host of other fascinating people who make Cannery Row so compelling. It may not seem obvious when reading John Steinbeck’s novel “Cannery Row,” but the main point or lesson in the novel is the importance of respect and Steinbeck uses his characters to tell this story about
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.
Located in central Monterey Rey, California, the real city of Cannery Row is home to thousands of current residents, but is really home to a small, concentrated sense of nostalgia for the characters of John Steinebeck’s American Classic. Cannery Row, written in 1945 by Steinbeck, faintly touches on the idea of the American dream, on what it has to offer to a crookedly, quaint town in the middle of central California. The characters in Cannery Row are initially perceived as inappropriate, childish, slavish, ignorant, and a general mistake of humanity, with disgusting morals and a true burden to the world. As the story starts to unfold upon it self, and not only does this compelling plot line seem to start to come into place, the audience comes to revelation and comes to an understanding as to what the American dream really is. Mixed with his stylistic diction writing, Steinbeck convolutes the idea the American dream with a grim sense of realism on how it's unattainable, from society's basic perception. The characters in Cannery Row, represent perseverance through strife in spite of a ...
Novels that exhibit what the life is like for the people at ranch can help readers reflect on how they might react in comparable situation. George and Lennie who struggle to transcend the plight of inerrant farmworkers are followed by the novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck. Readers are positioned to respond to themes through Steinbeck’s use of conventions that are dispirit. Themes such as Freedom and confinement, loneliness, and racism are pivotal in the novel and draw out a range of responses from the readers.
John Steinbeck’s use of figurative language and local color in Cannery Row, Sweet Thursday and Of Mice and Men show his growth as a writer and highlight the reoccurring theme of loneliness and ostracism. The time gap in between these books show that Steinbeck grows as he experiences more throughout his life. Steinbeck’s novels are always set in California due to his extensive knowledge of the area since he has lived in the area his entire life. In all of his works the characters use parts of speech and actions that are customary to that area.
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...
Cannery Row is a novel John Steinbeck wrote after World War I. At first, the novel almost seems like a humorous book, written in a style commonly used by Steinbeck. The book has its main plot, but also has side chapters that periodically interrupt the main idea, which adds to the story. One would think that these side chapters are there to universalize the book, but in fact that is not true. The side chapters tell their own story, and they have a message that Steinbeck was clearly trying to show through his book. The novel has a main point about respect. In Cannery Row , Steinbeck is trying to say that respectability is the destructive force that preys on the world. Steinbeck uses his characters to tell this story about respect and its effect on society. The central figure of the whole book, Doc, better explains this point by saying, "It has always seemed strange to me . . . The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitive, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second" (131).
Steinbeck uses the setting to set off a story about certain places of the the row that they are connected too. For example first we learn that Dora 's "stern and stately whorehouse" is to the next too a vacant lot. From there, Steinbeck gets to the story of William 's suicide in the kitchen of the Bear Flag Restaurant. You see that places are connected/tied to people lives. It much more than a grocer or a restaurant. The fact that the Cannery Row is considered a poorer part of town near Monterey, the rich side of town. Up there are the people who actually work in the canneries, whereas the people who live in cannery row don’t seem to work at all. There also live the rich old men who vista Dora’s brothels on the weekend. Because Cannery Row is considered poor that means people need to help each other to live. Each person may seem hard or mean but in the end they always help each other. This is seen with Lee Chong when he always lets people uses their credit or takes people numerous ways of paying him (Mack and the boys Frogs). This is also seen with Dora she constantly helped people and payed off their credit at Chongs often to the point where she almost went Bankrupt. Doc was one the characters who was nice as is he is outside as he is inside and everyone knew that. It is also seen in real life the less wealth a person has the more likely they are to
Loneliness and Companionship are one of the many themes that are conveyed in the novel Of Mice and Men, By John Steinbeck. Many of the characters admit to suffering from loneliness within the texts. George sets the tone for these confessions early in the novel when he reminds Lennie that the life of living on a ranch is among the loneliest of lives. However Lennie, who is mentally disabled holds the idea that living on a farm very high. "Tending the rabbits" is what Lennie calls it. Often when Lennie is seaking encouragement he askes George to tell him how its going to be. Men like George who migrate from farm to farm rarely have anyone to look to for companionship and protection. George obviously cares a lot for lennie, but is too stubborn to admit to it. The feeling of being shipped from place to place leaves George feeling alone and abandoned.
The daily struggle of the working class, fear of loneliness and the reality of putting all your energy into plans that fail are the different themes relating to John Steinbeck's novel, "Of Mice and Men". The characters depicted by the author are individuals who are constantly facing one obstacle after another. The book illustrates different conflicts such as man versus society, man versus man, man versus himself and idealism versus reality. The book's backdrop is set in the Salinas, California during the depression. The two main characters include two men, George and Lennie. Supportive characters include a few ranch hands, Candy, Crooks, Curly, Slim and Carlson.
When Steinbeck turns to describe the inhabitants of Cannery Row he describes them with the same zoologist eye and sees them in a tide pool with the same seductions, appetites and survival instincts.
Scott Russell Sanders asserts that, “[s]tories of place help us recognize that we belong to the earth, blood, and brain and bone, and that we are kin to other creatures.” Sanders’s assertion is saying that stories that are setting driven help the reader understand how everyone is connected in a way. The setting will give the reader a general idea on how people in the story are related. In the novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck is set in the Great Depression in California. Of Mice and Men is a setting-driven story, a “novel of place,” according to Sanders, and this setting is important to the novel as a whole.
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.