Honors Novel One: Cannery Row

In the book Cannery Row, there were multiple political and social issues discussed, from prostitution to theft, to domestic violence and multiple other topics. There was one issue though that the entire story revolved around-The Great Depression

Steinbeck first brings up the issue of the depression by talking about people who couldn't pay their tabs at the local grocery store, so they killed themselves. Suicide was an extremely big issue during the depression, so by bringing it up immediately within the first few chapters, Steinbeck shows his readers what the basis of the book is going to be about. Even before suicide is discussed though, the town "Cannery Row" is described in great detail, from the run down-abandoned canneries to the most profitable business in town-the local whorehouse. Just like he did in The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck shows his readers how the depression has effected the environment that his story takes place in through descriptive language and in depth character descriptions.

The first few pages of the book shows the reader how miserable the depression has made the town, the economy, and the people living in the town. The main characters of the story are a band of miscreants that steal from the hard working people of the town, who are having a hard time making it by themselves. The most profitable business in town is the local whorehouse, (which says a great deal about the type of people that live in town and the local economy) and the grocer rarely is paid in money and has a debt with almost everyone in town. The grocer has everything that a person could possibly need, but people were so poor that they would have to trade anything that they owned just to get the smallest things. This relates back to the depression because during the Great Depression, there was plenty of food/resources but nobody could afford to by it. Also, the grocer giving out tabs to people seemed almost metaphorical to the banks giving out loans that people couldn't pay back. In the end, the grocer ended up repossessing items like the banks did.

In the end, everything about the story Cannery Row relates back to the Great Depression one way or another. The grocery store is a metaphor for the banks that gave out bad loans, the abandoned businesses are literal examples of many towns at the time and "Mack and the boys" resembled what the majority of American citizens had become during the depression, (homeless/thieves). The madam at "the Bear Flag Restaurant" (the name of the local whorehouse) Dora, paid the debts of most of the people in town. This showed how not only did people not have money to pay their way, but that people had to pull together as a community to survive. Lastly, almost everyone in town either worked part-time for Doc, Dora or no one at all. Almost all of the factories in town had been shut down, (even Dora's Bear Flag Restaurant was shut down temporarily). The lack of work explained why so many of the characters in the story where either homeless or living in poverty.

Cannery Row completely revolved around the Great Depression. If the depression wasn't a main theme to the story, then there wouldn't have been a book at all.