Examples Of Isolationism In Cannery Row By John Steinbeck

Man is by nature a social creature; community and belongingness is an individual’s primal need. In the novel “Cannery Row”, John Steinbeck presents the idea of community and isolationism. Steinbeck demonstrates that community is essential for happiness and prosperity whereas isolationism leads to misery and eventual demise. For society and an individual to flourish, it is essential to not fall into the pit of isolationism instead embrace community.
One must not fall into isolationism because it is detrimental for one to lose human connection. Steinbeck’s novel “Cannery row” demonstrates in gruesome detail what happens when people fall into isolationism and lose their sense of belonging. For instance, William the former bouncer of the Bear Flag …show more content…

Steinbeck’s Cannery Row is a society that is dependent on each other. Steinbeck’s idea of community was clearly highlighted when there was a case of influenza in Cannery Row. The influenza outbreak made “Doc in almost constant demand” (98) while Dora “detailed the girls where he [Doc] suggested” (99) to help out the families that were stricken with the influenza. Doc, although not really a medical doctor, did all he can to help out the people that came to him for medical advice. And although it was the busiest time for Dora and the girls at the Bear Flag Restaurant, they still made time to help take care of the sick children of Cannery Row. The sense of community can also seen when the people of Cannery Row came together to throw Doc a surprise party. Although the party was a secret, everyone knew of it and everyone had something to bring; “Dora’s girls were making a patchwork quilt” (167)to replace Doc’s faded red blanket, Lee Chong brought the “firecrackers and the china lily bulbs” (184), Sam Malloy “brought a Chalmers 1916 piston and connecting rod”(167) and Mack and the boys got him 21 tom cats. The sense of community becomes evident with the way Dora and Doc responded to the epidemic and how the people of Cannery Row came together for Doc’s party.Without Doc and Dora’s help it is likely that Cannery Row would have a terrible time dealing with the influenza. And in the party, everyone …show more content…

Edward “Doc” Ricketts is one of the most important character in Cannery Row, the implications that isolationism brings are evident in his life. In the start of the novel, Doc, although loved by the inhabitants of Cannery Row, was often isolated from everyone else. John Steinbeck describes Doc as a “lonely and a set-apart man” (100) although everyone adores him. Doc has everything he could want in life except for a companion. He has lost his lover some time before the story began, and this left a void in his life that he cannot seem to fill. Steinbeck adds a vignette about a gopher that “was content and very comfortable” (191) with his life but had to “move away because no female ever came” (192). Despite the fact that Doc was adored by the inhabitants of Cannery Row and was popular with the ladies, he was lonely. It was quite ironic that a person adored by everyone can feel lonesome. Throughout the novel, Doc was always on the verge of isolationism or community. Doc likes to keep to himself; he spends most of his time alone listening to his music. Doc much like the gopher has everything he could ever want in life except for a lover. Doc does not have anyone in his life—not like Mack and the boys, Dora and her girls, Lee Chong and his wife—he was an outcast in the sense that he does not have anyone to be with. Doc was alone in the world; he lacks the human attachment that