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Cannery Row: Then and Now. John Steinbeck (1902 – 1968). Raised in Salinas, California Attends Stanford University but does not graduate. Wins Nobel Prize of Literature for:
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Cannery Row: Then and Now
John Steinbeck (1902 – 1968) • Raised in Salinas, California • Attends Stanford University but does not graduate
Wins Nobel Prize of Literature for: “... his realistic as well as imaginative writings, distinguished by a sympathetic humor and a keen social perception.”
Cannery Row - 1851 • Chinese fishing families settle • Establish fishing industry
Cannery Row - 1880 • Railroad reaches town and makes division
Tracks behind Canneries One side inhabited by socially “elite” – other side by social outcasts Things are thrown away behind the tracks—these are things characters in the novel use.
Cannery Row – 1902 - 1918 • Canning business takes off
Cannery Row – 1924 • Lightening induced fires burn several canneries to the ground
Cannery Row – 1930’s • Depression hits • Canneries sell sardines as fertilizer to help maintain business but this fails
Wing Chong’s Grocery In novel = Lee Chong’s Steinbeck says “It was small and crowded but within its single room a man could find everything he needed or wanted to live and be happy…”
La Ida A “Café” (A Bar )
Pacific Biological Laboratories In novel =Western Biological Provided materials to schools and universities
Bear Flag Restaurant Bordello operated by Flora Woods Adams (in novel Flora becomes “Dora”)
Cannery Row (the novel) • Published in 1945 • Why written? "In every bit of honest writing in the world there is a base theme. Try to understand men, if you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and nearly always leads to love. There are shorter means, many of them. There is writing promoting social change, writing punishing injustice, writing in celebration of heroism, but always that base theme. Try to understand each other."
THEMES to WATCH FOR: • Understanding of world based on perception • Words’ inability to fully capture life / humanity
HISTORICAL CONTEXT TO WATCH FOR: • Depression era pressures on lower/middle class workers • Uncertainty about the future and adverse effects on people’s present lives