Cannery Row tells the story of the different people that live on the row. A symbol that i thought really defined an idea and had a lot of meaning was the bag of frogs that Mack and the boys give to Doc. I felt That the frogs tapped into the characters of Mack and his crew, Doc and Lee Chong. Through the characters interactions with the bag of frogs, more of their personalities are revealed.
In the novel Mack and the boys wanted to throw a party for Doc, for being such a good guy to everyone. In the novel, they go to Doc and ask if they can go get frogs for him. They told him that he would pay for each frog they got. This was a way to remove any thought of something else. Although at first he thought the frog situation was sketchy; having the boys get the frogs was a convenience for him and an act of kindness.
When Mack and the boys successfully return, they go to Lee Chong to bargain. At this point, Doc is still away, and Mack wanted to get food and other supplies for the party. For Lee Chong, this whole transaction was about making a profit, and a little bit about helping make the party for Doc happen.
The Boys had all good intentions in mind throughout the frog adventure, and they even take it one step further. Mack decides it would even be better if the frogs were right there in the doorway for Doc to see at the party. When Lee Chong agrees to this arrangement he went to the length of having Mack write out a paper giving Lee the frogs in case someone asks questions. This showed me how cold blooded Lee Chong was, and that money was all that mattered.
The party ends up being wild and out of control, and Doc doesn't even make it home to be a part of it. By the early morning when the house is completely trashed, the frogs began to escape. "well before dawn they had all gone." Doc is angry when he gets home, but in the end forgives them because he understands what their intentions were. That shows me what kind of a person doc is, in my opinion he is the type of guy that doesn't dwell in the past instead he moves on.
The frogs were literally treated as money in the novel, and can also be a symbol. Steinbeck used the frogs escaping as a connection to money. He showed how when money is within our reach, and you decide to do something nice by using that money to make someone happy is better that just wasting it. Doc shrugs it off, showing that money isn't a big deal for him. Mack and the boys show a lot of sadness at this point, and it wasn’t even about the money, it was the fact that they tried to do something nice with the money to make someone else happy.
The frogs helped to show the characters true colors. From how they interacted and reacted to the frogs, this also gave you a better look at what their role was. Lee Chong was the profit obsessed grocer, Mack and the boys were the men with good intentions and Doc was the one who was forgiving and kept his cool. All of the characters in the novel were working towards something, and this symbol was just one way to show how certain characters get there and what truly matters to them.
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