Elisa Alln Steinbeck Analysis

Elisa Allen is seemingly a simple woman living in Salinas Valley on a ranch with her husband Henry. As you read deeper into the story you come to realize Elisa is much more complex than what she may appear. The detailed description of Salinas Valley is symbolic to Elisa’s emotional life. The author writes that the thickness of the fog closes off the valley to the rest of the world, referring to how Elisa feels trapped. Trapped in a woman’s body, trapped in an unhappy marriage, trapped in the mold of what society tells her to be. No sunshine is able to penetrate the fog reflecting on Elisa’s unhappiness with her life. She longs to be loved and seen as more than just a woman. Although Elisa feels trapped, claustrophobic and unhappy she remains hopeful for the future as described by the “positive yellow leaves” that grow along the river. When we first meet Elisa she is dressed in a dirty apron with work boots and leather gardening gloves. To say the least she looked rough. Her face …show more content…
Elisa proves to be a hard-working woman, caring for her beautiful garden, yet she will always be looked over because of her gender. While Elisa is working in her garden, her husband, Henry approaches and complements her Chrysanthemums. Henry then jokingly asks her to do some work in the apple orchid. Elisa replies eagerly but is immediately disregarded because the apple orchid is not a place for a woman. Later when Elisa meets the Tinker she is intrigued by his lifestyle, how he follows warmer weather. The man tells her “It ain’t the right kind of life for a woman.” (Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, Robert Funk, Linda Coleman) She is upset by this telling the man she is able to do everything he can do. Gender equality is something we still struggle with to this day but in those times the role of a woman was set in stone, something that made Elisa feel quite