Doc is a marine biologist who operates the Western Biological Laboratory, a business that supplies living and dead animal specimens to schools and researchers. He wears a beard and has a face described as "half Christ and half satyr." He is a highly educated man who loves literature, classical music, and drinking beer. Despite having many friends and romantic companions, he carries a deep sense of loneliness and is highly generous with his time and resources.

Lee Chong is a Chinese grocer whose store supplies nearly everything the residents of Cannery Row need, from food and clothing to hardware. He operates a flexible credit system, allowing his financially struggling neighbors to accumulate debt or trade items instead of paying in cash. He balances sharp business practices with genuine compassion for his community. He respectfully unearths his grandfather's remains to return them to China.

Mack is the clever, charismatic leader of a group of unemployed men who take up residence in a building they dub the Palace Flophouse. He consciously rejects traditional ambition, preferring a life of leisure, nature, and friendship over the pursuit of wealth or property. He possesses strong persuasive abilities, often talking others into giving him what he wants. He genuinely admires Doc and constantly seeks ways to show his appreciation.

Dora Flood is the madam who runs the Bear Flag Restaurant, a brothel located next to the vacant lot on Cannery Row. She keeps her establishment strictly regulated, refusing to sell hard liquor and barring rowdy customers. Because her business is technically illegal, she goes out of her way to be philanthropic, paying grocery bills for poor families and organizing her employees to care for the sick during an influenza outbreak. She is an astute business owner with bright orange hair.

Hazel is a strong, loyal resident of the Palace Flophouse. He received his feminine name because his mother, exhausted after having seven other children, mistakenly believed he was a girl and never bothered to change it. He is eager to please and enjoys listening to people talk, even if he does not fully understand their words. He frequently assists Doc in gathering marine specimens.

Eddie is a resident of the Palace Flophouse who works occasionally as a substitute bartender at La Ida. He provides a crucial service to his friends by pouring leftover drinks from customers' glasses into a hidden jug, which he then brings home. His contributions make him a highly valued member of the household.

Gay is a gifted mechanic who moves into the Palace Flophouse to escape his abusive wife. He has an almost magical ability to fix broken machinery, specifically old automobiles. He is instrumental in getting a broken-down Model T Ford running so the men can travel to collect frogs.

Hughie is one of the original residents of the Palace Flophouse. He occasionally takes jobs at the Hediondo Cannery when he needs money, but generally prefers the relaxed lifestyle of his friend group. He helps Mack transport a heavy stove across town for their home.

Jones is a member of the Palace Flophouse crew who shares their philosophy of avoiding unnecessary work. Like Hughie, he occasionally works at the cannery when circumstances require it. He is an active participant in the group's adventures, including their frog-hunting expedition.

Henri is an eccentric artist who claims to be from Paris, though this is a pseudonym and he has never actually been to France. He spends years constantly building and rebuilding a boat that he lives in, primarily because he is secretly terrified of the ocean and has no intention of ever finishing it. His romantic relationships frequently fail because his boat lacks a bathroom.

Sam Malloy is a resourceful man who claims a discarded industrial boiler from the Hediondo Cannery as his home. He establishes himself as a makeshift landlord by renting out other large pipes on the lot to single men. He frequently argues with his wife over her attempts to decorate their windowless metal home.

Mrs. Malloy lives in the abandoned cannery boiler with her husband, Sam. Despite her highly unconventional living situation, she retains conventional domestic desires. She longs to decorate their metal home, causing friction when she insists on buying curtains for a structure that has no windows.

Mary Talbot is a cheerful woman with red hair who loves hosting parties. Because she and her husband are severely impoverished, she invents creative ways to celebrate without money, often hosting tea parties for stray cats. She sees it as her personal duty to protect her husband from despair.

Tom Talbot is Mary's husband, an aspiring but currently unsuccessful man who struggles deeply with the financial realities of the Great Depression. He often falls into bouts of severe despondency over unpaid bills, requiring his wife's energetic interventions to lift his spirits.

Frankie is an eleven-year-old boy with physical and intellectual disabilities who is rejected by the local school system and neglected by his family. He finds a safe haven at the Western Biological Laboratory, where Doc gives him simple tasks, clean clothes, and gentle encouragement. He is intensely devoted to Doc and loves helping at the laboratory's gatherings.

Alfred is the bouncer and watchman at Dora's brothel. He is highly capable at managing unruly customers and protecting the sex workers, earning the respect of both his employer and the broader Cannery Row community. Unlike his predecessor, he maintains a friendly relationship with Mack and the Palace Flophouse residents.

William is Alfred's predecessor as the bouncer at the Bear Flag Restaurant. He struggles deeply with social isolation and sinks into a severe depression after Mack and his friends outright reject his attempts to socialize with them. This profound sense of alienation eventually leads him to take his own life.

The Greek is the resident cook at Dora's brothel. He plays a vital role in Dora's community outreach by brewing massive cauldrons of strong soup for the sex workers to deliver to sick families during the influenza epidemic. He is also the last person to speak with William.

Phyllis Mae is one of the sex workers employed by Dora Flood. She is tough and resilient, once breaking a man's tooth when she hits him, and later spending time recovering from a broken leg. She actively participates in sewing a quilt as a gift for Doc.

Eva Flanegan is a red-haired sex worker at the Bear Flag Restaurant. She is strictly religious, attending confession weekly, and holds strong views on morality, specifically viewing self-harm as a mortal sin.

This elderly man is a silent, mysterious fixture of Cannery Row who only appears at dawn and dusk. He wears traditional clothing and walks with shoes that make a distinct slapping sound. He never speaks to anyone, but his intense gaze proves deeply unsettling to those who mock him.

Andy is a ten-year-old boy from the neighborhood who breaks the community's unspoken rule of ignoring the elderly Chinese man. He shouts a racist insult at the man, but immediately regrets it when the man turns to look at him, triggering a disturbing visual hallucination.

Joey is a young boy living in the Cannery Row area whose father recently took his own life after a year of agonizing unemployment. He tries to defend his father's memory but is constantly badgered by his cruel peer.

Willard is a local boy who acts as a bully. He maliciously questions Joey about his father's death, comparing the deceased man to a rat. He uses his physical superiority to intimidate others and steal money.

Richard Frost is a local man who takes an intense interest in the man roller-skating atop a local department store. Unlike the rest of the town, he possesses the nerve to actually shout up and ask the skater how he uses the bathroom, settling a community-wide curiosity.

Horace Abbeville is a local man with two wives and six children who accumulates an impossibly high grocery bill at Lee Chong's store. He settles his massive debt by signing over his property to the grocer, shortly before taking his own life.

The Captain is a veteran who owns property along the Carmel River. He initially attempts to run Mack and his friends off his land for trespassing, but Mack quickly charms him by treating his dog's tick bite. He ends up sharing his corn whiskey and allowing the men to hunt frogs on his property.

Darling is a pointer puppy gifted to Mack by the Captain. She moves into the Palace Flophouse, where the men dote on her obsessively. Her presence brings a new level of domestic responsibility to the men, who take extreme measures to care for her when she falls ill.