People in the 1930s were fighting a losing battle with themselves. They were approaching a depression, facing the eyes of war, and trying to stay on their feet with what little resources they had. Most were farmers and made a living by manual labor. The majority of what they owned, they made themselves. Such is the setting in John Steinbeck’s critically acclaimed short story “The Chrysanthemums”. In this story, Steinbeck set out to paint a portrait of what the conditions of the people were really like, but in a different light. Instead of focusing on technicalities, he focused on what the heart of America was going through—the struggles between what social standards expected and what individuals desired. In “The Chrysanthemums”, Steinbeck uses the characters Elisa Allen, the Tinker, and Henry Allen to exemplify the different personas of the time, and to reveal certain truths of society associated with each. Elisa Allen lives a peaceful life, but is fighting a constant battle with the prejudicial, parental society against her as a female. As Kenneth Kempton, author of Short Stories for Study, notes, “whether it is freedom suggested by the nomadic life of the tinker, or children symbolized by her care of the young plants, or manliness as indicated by her delight in her strength and her masochist scrubbing of her body in the bath, or a normal sex life hinted at by her tenseness with when with her possibly impotent husband, or merely her lost youth as implied at the end”, Elisa is struggling inwardly. Beginning with a detailed description of the Salinas River Valley, which is enclosed in fog like a pot, the physical surroundings echo Elisa’s lifestyle. In fact, “the chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for her ene... ... middle of paper ... ...n the “bright direction” of the Tinker. Had the Tinker been better able to support himself, perhaps he would not have had to throw Elisa’s chrysanthemums on the side of the road. Opportunity, although presented to each of the characters, was never fully grasped, and so it remained, that “fog and rain did not go together”. Works Cited Kempton, Kenneth Payson. "Objectivity as Approach." Short Stories for Study. Cambridge [Mass.: Harvard UP, 1953. 120-24. Print. Palmerino, Gregory J. "Steinbeck's THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS." Rev. of "The Chrysanthemums" Explicator 62.3 (2004): 164-67. Literary Reference Center. Web. Price, Victoria. "The Chrysanthemums." Masterplots. 4th ed. Pasadena, CA: Salem, 2011. 1-3. Print. Sheets-Nesbitt, Anna, ed. "The Chrysanthemums." Short Story Criticism. Ed. Anja Barnard. Vol. 37. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. 320-63. Print.
At first glance John Steinbeck’s "The Chrysanthemums" seems to be a story about a woman whose niche is in the garden. Upon deeper inspection the story has strong notes of feminism in the central character Elisa Allen. Elisa’s actions and feelings reflect her struggle as a woman trying and failing to emasculate herself in a male dominated society. Elisa is at her strongest and most proud in the garden and becomes weak when placed in feminine positions such as going out to dinner with her husband. Steinbeck carefully narrates this woman’s frequent shifts between femininity and masculinity over a short period of time.
Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is a realistic novel that mimics life and offers social commentary too. It offers many windows on real life in midwest America in the 1930s. But it also offers a powerful social commentary, directly in the intercalary chapters and indirectly in the places and people it portrays. Typical of very many, the Joads are driven off the land by far away banks and set out on a journey to California to find a better life. However the journey breaks up the family, their dreams are not realized and their fortunes disappear. What promised to be the land of milk and honey turns to sour grapes. The hopes and dreams of a generation turned to wrath. Steinbeck opens up this catastrophe for public scrutiny.
Within Steinbeck's story, "Chrysanthemums," the main character, Elisa Allen, is confronted with many instances of conflict. Steinbeck uses chrysanthemums to symbolize this conflict and Elisa's self-worth. By examining these points of conflict and the symbolism presented by the chrysanthemums, the meaning of the story can be better determined.
Elisa's unhappiness in her role as the wife of a cattle farmer is clear in her gardening. Through the authors detailed diction it is clear that gardening is her way of freeing herself from her suffocating environment. “The chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for her energy” which is “over-eager” and “over-powerful” (Steinbeck 460). The intensity with which she gardens, “terrier fingers destroy[ing] such pests before they could get started” suggests more than simply a deep interest, but a form of escape completely submerging her self into the task (Steinbeck 460). It is possible that some...
John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums" shows the true feelings of the main character, Elisa Allen, through the use of setting and her interactions with other characters in the story. By way of vivid descriptions, Elisa's feelings of dissatisfaction over the lack of excitement in her life are portrayed. Her role as a mere housewife and then the subsequent change to feelings of a self-assured woman are clearly seen. These inner feelings are most apparent with the portrayal of Elisa working in the garden with the chrysanthemums, the conversation she has with the man passing through, and finally, when she and her husband are going out to dinner.
