NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
By: Point-of-view Cannery Row Point-of-View By: Ryan Walsh In Cannery Row, John Steinbeck used the third person omniscient point-of-view. He could have used the first person point-of-view, but it wouldnt have gotten his entire story across. He could have used third person limited, but then he wouldnt have been able to tell about everything that was going on in Cannery Row. It is my opinion that Mr. Steinbeck used the best point-of-view possible for this book. Cannery Row is a book about a row of canneries in Monterey, CA.
One of the main characters is Doc. Doc is a scientist who likes to experiment on marine life. Mack and the boys try to throw a party for him, but it goes awry, and Docs lab gets trashed. If Steinbeck had not used third person omniscient, he would not have been able to tell what happened at the party, why all of it happened at the party, and what Doc thought of what had happened at the party. The third-person omniscient view told everyones thoughts on the subject.
If Steinbeck had used first person he would have only been able to tell it from one persons viewpoint. He could have told the entire story from Docs eyes, though we would not have learned about why the boys threw the party, or how bad they felt after they found that they had made Doc mad. He could have told the entire story from Macks eyes, but then we would never have known about the beer milkshake that Doc had while he was on the road, we also may have never learned about the Malloys moving into the boiler. Also, we would not have ever heard about the old Chinese man who had a shoe with a loose sole. Steinbeck could have told the story in third person limited point-of-view, however Im not sure how we would have learned about anyones feelings about anything. He would have been an onlooker.
We might have never met Henri the Painter. Theres a good chance that we wouldnt have ever known about the dead girl that Doc found floating in the ocean. If he had used third person limited, the story would have been limited indeed. We never would have heard about Docs beer milkshake, or his shrimp ice cream. We wouldnt have heard about the liquor jug that Eddie filled from half empty glasses in the bar where he sometimes filled in. Steinbeck could have done some good, however, by using third person limited.
He could have gotten rid of some of the excess information, such as the Malloys argument over curtains. He could have also gotten rid of Henri the painter, Henri didnt add much to the actual storyline anyway. The point-of-view that Steinbeck did use was third person omniscient. Because he used this, we are able to adequately see everything that goes on in cannery row. We can see Lee Chongs grocery and all of the items in it. We can see the Palace Flophouse, and everyone who inhabits it.
We can see Western Biological, and the Bear Flag. We also get to meet people that all of the other points of view wouldnt cover. We get to meet Doc, Mack and the boys, the man with the dog and the frog pond, Docs hitchhiker, and all of the people that work at the Bear Flag. The Bear Flag was an interesting place within cannery row. Dora, the madame, was always very careful to donate generously to the police department and she was also careful to abide strictly by the law. She had to because, though the Bear Flag was called a restaurant, it was really a quiet brothel.
She had several girls who she took very good care of, a watchman, and a Greek cook. Her first watchman, William, was killed by the Greek cook. If the author had not used third person omniscient we would never have known about this. Her new watchman is named Alfred. Nobody really cared about William, but everybody likes Alfred. Another place in cannery row was Lee Chongs grocery.
Everybody went to Lees because he had everything in his store. He had everything from Fourth-of-July bunting and fireworks to fishing line to slippers and everything in-between. Mack and the boys wanted to go frog hunting for Doc, so they asked Lee if they could fix up his car and leave to go and find frogs. Lee didnt trust Mack and the boys, but he couldnt find any excuse why they couldnt, so he let them. John Steinbeck told a great story of the life in Monterey that is centered around the sardine canneries in cannery row. I have come to the conclusion that if he had not told his story in the third person omniscient point of view it would not be the great work that it is today.
In fact, it would simply be another book collecting dust is a disused room in the basement of a publishers warehouse in New York.
Free research essays on topics related to: third person omniscient, third person limited, cannery row, entire story, point of view
Research essay sample on Third Person Omniscient Third Person Limited