CAPÍTULO ÚNICO Juicios ante el senado

Abbeville, Horace A character in Cannery Row. A man with two wives and six children, he man- ages to run a large debt at Lee Chong’s grocery. He kills himself after agreeing to give Chong an old shed as payment.

Alfred A character in Cannery Row. The bouncer at the Bear Flag Restaurant, Alfred acci- dentally breaks the back of a drunk whom he throws out of the brothel.

Bear Flag Restaurant A Cannery Row whore- house owned and operated by Dora Flood in Can-

nery Row and then by her sister Fauna Flood in SWEETTHURSDAY.

Billings, Josh A character in Cannery Row. A humorist living in CARMEL, CALIFORNIA, he dies

and is embalmed by a local mortician who throws his organs in the ditch, where they are discovered and carried off by a local boy and his dog. When the outraged citizens discover that the body of the respected literary man has been defiled in such a way, they make the mortician gather up the organs, clean them and bury them.

Captain A character in Cannery Row, Captain is a farmer in the Carmel Valley. He allows Mack and the boys to collect frogs from his pond. They have a fantastic party and leave Captain sleeping in his wrecked house.

Chong, Lee A character in Cannery Row, and

SWEETTHURSDAY, Lee is the owner of Lee Chong’s

Heavenly Flower Grocery. He is a round-faced and courteous Chinese man who enjoys an important position in Cannery Row owing to the credit that he extends to everyone in the community. Lee

rents a shed to Mack and the boys, which becomes known as the Palace Flophouse.

Doc A character in Cannery Row, and SWEET

THURSDAY, Doc is the owner and operator of

Western Biological Laboratory; he adores science, beer, women, and classical music. Doc is the cen- ter of Cannery Row. A deceptively small man, he is loved by all the residents of the Row, but despite his popularity he is lonely and set apart. He has a beard, and his face is said to appear to be half Christ and half satyr. As a competent marine biologist, he established his own lab, where residents on the Row come for parties and conversations on science, art, and philosophy. For his birthday Doc is the recipient of a party thrown by Mack and the boys. His laboratory is destroyed when Mack and the boys decide to throw a surprise party. They make it up to him by throwing him another party for his birthday. At the end of the book Doc reflects on the events of

the party, realizing that the “bums” truly loved him.

Eddie A character in Cannery Row and SWEET

THURSDAY, Eddie is a resident of the Palace Flop-

house. He works periodically at La Ida, a local honky-tonk, where he keeps an empty gallon jug beneath the bar into which he empties the leftovers from all the glasses.

Flood, Dora A character in Cannery Row, Dora is the owner and madame of the Bear Flag Restau- rant, a Cannery Row whorehouse. She is the model of generosity and civic responsibility. During a flu epidemic she organizes her girls to care for the sick families of the Row.

Frankie A character in Cannery Row, Frankie is a boy with a learning problem who worships Doc and works as his assistant in Western Biological Laboratories. He is sent away to a mental institu-

48 Cannery Row

Left to right: James Keane, Frank McRae, M. Emmet Walsh, John Malloy, and Tom Mahoney as the “gentlemen of

tion when he tries to steal a heavy onyx clock for Doc’s birthday.

Gay A character in Cannery Row and SWEET

THURSDAY, Gay is an inspired mechanic who moves

in with Mack and the boys of the Palace Flophouse to avoid his abusive wife. He fixes Lee Chong’s old pickup truck that the boys take frog hunting. Arrested for breaking into a shoe shop, he is sen- tenced to six months in jail where he lives the good life by letting the Sheriff beat him at checkers.

Hazel A character in Cannery Row and SWEET

THURSDAY, Hazel is innocent and kind, if a bit dim-

witted. Hazel is a resident of the Palace Flophouse. Hazel’s mother named him after a great-aunt in the hope of a possible inheritance.

Henri A character in Cannery Row and SWEET

THURSDAY, Henri is a French painter who lives on

Cannery Row. He is not really French, and his name is not really Henri. Henri lives aboard a boat of his own design that he is constantly building and chang- ing. He does not want to finish the boat because then he would feel obliged to sail it and he is afraid of the sea.

Hughie A character in Cannery Row, Hughie is an inhabitant of the Palace Flophouse, who bakes a cake for Doc’s surprise party.

Mack A character in Cannery Row and SWEET

THURSDAY, Mack is the leader of a small group of

bums who live at the Palace Flophouse on Cannery Row. Mack throws a party for Doc and destroys his laboratory. Doc smashes Mack’s face in anger when he discovers the damage caused by the party. Mack is repentant and decides to make it up to Doc by organizing a surprise birthday party.

Malloy, Sam A character in Cannery Row, Sam lives inside an abandoned boiler on a vacant lot in Cannery Row with his wife. He rents lengths of abandoned pipe to homeless workers at the nearby canneries for a nominal fee.

Old Tennis Shoes The local name for Old Ten- nessee, a cheap blended whiskey guaranteed four

months old and popular among the inhabitants of Cannery Row.

Palace Flophouse and Grill A place in Cannery

Row and SWEET THURSDAY, this flimsy storage

building on a small lot is what Lee Chong receives from Horace Abbeville in payment for his huge grocery debts. Chong rents the building to Mack and his friends for $5 a week. The building is named by Hazel.

Precious A fabulously spoiled bird-dog puppy that is the beloved mascot of the boys from the Palace Flophouse. She is given to Mack by the Cap- tain. The boys are devastated when she is taken ill with canine distemper.

Talbot, Mary A character in Cannery Row, Mary is a lovely woman who lives on Cannery Row with her husband Tom Talbot. She loves to throw parties to protect her husband from the feelings of despon- dency that come over him periodically.

William A character in Cannery Row, William is a bouncer at the Bear Flag Restaurant, he is a dark and lonesome man. After threatening to commit suicide he feels obligated to do so and drives an ice pick in his heart.