Salinas Valley Essays

  • Chrysanthemums

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    reinforces Elisa's feelings of isolation from the world. The tale is set in the beautiful valley of Salinas, California, but with all its beauty, this location takes on the role of some sort of prison in which one could feel trapped. "The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world. On every side it sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot" (260). We can see how this atmosphere could have a negative effect on

  • Salinas Valley Healthcare: A Case Study

    589 Words  | 2 Pages

    The mission of Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare is to provide quality healthcare to its patients and to improve the health and well-being of their community. Leadership promotes this mission with a vision that the organization will be a center of excellence where an inspired team delivers compassionate and culturally sensitive care, outstanding quality, and an exceptional patient experience (Salinas Valley Memorial Heathcare Systems, 2016). The organizations

  • Elisa's Behavior In The Chrysanthemums

    1887 Words  | 4 Pages

    Steinbeck allows the readers to be put in Elisas shoes to demonstrate her frustrations and feelings in her life. From the very beginning Elisa is shown to be a character whose life is filled with confusion and lifelessness. She’s not only trapped in Salinas valley but also in her own marriage and life with the only thing to nurture is her chrysanthemums. Just when she thinks she may have a chance of her needs being fulfilled when a stranger comes by her hope is then crushed. John Steinbeck creates this

  • The Chrysanthemums Theme

    1342 Words  | 3 Pages

    Steinbeck’s story “The Chrysanthemums”. The plot of “The Chrysanthemums” centers on a particularly cold December afternoon of housewife (and gardening extraordinaire) Elisa Allen in Salinas Valley, California. Elisa is the wife of Henry Allen, a farmer in the dusty foot-hills of the previously mentioned Salinas Valley. During the day while Elisa’s husband is out tending to his ranch and “yellow stubble fields (p.206)”, performing the One of the first examples of this in the story is right at the beginning

  • Symbols of Alienation and Loneliness

    1083 Words  | 3 Pages

    character, tinker, chrysanthemums, and conversations. In “The Chrysanthemums,” Steinbeck paints a vivid picture of Salinas Valley’s landscape and climate to reflect the gloomy mood of the main character Elisa. The introduction of the story conveys a disturbing separation of Salina Valley from the rest of the world. Just as “the high grey-flannel fog of winter [closes] off Salinas Valley from … the rest of the world” so is Elisa isolated from Harry. Similarly, the “fog and rain” foreshadows the estranged

  • The Chrysanthemums

    1665 Words  | 4 Pages

    John Steinbeck’s, The Chrysanthemums, was published in 1938 in a book of short stories, entitled The Long Valley. The Chrysanthemums has been a rather powerful draw for scholars because of its wide gap for interpretations and analysis of its main protagonist character, Elisa Allen and also the unique descriptions used to portray the deeper meaning behind the setting of the story. Themes of sexuality, oppression of women, as well as other numerous types of conflict portrayed in this rather somber

  • John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Steinbeck's “Of mice and men” Of Mice and Men is set along the Salinas River a few miles south of Soledad in the fallen world of the Salinas Valley, which Steinbeck places "east of Eden" the Promised Land is only a painful and illusory dream. This land is populated by "sons of Cain", men doomed to walk alone. One of the major themes that comes from this is loneliness, or fear of apartness. One of the themes of Of Mice and Men is that men fear loneliness, that they need someone to be

  • Alice Munro’s Boys and Girls and John Steinbeck’s The Chrysanthemums

    1440 Words  | 3 Pages

    The difference between men and women is a very controversial issue, while there are obviously physical differences; the problem is how the genders are treated. It is stereotypically thought that the men do the labor work and make all the money, while the women stay in the house, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children. While this stereotype does not exist as much in the 21st century, it was very prevalent in the 1900s. By using many different literary tools such as character development

  • The Chrysanthemums Symbolism

    1411 Words  | 3 Pages

    the titular flower, Salinas Valley, and Elisa Allen complement each other. The importance of each is therefore highlighted: the yellow chrysanthemums suggest Elisa’s personality traits and view of life; while the Salinas Valley indicates her protected lifestyle and leads the reader to realize her greatest desires in life. Throughout “The Chrysanthemums” Steinbeck is proving a point about married couples and women’s roles in society. Chrysanthemums and the Salinas Valley serve as pivotal symbols

