cannery_row_kelleher

Written by: Caryn Kelleher
 * //__Cannery Row__//__: The Metaphor and the Life of Literature__**

[|John Steinbeck] opens his novel with, “How can the poem, the stink and the grating noise –the quality of light, the tone, the habit and the dream-be set down alive?”

Steinbeck uses this to identify the moral and format of this book all by itself, but the stories within explain it. As the author of __[|Of Mice and Men]__, __[|The Grapes of Wrath]__, and __[|The Pearl]__, this is one of his most unique and interesting to read, especially compared to __The Pearl__, a novella that shortly followed __[|Cannery Row]__. This novel’s plot is interrupted by vignettes throughout the book because of Steinbeck’s belief that the stories should be allowed to “crawl in by themselves”, as suggested by the prologue

Mack and the boys, the so-called bums of Cannery Row are frowned upon in Monterey, the town in which Cannery Row ,the poorest section of society in Monterey, is located, but admired. Named because of the cannery located within it, Cannery Row is filled with delicate creatures like Mack and the boys and Doc, the marine biologist of Western Biological in Cannery Row, the main characters of the novel. Throughout the plot of Mack and the boys attempting to plan a party for Doc, vignettes, like the tale of the flagpole skater, The Malloys and their boiler, and Dora and the Bearflag Restaurant interrupt in order to for the plot to be underdtood more easily by understanding the town and the way of life in Cannery Row.

In __Cannery Row__, a novel by John Steinbeck, a random format is created in order to properly portray the life in Cannery Row from different perspectives. Although it is somewhat difficult to understand at some points, so it the place of Cannery Row itself, and that is the reason behind his vignette style.

This novel shows the building of character within a person, and even though the characters have specific stories behind them, the morals they learn and the lifestyle they live can be applied to any place and any time period, including right here and now. The format is used to help explain the building of that character as well as the moral. The vignettes are included in the story to understand the town of Cannery Row from different view.

“Go ahead, Doc. I got it coming.” Mack says this towards the middle of the book, when the first party attempt fails. It shows that the character of Mack is developing from the environment around him and to understand what he really means you need to know the rest of Cannery Row as well. This example applies to all of the characters throughout the novel, and character building is one of the most important pieces to the puzzle of Cannery Row.

Steinbeck is the author of many other works such as __Of Mice and Men__, __The Grapes of Wrath__, __[|Cup of Gold]__, __[|Travels with Charley]__, __The Pearl__, and many other classics. This novel falls straight into place in the fact that they all have a common society and lifestyle that the plot is based around, like Kino’s village life in __The Pearl__ and __[|The Pastures of Heaven’s]__ setting of Cannery Row in Monterey, the same setting for this novel, __Cannery Row.__

Steinbeck uses the morals and the format especially to draw out the meaning behind Cannery Row. Letting the stories “crawl in by themselves” is a genius move made by Steinbeck in order to show the plot and vignettes through different viewpoints, making the novel understandable and interesting for different audiences.