In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck explores human relationships through characters who are barely fleshed out beyond the boundary of a stereotype. Many of the minor characters even have names which reflect their status as a symbol of their position rather than thinking, feeling people. Crooks, the African American stable buck, represents the "crooked" thinking of the majority toward other races during the time period while Curley's wife represents only that- the wife of a man. Her character serves to show the place of women in a man's society. Likewise, the two main characters, George and Lennie, each serve as a symbol of psychological and physical traits which complement each other to show how important human relationships are, regardless of the traits a person may possess. All human beings develop relationships with others because those relationships fill particular needs. Those needs may be physical, economic, psychological, or social.
In the short story “The Chrysanthemums” John Steinbeck uses symbolism to reflect the characteristics of his main character Elisa Allen. Elisa, a married woman uncovers her deeply smothered femininity in an inconspicuous sense. Her life in the valley had become limited to housewife duties and the only sustenance that seemed to exist could merely be found in her chrysanthemum garden. Not until she becomes encountered with a remote tinker-man out and about seeking for work, does she begin to reach many of the internal emotions that had long inhibited her femininity. The tinker subtlety engages an interest in Elisa’s chrysanthemum garden that encourages Elisa to react radically. When Elisa realizes that there are other ways to live she attempts to lift the lid off of the Salinas Valley, but unfortunately the tinker’s insincere actions resort Elisa back to her old self and leaves Elisa without any optimism for her hollow breakthrough. Steinbeck’s somber details of the setting, strong description of the chrysanthemums and meaningful illustration of the red flower-pot reveal the distant, natural, ambitions Elisa Allen desired to attain.
"The Chrysanthemums" is a good depiction of most marriages in the early 1900's, the husband is the chief breadwinner and the wife is considered nothing more than a housewife. "The simple story outlines are enriched by irony and imagery which contrast the rich land and the sterile marriage, the fertile plants and Elisa's inner emptiness" (McCarthy 26). The story begins by introducing the setting: "The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and the rest of the world" (Steinbeck 115). This vivid illustration unconsciously gives the reader a look into the dominating theme. However, it is not until the climax of the story that the reader begins to notice Elisa's true pain and need for her own self-identity. The main protagonist i...
Steinbeck, John. “The Chrysanthemums.” Fiction 101: An Anthology of Short Fiction. James H. Pickering. Twelfth Edition. Pearson Education, Inc., 2010. 1162-1168
Osbourne, William R. "The Texts of Steinbeck's 'The Chrysanthemums.'" Modern Fiction Studies 12 (1966-67): 479-84.
In this short the Chrysanthemums, written by John stein beck. The author tells a character who is in need of love. Stein back reflects the charazteratiom of Elisa in the story because he shows us how Elisa character changes threw out the story. The traits of Elisa’s show us that Elisa is strong and want affection and resorts to the chrysanthemums as a way to show herself.
“Marigolds”, a short story written by Eugenia Collier, illustrates a very complex struggle,but one almost all of us can relate to. It was set in the Great Depression, yet it has relevance today. It is a struggle all of us must go through, though it may hidden unlike the struggle Collier describes. “Marigolds” conveys the struggle between an aimless and innocent adolescent, and a mature and compassionate adult. The clash of two minds and two consciences. Looking through eyes of a 14 year old girl named Lizabeth, Collier declares a very important and relevant message to the reader. One summer night, Lizabeth learns the same lesson Collier wishes to tell the reader. Her theme in “Marigolds” is living a ignorant life, like that of a child,
Callahan, John. "Review of Love and Trouble." Short Story Criticism Vol. 5. (Essay date 1974).
Innocence is something always expected to be lost sooner or later in life, an inevitable event that comes of growing up and realizing the world for what it truly is. Alice Walker’s “The Flowers” portrays an event in which a ten year old girl’s loss of innocence after unveiling a relatively shocking towards the end of the story. Set in post-Civil War America, the literary piece holds very particular fragments of imagery and symbolism that describe the ultimate maturing of Myop, the young female protagonist of the story. In “The Flowers” by Alice Walker, the literary elements of imagery, symbolism, and setting “The Flowers” help to set up a reasonably surprising unveiling of the gruesome ending, as well as to convey the theme of how innocence disappears as a result of facing the harsh reality of this world.
In 2008, Rudra Sabaratnam, the CEO of the City of Angels Medical Center, committed health care fraud when he attempted to extort money from Medicare and Medi-Cal. He was wealthy, yet, his greed for more money led him to cheat the taxpayer-funded healthcare programs of millions of dollars, depriving the people who actually need the help and money. The greed that Sabaratnam had was partly caused by the profit seeking capitalist system. The desire for wealth in capitalist society leads to corruption and causes a divide between the rich and the poor, so perhaps a system that supports equality and fairness is a better choice. The Eastern-European expression,“Capitalism is man exploiting man; communism is just the opposite,” summarizes one of the main ideas in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck’s aversion to a capitalist society is a motif that appears in several of his literary works, but in The Grapes of Wrath he attacks capitalism constantly and he exposes the poverty, cruelty, and greed found in our capitalist system. By emphasizing the wealthy’s insatiable appetite for profit, which forces the migrants to face hardships, Steinbeck accentuates the inequitable aspects of capitalism, and promotes communism as an alternative.