Cannery Row

The story of Mack and his friends hunting frogs continues. They go up to the farmhouse, and Mack treats the dog’s tick bite while her puppies feed. Mack suggests that the puppies be weaned, and the captain says that it’s hard to care for and find new homes for pointers while his wife is away working in politics. Mack says that he likes pointers, and the man offers him one of the puppies. Mack and his friends are glad that the captain’s wife isn’t there, and the captain offers them a drink.

After initially refusing his offer, Mack and his friends agree to a small drink. The captain brings out a five-gallon keg made of oak and filled with corn whiskey. They drink for two hours before heading out to the pond and its frogs. The narrator describes the pond as well as some history about men hunting frogs. Mack’s method is to jump into the pond with his friends and drive the frogs to one end. When the frogs jump into the grass, Mack and his friends collect them in gunny sacks, shining flashlights on them. They gather hundreds of frogs and have a celebratory drink from the pitcher that the captain brought with them.

As they continue to celebrate back at the farmhouse, they inadvertently set fire to the curtains and douse the fire. The captain passes out among the puppies, and Mack has one of his friends reassure him that the man agreed to give him a puppy and a jug of whiskey. He selects a puppy, and after blowing out the lamp to prevent further fires, they leave before the wife returns. They think Doc is lucky to be getting so many frogs.

This chapter describes a period known as “the March of the big sardine catch” (92), which is a busy time for the women who work at the Bear Flag. Several of the sex workers aren’t working—Eva goes on vacation, Phyllis breaks her leg, and Elsie begins a ritual of prayer called a novena. Meanwhile, in addition to the regular customers, a new regiment of soldiers is in town, and fishermen have lots of money to spend.

During this time, an influenza outbreak affects many people in Monterey. The medical doctors are overworked, and Doc—a scientist—begins to help sick people too. Dora notices that he’s becoming overworked with these patients, and he asks her to send the women from the Bear Flag to sit with families who are scared.

Dora organizes the sex workers to aid the sick and has her cook make soup to take to them. This coincides with the huge demand for the sex workers’ services at the Bear Flag. The women are so busy that they fall asleep while watching sick children and stop wearing makeup. Everyone is relieved when this period of illness and increased patronage ends.

Doc is lonely, even when he has company. Mack notices this characteristic. Doc is busy too, playing records at all hours. The narrator describes Doc’s collecting of sea creatures generally and then details a particular order for octopi that he receives while Mack and his friends are in Carmel Valley. Doc can’t find anyone to go with him to La Jolla, where he knows he can collect the octopi. His usual female companions can’t leave their jobs on Wednesday, when Doc needs to leave to catch low tide the next day, and the artist Henri is fascinated with a flagpole skater atop Holman’s Department Store.

The narrator describes Doc’s trip preparations and regular traveling habits, including his frequent stops to eat. When Doc grabs a hamburger and a beer in Monterey before heading south, he remembers how a poet named “Blaisedell” commented that Doc would order a beer milkshake because he loves beer so much. Doc contemplates this and considers ordering a beer milkshake in another town, away from his home.

While Doc was at the University of Chicago, he traveled through many states on foot. He tried to tell people the truth: that he was interested in seeing Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida as a pedestrian. However, people didn’t like this answer, so he began to lie, saying that he was trying to win a bet.

As Doc journeys to La Jolla, he stops to eat in various towns along the way, such as Gonzales, King City, and Paso Robles. When Doc stops for a big meal in Santa Barbara, hitchhikers approach him. After a brief tangent about Doc’s previous experiences with hitchhikers, the narrator notes that Doc chooses to take a man in a blue suit south with him from Santa Barbara. In Ventura, Doc stops for a beer and offers to get the hitchhiker one as well. The man condemns Doc’s habit of driving after drinking a beer, and Doc tells him to get out of the car, threatening to punch him if he doesn’t.

After the man leaves, Doc orders a beer milkshake. This surprises the waitress, and Doc lies, saying it’s a specific cure that his doctor ordered. He tells her how to prepare the drink, making up a recipe on the spot. Doc thinks the beer milkshake tastes all right and claims to have been enjoying this drink for many years.

Doc’s journey continues, and he stops in Carpenteria and Los Angeles for food and hot coffee, getting some to go. He arrives in La Jolla at two o’clock in the morning and naps in his car while waiting for the tide to go out. He wakes up just in time, drinks coffee and beer, and eats some sandwiches. The tide is going out.

Wearing his boots and rain hat, Doc takes buckets and jars, as well as coffee and snacks, and walks along the tidal flat. He collects 22 octopi and hundreds of sea cradles. He then walks to the outer barrier, where he discovers the corpse of a girl in the water under some algae. The sight of the attractive dead girl haunts him as he walks back to the beach. Sitting on the beach, Doc hears music in his mind. A man approaches Doc and asks about the buckets and jars. Doc tells the man about collecting octopi. Then, Doc asks the man to report the girl’s corpse to the police because he doesn’t feel well. The man says he thinks there will be a bounty, and Doc heads back to his car.

This chapter focuses on the flagpole skater. People come from other cities to watch him atop Holman’s Department Store. He breaks his own world record for skating around a flagpole. The store’s business booms, and they hold many sales to capitalize on the attention. Two days into the flagpole skater’s tenure, Doctor Merrivale shoots at him with an air rifle. When he’s discovered to be the shooter, he promises to stop. Henri the artist decides to build his own version of the flagpole at home to investigate the philosophy behind the act. Mack and his friends watch the skater as well.

Everyone shares an unspoken question—how the skater goes to the bathroom. Richard Frost’s concern over this question causes a disagreement with his wife. Eventually, after getting drunk, he asks the skater, who replies that he has a can up on the roof, and Richard relays this information to his wife.

Mack and his friends return the truck to Lee and then take the frogs to the Palace Flophouse. Mack goes into Lee’s grocery store and negotiates a trade between frogs and groceries. Lee is wary of this proposal but knows what Doc pays for frogs so eventually agrees to take 50 frogs for food, keeping the frogs in his store. Various residents of Palace Flophouse take advantage of this arrangement, accepting whatever exchange rate Lee decides for each item they want to purchase.

Back at the Palace Flophouse, Mack and his friends dote on the puppy, which they name Darling. Because they can’t agree on how to train her, she runs wild and isn’t housebroken. Mack and his friends discuss their plans for Doc’s party and decide to hold it at Western Biological—where, conveniently, Doc doesn’t lock the doors—and put up decorations there. The narrator describes the various decorations that Lee keeps in his store year-round rather than changing them seasonally.

Eddie attempts to bake a cake, but it’s his first attempt at baking and is a disaster. The others decorate the laboratory and convince Lee to bring the frogs there. Lee stays with the frogs for a while but gets sick and leaves early. Mack and his friends, still waiting for Doc to arrive, cook the food and drink the alcohol they bought with frogs. Various people, hearing the party noises, including the records they play, assume that they’re running an establishment like Dora’s.

Fights break out, and the front door, as well as several windows, are broken. Hazel knocks over cooking grease and burns the kitchen floor. Mack finds a drunk’s comment about Doc insulting, and hits him, breaking the packing case that the frogs are in. The crystal of the record player is also broken in the commotion of the party. Another guest tries to climb the bookcase and knocks over a bunch of books. Overall, the revelers leave a huge mess, and the party dies before Doc arrives. All the frogs escape after their packing case is broken and hop down Cannery Row.