Cannery Row Home Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

[Dora] made herself respected by the intelligent, the learned, and the kind. And by the same token she is hated by the twisted and lascivious sisterhood of married spinsters whose husbands respect the home but don't like it very much (3.1)

For the guys who visit Dora, home isn't comfortable. Is it still a home, then? It seems like there's The Home, the one where the husbands of "married spinsters" are chained up, and the kind of home where Doc or Mack and the boys live. Huh. We're still not getting a very woman-friendly vibe from this book. It sounds a little like women just can't help ruining a home. (Except maybe Dora.)

Quote #2

There are chairs and benches in this little room and of course the bed. As many as forty people have been here at one time (5.2)

This is Doc's bedroom. What can we tell about a guy whose bedroom is full of furniture for guests? Well, he's probably not getting much sleep, for one thing.

Quote #3

The Palace Flophouse was no sudden development. Indeed when Mack and Hazel and Eddie and Hughie and Jones moved into it, they looked upon it as little more than shelter from the wind and the rain. [ . . . ] They had not loved it then (7.1)

So the Palace had to become a cushy pad. A home is more than just shelter; you've got to love it. Does the love for the home come first? Or do these guys grow to love their home after they put a bunch of work into it?