Cannery Row

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.

Mack and his Boys are a group of down-and-out but always devious men who live together in the run-down fishmeal shack, owned by Lee Chong, which they call the Palace Flophouse and Grill. Mack is their ringleader, a smart, charismatic man who can charm anyone into anything; as one of the boys says, Mack could be president of the United States if he wanted to be, but he wouldn't want to do anything like that, being of course that it wasn't fun. Mack's attempts to do things the easy way and to his advantage often get him into trouble. Eddie, another of the boys, is a substitute bartender at La Ida, the local bar. He brings home stolen bottles and a jug filled with remnants from customers' drinks; this makes him immeasurably popular all around. Hazel is perhaps the hardest working of the boys: He often accompanies Doc on collecting trips. Ironically, though, the narrative claims he was too lazy to pick up real criminal habits as a boy. Gay lives with the boys because his wife beats him. He is often at the local bar or in jail as a result of brawls with his wife. Gay is a gifted mechanic who can make any vehicle run. Steinbeck allows for most of his characters to posses a double-sided appeal. All of the boys lead relatively normal lives by Cannery standards, but can be seen in two different lights. On one hand they are do-gooders, holy-men, martyrs, the type one would always want on their side. On the other hand, with their refined manipulative abilities, they can be perceived as bullies, bottom-feeders, and lowlifes. They are the instigators and problem-solvers; the straight-men and the comic reliefs; the villains and the heroes. With any role they play, they proceed to play the opposite.

Doc is the owner of Western Biological Laboratory, a specimen supply house. Doc is a placid, melancholy man who is a source of culture, munificence, and aid for all on the Row. He introduces Dora’s girls and the boys to opera, classical music, and literature, and he takes a mentally handicapped boy in and cares for him. He is also a bit of a womanizer. Somehow, though, Doc always seems lonely, and everyone on the Row constantly wants to do something to show him how much he is loved. Doc is a sort-or father figure to the residents of Cannery Row. When the people are sick, he is their doctor; when they are lonely, their psychologist; and when abandoned, he is their home.

Dora Flood is the local madam; a proprietor of the Bear Flag Restaurant, a brothel. Dora is a large woman with bright orange hair and gaudy clothes. She runs a tight ship - her girls aren't allowed to drink or talk to men on the street - but she is compassionate and bighearted. She