Cannery Row seems to be a very loyal town with warmth and a sense of godliness. This godliness is seen numerous times through the descriptions of doc and all that he’s done for the townspeople. “He wears a beard and his face is half Christ and half satyr and his beard tells the truth… He can kill anything for need but he could not even hurt a feeling for pleasure.”  (CH. 5) Doc’s godliness can also be seen through the quote “”He’ll give you a quarter any time. When I (Mack) cut my myself he put on a new bandage every day. A hell of a nice fella.”” (CH. 7) Doc doing this for Mack shows his great character, as Mack and his friends are seen as the town’s unfortunates whom aren’t able to better themselves. The warmth of the town is exemplified through the apparent “beautiful view from Carmel grade,... the dune country around the seaside and right at the bottom of the hill, the warm intimacy of the town.” (ch13) Additionally, the loyalty of the citizens towards one another is continuously seen, which is depicted in the quote “Whitney liked to have Eddie take his place because he was convinced, and correctly, that Eddie was one man who wouldn’t try to keep his job permanently.”  (CH. 7)

    Although there is an overall warm and godly feel to Cannery Row, it also has some negative and evil undertones. For example “Western medical sells bugs… Then there are little unborn humans, some whole, and others sliced thin and mounted on sides.”  (CH. 5) Despite the fact that the human bodies are done for research it still leaves an eerie and mysterious feeling about the medical store. Another underlying tone is the feeling of survival, and the hunt that results from this survival mode.“The anemones expand like soft and brilliant flowers, inviting any tired… animal to lie for a moment in their arms, and when some small crab… accepts… the invitation, the petals whip in,... the prey… grows weak… while the searing caustic digestive acids melt its body down.”  (CH. 6) This survivalist feeling is again seen through the quote “The rooster who had challenged the sunrise of this very day lay dismembered and clean in water in the five gallon can...”  (CH. 13) In using this quote, Steinbeck gives us the feeling of a beautiful creature being taken from earth too early.