Symbols
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The Great Tide Pool
The Great Tide Pool is symbolic of Cannery Row itself. Events in the Tide Pool correlate with events that take place in Cannery Row. When Sardine boats come in, activity in Cannery Row increases: "The canneries rumble and rattle and squeak until the last fish is cleaned and cut and cooked and canned and then the whistles scream again and the dripped, smelly, tired Wops and Chinamen and Polacks, men and women, straggle out and droop their ways up the hill into the town and Cannery Row becomes itself again - quiet and magical. Its normal life returns" (Steinbeck 2).
Down at the Tide Pool, when the tide goes out "the little water world becomes quiet and lovely" (Steinbeck 30). The creatures resume to their normal lives.
The Old Chinaman
The Old Chinaman is symbolic of the sense of community in Cannery Row. In Cannery Row, it is not normal for someone to be alone, and therefore the alone Old Chinaman seems weird to the residents of Cannery Row who consider being alone to be the absolute worst. "It had been happening for years but no one ever got used to him" (Steinbeck 23).
The Old Chinaman could also be symbolic of the aspects of loneliness in Cannery Row. Everyone seems to fear the lonely Old Chinaman, similar to the way most fear loneliness in Cannery Row. "And the loneliness—the desolate cold aloneness of the landscape made Andy whimper because there wasn't anybody at all in the world and he was left" (Steinbeck 24).
Doc's Quilt
Doc's quilt is symbolic of the togetherness of the Cannery Row community. Doc's quilt is made up of small unique pieces that are sewn together to make a pattern, the same way Cannery Row is made of unique individuals that come together to form the beautiful yet unorthodox community. "Dora's girls were making him a patchwork quilet, a beautiful thing of silk. And since most of the silk available came from underclothing and evening dresses, the quilt was glorious in strips of flesh pink and orchid and pale yellow and cerise. They worked on it in the late mornings and in the afternoons before the boys from the sardine fleet came in. Under the community of effort, those fights and ill feelings that always are present in a whore house completely disappeared" (Steinbeck 167).