Doc in Cannery Row

DOCtor

The role of Doc in the novel Cannery Row by John Steinbeck is portrayed as the backbone of the entire book. Doc is not only the kindest on Cannery Row, but also the most respected and respecting person in the community. He helps everyone as much as he can, and people go to him because he is the most educated and understanding individual on the Row. The persons who are indebted to Doc decided to throw him a party and they include Mack and the Boys, Dora and her girls, Henri, and Lee Chong. They throw this second party because the first one destroyed the Lab and also because they want to show Doc gratitude for everything he’s done for them.

Mack and the boys are not men that would necessarily show thanks for people that have helped them, due to the fact that they like to be seen as independent; yet they were the ones that wanted to throw Doc a party in the first place. Doc states that Mack is an artist of life, whereas others say he’s a con artist. Mack is said to usually only do things if he can benefit from it in a way. For example, when he gets a note for gas money from Doc, he tries to find a way to get cash out of the deal. At first he attempts to get the cashier at the gas station to give him some cash instead of all the gas, and then he tries to get some gas in a canister so he can sell it. Mack is believed to only taken this task because he could get something out of it, money. After the first party goes wrong and Doc’s Lab gets destroyed, Mack wants to throw him a second party to really show his appreciation for Doc and how forgiving he is and how he deserves a proper birthday party. The task of throwing his second party became a community effort. Through the common goal of Doc’s party, Steinbeck shows the true nature of the people inhabiting Cannery Row. This ties into what Steinbeck writes at the beginning of the book when describing what an outsider might have to say about those inhabiting Cannery Row: “Its inhabitants are, as the man once said, “whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches,” by which he meant Everybody. Had the man looked through another peephole he might have said, “Saints and angels and martyrs and holy men,” and he would have meant the same thing” (1). Doc’s party reinforces the deep goodness that resides within each person who is a part of the Cannery Row community, which shows how he is the backbone.

To show his appreciation, Lee Chong helps Mack and the boys throw the second party for Doc. Doc is seen as the doctor of the Row, even though he isn’t. Many people of the community come to him with health related issues and he helps them in the best ways he can. For example, Mack states that Doc has helped Lee Chong’s wife when she had a toothache. Doc gave her medicine, as a doctor would, and the pain went