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The Captain
An eccentric painter living in the margins of society. Henri’s real name isn’t actually Henri, but he’s obsessed with the idea of embodying the image of an avant-garde Parisian painter, so he presents himself as a cultured artist who is always changing his “medium,” using strange materials (like nutshells) to create paintings. What’s most notable about Henri is that he lives in a boat he has been building for the past ten years. The boat is on land, as he hasn’t yet finished it yet, meaning that it can’t float. However, he doesn’t want to finish it, for he’s afraid of the water. As such, he simply focuses on building the vessel, buying materials whenever he can and often redoing entire sections. Because the living quarters of his boat are so small, Henri finds it hard to maintain long-term relationships. Indeed, he has been married twice and has had many different lovers, but anyone who ever lives with him eventually leaves because they grow tired of existing in such cramped conditions and having to go to the bathroom in the woods. Whenever a lover leaves Henri, he buys wine and spends the night weeping in the boat, but Steinbeck says this is “luxurious stuff” that gives him an overall feeling of “well-being.”
Henri Quotes in Cannery Row
The Cannery Row quotes below are all either spoken by Henri or refer to Henri. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6
Quotes
Doc swung his heavy sack of starfish to the ground and stood panting a little. “Nuts?” he asked. “Oh, yes, I guess so. Nuts about the same amount we are, only in a different way.”
Such a thing had never occurred to Hazel. He looked upon himself as a crystal pool of clarity and on his life as a troubled glass of misunderstood virtue. Doc’s last statement had outraged him a little.
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Chapter 22
Quotes
Each time he was left alone, he mourned formally for a while but actually he felt a sense of relief. He could stretch out in his little cabin. He could eat what he wanted. He was glad to be free of the endless female biologic functions for a while.
It had become his custom, each time he was deserted, to buy a gallon of wine, to stretch out on the comfortably hard bunk and get drunk. Sometimes he cried a little all by himself but it was luxurious stuff and he usually had a wonderful feeling of well-being from it.
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Get the entire Cannery Row LitChart as a printable PDF.
Henri Quotes in Cannery Row
The Cannery Row quotes below are all either spoken by Henri or refer to Henri. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6
Quotes
Doc swung his heavy sack of starfish to the ground and stood panting a little. “Nuts?” he asked. “Oh, yes, I guess so. Nuts about the same amount we are, only in a different way.”
Such a thing had never occurred to Hazel. He looked upon himself as a crystal pool of clarity and on his life as a troubled glass of misunderstood virtue. Doc’s last statement had outraged him a little.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22
Quotes
Each time he was left alone, he mourned formally for a while but actually he felt a sense of relief. He could stretch out in his little cabin. He could eat what he wanted. He was glad to be free of the endless female biologic functions for a while.
It had become his custom, each time he was deserted, to buy a gallon of wine, to stretch out on the comfortably hard bunk and get drunk. Sometimes he cried a little all by himself but it was luxurious stuff and he usually had a wonderful feeling of well-being from it.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
