1. The Chrysanthemums
On Henry Allen's ranch east of Salinas
Elisa plants yellow chrysanthemums as
Henry is selling thirty head of cattle to
agents of the Western Meat Company.
After he and Scotty go to round up the
cattle, a tinker shows up. He asks for
work which Elisa says she hasn't. He
asks for seeds for a lady on his route.
Elisa gives him seedlings with
instructions, and then she finds work for
him which he does professionally. To
celebrate the sale Henry drives her to
Salinas for dinner at the Cominos Hotel
and a movie; they drive past the tinker
on the road and she privately weeps.
2. The White Quail
Mary has her garden designed before
its lot is bought, before she's married.
She picks Harry because she thinks the
garden will like him. After the house is
built and the garden established Harry
finds her perfect though untouchable.
She doesn't care for his occupation
(making loans for cars); it's unfair. She
routinely locks him from her tiny
bedroom on the garden. He tries the
lock and leaves quietly. She refuses to
let him have a setter pup since it might
damage her garden. After a white quail
visits the cement pond she fears a cat
will come and asks Harry to put out
poison fish. He refuses but will try to hit
such a cat with his new air rifle. Next
morning he shoots the white quail then
tells Mary it was the cat he buried.
3. Flight
Mama Torres makes Emilo and Rosy
fish when they can. Pepé, who is
beautiful but lazy, is sent to Monterey
for medicine and salt. At Mrs.
Rodriguez's he kills a man with his
father's black switchblade knife. He
returns before dawn, then rides into the
high hills as his family bids him, now a
man, adios. After a day's riding he
sleeps and is awakened by a horse
down the trail. He rides another day
before his horse is shot out from under
him. He exchanges shots and receives a
granite splinter wound in his right hand.
He runs on for several days and is
finally shot dead.
4. The Snake
Young marine biologist Dr. Phillips
brings a sack of starfish from the tide
pool to his laboratory on the cannery
street in Monterey. The lab:
rattlesnakes, rats, cats; killing a cat.
Arrival of a tall, lean woman just as he
begins timed work making a starfish
embryo series. While she waits he
begins embalming the cat. She wants to
buy the male rattlesnake which she
wants to keep in the lab. Her snakish
behavior during the feeding annoys
Phillips. The starfish series is ruined.
She never comes back.
5. Breakfast
A cold pre-dawn, by a country road, I
see a tent with a lit campstove.
In John Steinbeck’s The Chrysanthemums, the reader is introduced to the seemingly timid and shy Elisa Allen. Elisa is routinely planting her yearly sets of Chrysanthemums, which appear to be the sole receptor of her caring and gentle touch, but all the while it is evident that “the chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for her energy.” Her hidden eagerness seems not only out of place, but out of touch with her dry and wilted surroundings, of which her husband, Henry, abruptly interrupts her steady pace. Inquiring of dinner plans, he is quickly shuttered out, so that Elisa can continue her work in the fenced in flower bed. This seems to be the only place on the ranch that belongs to her, and thus devoting the entirety of her time, and consideration, towards this lonely sandy square.
The setting of the story is unique because it has a direct connection with the author; Salinas California is Steinbeck’s birthplace (Millichap, Joseph R). Herein lays the stories first embodiment of dramatic tone as well as the description of the characters; which sets the stage for symbolism, personification, and dramatic tone for the rest of the story. The description of the setting is unique and important because of its symbolic representations of the conflict between the characters and also the interpersonal conflict of Elisa. The story opens with a panoramic view of the Salinas Valley, in winter, shrouded in fog. The Valley which is being, “closed off” from the rest of the world, is a symbolic representation for the way Elisa feels about her life. However, the weather in the valley is awaiting change...
“It has always seemed strange to me... the things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.” This quote was once said by an amazing author, who described the world’s society today so perfectly that one may forget that he had was describing his society in the early and mid-nineteenth hundreds. John Steinbeck is considered one of America’s greatest author of literature. Many of his work is still read today as required reading in most high schools and college literature classes throughout the United States. His most famous story that had outlived him was the Grapes of Wrath, which led to him receive the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Pulitzer Prize in 1940. Many of John Steinbeck told in a realistic view of life and how men lived in them. Steinbeck grew up in California's Salinas Valley, a diverse area with a rich history. His upbringing help shape his writing, which gave many of his works a sense of place. The Chrysanthemums is a short story a part of John Steinbeck collection of The Long Valley. In his short story, The Chrysanthemums, it deal with different problems in society; however, some problems stand out more than others. Many people have interpret the story into many different ways, but my interpretation of the story depicts the inequality of gender in society, the analysis of the character Elisa , and the symbolic meaning of the Chrysanthemums.
The theme becomes evident when the main character, Charlie, and his “cousin of cousin” cotton, adventure into the woods and sugarcanes and find dead people’s bones, dead animals and scary alive people.
Butterfly Kisses is the first book in The Orange Blossom series, the latest in heartwarming Women's Fiction from National Readers' Choice Award winner, Leigh Duncan.
Homer Smith is a traveling handyman who stops at a yard to get water for his car. There he sees several women working on a fence, very awkwardly. The women, who speak very little English, introduce themselves as German nuns. He gets the water for the car but the mother, the leader of the nuns, persuades him to fix the roof. He stays over night, thinking that he will be paid in the morning and be on his way. Mother Maria is very stern and like things done her way. The nuns have basically no money and survive by living off the land, on vegetables, milk, and eggs. Smith agrees to stay another day to help with small jobs, having high hopes that he will be paid for his work. Mother Maria notice how good Smith was working and came to believe that he was sent by God to build them a chapel (or “shaple” as Mother Maria called it) for them to have mass. When Sunday comes, Mother Maria informs Smith that he will be driving them to Mass in his car. Smith was invited to attend the Mass, but because he is a Baptist. Smith came to realize that he was not going to get paid, but stays longer to clear...
