Cannery Row

Cannery Row examines how a sense of community develops and functions among the residents of Monterey, focusing on the lower-class and working-class people. One important aspect of this is Steinbeck’s positive depiction of sex workers. Dora, a madam at the Bear Flag Restaurant, not only takes care of her employees but also cares for other people in the area. Her internal labor practices are generous. Some of her “girls”—a euphemism for sex workers—“don’t turn three tricks a month but they go right on eating three meals a day” (20). This illustrates how she cares for the people who work for her, people who are often discriminated against. An example of this kind of discrimination comes up later in the novel when other ladies (i.e., housewives) who live in Monterey rally against the Bear Flag, which results in its being shut down. Dora helps her workers through this interruption in their revenue stream—and also when they sustain injuries or age out of the profession.

Dora aids others in the community too: “[B]eing illegal Dora must be especially philanthropic” (20). Her donations to various causes keep her from being shut down or harassed by police. However, she gives generously—without city officials prompting her to do so. Her character is based on the real-life figure Flora Woods, as Susan Shillinglaw notes in her introduction to the novel. Dora (like the madam who inspired her character) donates large amounts of food to the poor during the Great Depression. Furthermore, Dora sends her employees out to families with soup during an influenza epidemic. These community-minded acts strengthen the bonds among Monterey’s residents.

In addition, community functions as a method for regulating behavior. When community members act inappropriately, they’re shunned. The first attempt at a party for Doc by Mack and his friends goes terribly awry, and the community responds by ostracizing the men:

Socially Mack and the boys were beyond the pale [...] there are two possible reactions to social ostracism—either a man emerges determined to be better, purer, and kindlier or he goes bad, challenges the world and does even worse things. This last is by far the commonest reaction to stigma” (132).

Mack and his friends aren’t part of the latter, more common, group, however. They initially feel guilt and shame, so they withdraw. After learning that Doc forgives them, the men try to improve themselves and their relations with the community by throwing another, more successful, party for Doc. This, in the narrator’s eyes, sets them apart from many people who are ostracized.

The second, successful party is an excellent example of the community coming together to celebrate one of its valued members. While conspiracy is a word with many negative implications, here it describes how residents plan for Doc’s party: “The conspiracy grew and there were endless visits back and forth, discussion of presents, of liquor, of what time will we start and nobody must tell Doc” (159). Although Doc learns about the party ahead of time, they hope to surprise him, which is the reason for the word choice of “conspiracy.” Cannery Row community members handcraft gifts, such as a quilt from the sex workers and a pincushion art piece by Henri, and give personal items they find valuable, like Lee’s gift of firecrackers and Chinese lilies.

The party itself is the culmination of the novel and demonstrates the diverse community of Monterey coming together in celebration: “The nature of parties has been imperfectly studied. It is, however, generally understood that a party has a pathology, that it is a kind of individual and that it is likely to be a very perverse individual” (172). The word choice here, specifically “pathology,” highlights how people study negative experiences, such as sickness, rather than joyful occasions, like parties. The two different parties in the novel have individual, or unique, traits. The first is far more exclusive. Mack and his friends plan and execute it without consulting other people. The second, successful party is much more inclusive. Dora suggests that Mack organize it, and the whole community is excited about it and attends it. The fact that the second party is a known secret—that is, even Doc finds out about it, although it’s meant to be a surprise for him—binds people together more than the exclusivity of the first party did.