Cannery Row

The Great Depression refers to a period of world history characterized by a global economic downturn during the early 20th century. During World War I, the US economy rapidly expanded, along with its banking sector, to supply allies in Europe. After World War I, industrial demand fell, and international trade increased, resulting in volatile currencies and extremely high growth. The US enacted legislation encouraging the use of the gold standard (supporting currency prices with gold), which caused changes in the price of gold to impact more countries. A US stock market crash caused the price of gold to shift, forcing other nations to enact deflationary policies, damaging their economies as well. Heavy industry and banking were the hardest hit sectors in the US, along with agriculture, which simultaneously faced severe drought conditions.

In Monterey, the canneries that had been critical during the war and supplied fish across the country slowed operations or closed. Throughout the novel, empty boilers and pipes, as well as empty lots, illustrate this period. While California itself didn’t experience drought conditions, hundreds of thousands of people from the Midwest and Central US made their way to California, looking for work. These groups of unsettled people, like Mack and his friends, were alienated by their lack of place in society and the need to create their own.

The immediate cause of the Great Depression—the stock market crash known as Black Thursday—was speculators trying to make money. The background of the Great Depression helps articulate one of the novel’s main themes: Questioning the Nature of Success. The characters who don’t pursue wealth as the highest goal are those who won’t contribute to another depression.