Cannery Row 1

            
             While setting up the foundation of the story in chapter one of Cannery Row, John Steinbeck uses a palette of adjectives to describe the small little town located in California. We are first told of the local Grocery, Lee Chong's Grocery, in which the chapter's events take place. Owned by Lee, the store is properly owned and ran on part trust with the locals, as most are in debt to Lee; however, Lee does not use this to take advantage of the locals, as he is a generous and humble man.
             Beyond Lee, he tells of Horace Abbeville, a local whom had built up quite a debt at the grocery to feed his two wives and six children. While Horace was never hassled by Lee for payment, he would "hate to have my kids with that [payment] hanging over them" (Steinbeck 8). While Horace could (or would) not pay in cash, he went to clear his debt by means of trade: his old shack with fish meal for clearment of debt. Lee agreed to this trade, but at his surprise, after giving up the deed to the old place, Horace shot himself in the shack.
             The chapter is ended with the local roughnecks, Mack and his gang, forcefully offering their hospitality to watch after Lee's newly aquired shack. Since the upkeep for the building proved to be more difficult then he could deal with, he agreed to the barter. Despite Lee's knowledge that they would vandalize the shack beyond repair, the arrangement works out well for both, as Mack and the boys provide protection for the grocery and even stop stealing from the store out of gratitude.