Essay about The Importance of Respect in John Steinbecks...

The Importance of Respect in John Steinbecks Cannery Row 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†¦show more content†¦This man is very mysterious in the book and is meant to represent loneliness and aging. A young boy in chapter four makes fun of the old china man. He felt that he should make fun of him to keep his self respect (19). Both of these incidents illustrate that a person may be driven to uncomfortable, frightening and even suicidal lengths to keep up a front. These two characters were made fun of, laughed at and branded as different. They were not respected in any way, which Steinbeck clearly shows. The plot of the novel begins to become clear in the next few chapters. This is where Mack and his gang of friends are introduced. Mack and the boys were homeless; until one day when an abandoned fish food storage house was given to them. They loved the house for its protection from the weather. The boys put furniture, posters, beds, a stove and even some flowers in and around their house. Their house gave them a since of pride. In their minds they sneered at unsettled people who had no house to go to (34). They now felt more respect and pride in society. Doc is also introduced in these chapters. Doc is one of the most respected people in town. He runs a laboratory called Western Biological and through the years he had became the fountain of philosophy, science and art in Cannery row. Doc would listen to any kind of nonsense and change it for you to a kind of wisdom. His mind had no horizon-- and his sympathy had no warp . . . Everyone who thought of himShow MoreRelatedMorality in Cannery Row by John Steinbeck756 Words   |  3 Pagesnecessarily right and wrong? Values and morality can have different meanings, especially if placed in the context of a distorted materialistic society. In Cannery Row, John Steinbeck reminds people about this important theme and how it applies on a bigger scale. The setting of the story is Cannery Row, located in Monterey, California. Steinbecks choice of setting is significant in that it fully captures the breadth of humanity. On the one hand, it is an area that represents the thriving sardineRead M oreStudy Guide Literary Terms7657 Words   |  31 Pagesreference in one literary work to a character or theme found in another literary work. T. S. Eliot, in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock alludes (refers) to the biblical figure John the Baptist in the line Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter, . . . In the New Testament, John the Baptists head was presented to King Herod on a platter 5. ambiguity-A statement which can contain two or more meanings. For example, when the oracle at Delphi told Croesus that