Women’s oppression and objectification in society and literature dates back to the beginning of time. Although this generation has further advanced through feminism, sexist views are still illustrated through how women are treated. It has been proven that the norm is for women in the same job as a man make 77 cents less (1). In general, the traditional roles of men and women are seen as separate and distinct from one another. Women take on submissive and caregiving roles while men are given dominant ones. In the following stories, “The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck, “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” by D.H. Lawrence, and “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell, the correlation between the objectification of women in literature and in society is substantially conveyed.
If you reversed . . . the point of view from Rose Lee to Catherine Jane the
... Their attitude and tone is something that can be contrasted in the two stories.
Initially, John Steinbeck’s short story, “The Chrysanthemums” illustrates the internal conflict a sorrowful housewife faces. The day-to-day life of character, Elisa, seems like a boring one and Steinbeck attempts to remind the reader to not give into temptation and cherish loved ones. During the dialogue, Elisa’s husband, Henry, offers an idea to go out to dinner and the less than enthusiastic response of, “I’ll have plenty of time to transplant some of these sets” (Steinbeck 435) proves that Elisa cares more about her garden than spending time with her husband. Rather than make an effort to bond with her spouse, she appears to be reluctant when asked to go out and enjoy a simple night on the town. Additionally, the failure of a connection between the couple gives the Tinker an opening to make an impact on Elisa’s mental state. Once the Tinker gives her the least bit of attention, Elisa’s entire demeanor starts to change. When Elisa is first described to us, she is unwomanly: “her figure looked blocked and heavy, and she wore a “man’s black hat pulled low down over her eyes” (Steinbeck 438). Although, she is not portrayed as a strong symbol of femininity, the Tinker has spiked an interest in her taboo ways. In the web article “Symbolism in ‘The Chrysanthemums’,” Elizabeth Kassim classifies the tinker as the “catalyst in Elisa’s life”(http://www.lonestar.edu). The admiration of the flowers leads the tinker to admire Elisa. Her sexuality is defined by the chrysanthemums and she “tears off the battered hat and shakes out her dark pretty hair” (Steinbeck 441). With a few kind and well-placed remarks by the Tinker, Elisa thinks there could be a new beginning all aspects of her life. Elisa’s marriage and the way she feels about herself ...
"The Chrysanthemums", one of John Steinbeck's masterpieces, describes a lonely farmer's wife, Elisa Allen. Elisa Allen's physical appearance is very mannish yet still allows a hint of a feminine side to peek through. John Steinbeck brings symbolism into play to represent Elisa Allen's frustrations and hidden passions. Isolation is another representation through symbolism found in "The Chrysanthemums." Elisa's failing detached marriage is represented through two symbols. The two reoccurring symbols are the chrysanthemums and fences. John Steinbeck draws pity from the reader for Elisa Allen who desperately wishes to experience the passions of a fulfilling marriage and the stimulation of a man's life. Through symbolism in "The Chrysanthemums," John Steinbeck creates a sexually repressed and discouraged Elisa Allen who is isolated from society however still retaining their values and is also trapped in a fruitless marriage.
Elisa was impressed of the tinker's freedom and his way of life. The tinker offers his service, repairing pots and pans, to Elisa, but she refuses at first. However, the tinker does not give up and tells Elisa about a customer that would be interested in her chrysanthemums. Elisa's attitude instantly changed and after her discussion with tinker she finds some work for the tinker to work on. Elisa's husband, Henry, takes her out later to the city for dinner.
“At the end of the rainbow waited the pot of gold. But rainbows were made of faint and fragile gossamer-and gold weighed a ton-and since the world began, gold was the reason to do most anything.”- V.C Andrews. The book that is being evaluated is Flowers in the Attic by V.C Andrews. It is about a family who goes to live at their grandparent’s house after the death of their father. They do this because their mother must win her inheritance back after she does a disgraceful thing. While there, the children must live in one room and the attic as to not be seen by their grandfather. The mother hides them because her father does not know she has children and if he finds out he will remove her from his will. In the attic they suffer from lack of sunlight, education, and malnutrition and soon are forgotten by their mother. The mindsets that will be evaluated are of the two older children, Cathy and Chris. They start with a general growth mindset in which they have a general positive outlook on life and always hope for their father’s return.
I think that in Virginia C Andrews’ book “Flowers in the Attic” published in 1979, an important aspect of the book in the setting. Flowers in the attic is mainly set at Foxworth Hall where the main character and narrator, Cathy Dollanganger’s grandparents, Malcolm and Olivia Foxworth reside in an exalted mansion in Virginia. Cathy and her three siblings, Carrie, Cory & Christopher are all detained in a vacant room which consist of two big double beds, several items of furniture, curtains that are never to be unfastened and a number of paintings on the bedroom walls that represent hell to show that God is always watching. There is a closet which has a concealed stair case that heads towards to attic. The attic is narrated to be extremely large
When Elisa’s husband Henry comes over and compliments her garden and ability to grow things, Elisa is smug with him and very proud of her skill with the flowers. Her "green thumb" makes her an equal in her own eyes. When Elisa’s husband asks her if she would like to go to dinner, her feminine side comes out. She is excited to go eat at a restaurant and states that she would much rather go to the movies than go see the fights, she "wouldn’t like the fight’s" at all (paragraph 21). Elisa is taken aback by her own submissiveness and quickly becomes preoccupied with her flowers as soon as her husband leaves.