This is a quite short chapter containing only 2 pages but it gives a thorough dissection on the personality and experience of Lee Chong and Mack and the boys.
Lee Chong has a dual character.He is hard with a can of bean but softer with his Grandfather's bones.It indicates that he is a sophisticated and tough guy when it comes to money and profit,while is also gentle and emotional when it comes to his grandpa.He is also a very traditional Chinese who keeps the convention about preserving the bones ashes of the elder.
Mack and the boys are leading a hard life with the Carnivores representing for the rulers or dictators of Cannery Row.Steinbeck uses an metaphor here.He describes the higher-class people as tigers and bulls.Mack and the boys have no choice but to obey the tigers-they have to dine delicately with the tigers and try to survive and secure their food.And Mac and the boys manage to skip the traps and prisons by making friends with them as well.
So it's obvious that Cannery Row is a really small,crowded and gloomy place confining people in desperate life and hard livelihood.
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