Cannery Row

Throughout the novel, books symbolize culture, art, and learning. There are many allusions to authors, such as Li Po and Robert Louis Stevenson, as well as excerpts from the poem “Black Marigolds.” Doc is characterized as an educated individual through his books. As Phyllis Mae notes, “Jesus, how that guy does read” (168). In addition, Doc disseminates his knowledge for free—his “[b]ooks [a]re often ‘borrowed’” (117). The barber’s bookshelf demonstrates individualism in that he collects a specific type of book: first editions for which second editions were never issued—and written by authors who never had any other books published.

Other characters use books in a different manner, demonstrating their lack of a formal education. In a fight during Doc’s party, fishermen throw his books, using them like weapons and thus leaving the floor littered with “books like heavy fallen butterflies” (182). Although the fishermen are aligned with nature and a specific kind of knowledge about the ocean, they lack Doc’s respect and love for the written word.