  • Compare And Contrast East Of Eden And The Great Gatsby

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    lives on a farm in Salinas Valley. F. Scott Fitzgerald writes Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby as the man who is living the American dream with money and a mansion. These two characters share something similar. Adam Trask and Jay Gatsby both involve in unrequited

  • Similarities And Differences Between The Great Gatsby And East Of Eden

    1069 Words  | 3 Pages

    vitamin C, and both are grown on trees. In East of Eden and The Great Gatsby, Adam Trask and Jay Gatsby are the orange and the apple. John Steinbeck, the author of East of Eden, portrays Adam as the naïve, honest man who lives on a farm in the Salinas Valley. F. Scott Fitzgerald writes Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby as the man, who is living the American dream, with money and a mansion. These two characters share something similar. Adam Trask and Jay Gatsby both involve in unrequited affairs that

  • Characters And Symbolism In The Chrysanthemums, By John Steinbeck

    1016 Words  | 3 Pages

    He understands that agriculture is the prominent part of daily life in this region. Set in the fog of winter closed off the Salinas valley” (Steinbeck1061). The “neat white farm house with red geraniums close-banked around it as high as the windows.”(1061) It was a hard-swept looking little house” (1062) the tinker 's home is the highway, Elisa is confined to her garden and house

  • Analysis Of The Chrysanthemums By John Steinbeck

    932 Words  | 2 Pages

    I. Introduction Oftentimes, the life of an author is reflected in his works. This is due to the fact that the experiences of the writer can serve as the foundation of his story line. Some of the famous authors who are known to have utilized this technique, which is also dubbed as Roman Clef, include Charles Dickens and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Even in an unconscious manner, the author’s life is an inspiration to his writings and hence having a big impact on the entire work. In this light, this

  • East Of Eden Literary Analysis

    1566 Words  | 4 Pages

    "East of Eden deals with the inexplicability of the emotion we call love" (Wyatt xxii). John Steinbeck’s East of Eden explores the enigma of love and attempts to explain the pernicious effects of love through the characters’ relationships. Proving very complicated, love takes many forms, spanning from a simple coquetry to deep romance. East of Eden explores three main types of love; romantic love, parental love, and sibling love. Romantic love, typically depicted as one-sided in the novel, has negative

  • East Of Eden Book Comparison

    606 Words  | 2 Pages

    East of Eden, by John Steinbeck and Elia Kazan’s movie adaptation demonstrate the struggle Cal faces for affection and acceptance from his father, Adam Trask. Characters develop differently and form different relationships with each other in the movie, which creates a story of its own, far from the book. The movie branches differently from the novel through its set-up, character portrayal, and character relationships. Since the movie only covers the last hundred pages of the book, the story development

  • No Way Out

    1063 Words  | 3 Pages

    cage. Steinbeck first enriches the feeling of despondency with the clever use of symbolism. The story opens with a detailed description of the Salinas Valley. Here, Steinbeck relates the valley to a “closed pot,” which suggests Elisa’s inability to escape. Furthermore, Steinbeck describes that even though there is sunlight nearby, the Salinas Valley sees none. As sunlight is often associated with happiness, the implication here is that while others are happy, Elisa is not. To further the use of

  • The Chrysanthemums, by John Steinbeck

    961 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

  • Symbolism in The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck

    1189 Words  | 3 Pages

    is limited by society's view on women's position in the home. A more clear example of how Elisa feels can be better explained by Steinbeck's description of the where Elisa and Henry live. "The high gray-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world. On e... ... middle of paper ... ...but romantic. That simple gesture is enough to sustain Elisa for the present time. She probably also realizes that the wine is the most she will get out of

  • Analysis of The Chrysanthemums

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    Analysis of The Chrysanthemums The short story "The Chrysanthemums" gives insight into the life of its author. John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California. The locale of the story is of key resemblance to the Salinas in which Steinbeck was born and bread. "Salinas was a typical American small town, [differing] only in location and a few distinctive features" (McCarthy 3). The protagonist of this story, Elisa Allen, also resembles Steinbeck's first wife. "Steinbeck

  • Symbolism in The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck

    1560 Words  | 4 Pages

    Symbolism in The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck "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