earticle

영어

This study focuses on the analysis of general economics based on social exchange theory in Steinbeck’s Cannery Row (1945). This novel is set during the Great Depression in Monterey, California, on a street lined with sardine canneries that is known as Cannery Row. It revolves around the people living there: Doc, Lee Chong, Dora, and Mack, the leader of a group of derelicts. In the interconnectedness of characters, Steinbeck uses the social behavior of his characters to make an inverted economic system in the ecosystem of Cannery Row. On the basis of George Homans' social exchange theory, I analyze how Steinbeck's reversed economic view reveals the impacts of the ecosystem of the community on an individual, business, and group basis such as Doc’s exchanges with Hazel, Frankie, Mack and the boys, and Dora’s operation of the Bear Flag Restaurant. This reversed economy focuses upon people and their relationships in the local community rather than wealth and profit margins. In Steinbeck’s novel, individuals are indispensable parts of the whole society, and Homans' social exchange theory reveals people's interactions with one another to make an important part of the ecosystem in a place like Cannery Row.