A Bag Of Frogs (Honors Cannery Row Writing)

Cannery Row is a classic novel that tells the story of different people living on the row. One symbol that really defined an idea and had a lot of literal meaning was the bag of frogs Mack and the boys gave to Doc. The frogs tapped into the characters of Mack and his crew of boys, Doc and Lee Chong. Through the characters interactions with the bag of frogs, more of their personalities are revealed, and it keys into some of the underlying themes of the novel.

Mack and the boys wanted to throw a party for Doc, since he was such a good man to everyone. In the novel, they go to Doc and ask if they can go get frogs for him. For them, going to the frogs meant money, and also doing two good things for Doc; throwing him a party and getting him the frogs he needed. For Doc, although he thought the frog situation was sketchy; having the boys get the frogs was a convenience for him and an act of kindness. Lee Chong didn't have any interest in the plan to get the frogs, but he did supply the truck the boys went to get them in.

When Mack and the boys successfully return, they go to Lee Chong to bargain. At this point, Doc is still away, but Mack wants to get food and other supplies for the party. Since frogs were worth money, they work out a deal to treat frogs like money in the grocery store. "Frogs were cash as far as Doc was concerned, the price was standard and Lee had a double profit." 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. Mack said "Them frogs ought to be right here, right here in the middle of the room...." When Lee Chong agrees to this arrangement he went to the length of having Mack write out a paper "transferring the frogs to Lee in case there should be any question." That revealed how suspicious and how much of a cold businessman Lee Chong was, 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 enraged when he arrives home, but in the end it wasn’t a big deal and he moved on. His personality was clearly acknowledged as someone who doesn’t get hung up over the little things and it very forgiving and willing to let go.

The frogs were literally treated as money in the novel, and were a symbol too. Steinbeck took the irony of the frogs escaping and connected it to money. He expressed the concept of money being within our reach, sacrificing it to do something nice for someone and then having it be thrown away. This gives a better connection to how a particular character thinks of money. Doc shrugged off, showing that money wasn’t a big deal for him. Mack and the boys expressed a lot of sadness, and it wasn’t about the money, it was what they tried to do with it to make someone else happy. As for Lee Chong, the money was everything and almost the only thing that mattered. It all goes back to who you choose to be and the things that matter most to you in life.

The frogs helped the personalities of these characters shine through. From how they interacted and reacted to the frogs, and each other gave you a better look at who they truly were and their role in Cannery Row. 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. This point in the book gave a lot of insight and helped guide the readers perceptions of the characters for the rest of the book. 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.