In the story Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck, he shows us a woman who is not happy with her life or marriage. Elisa uses chrysanthemums as an escape from her unhappy marriage since she cannot find happiness from her husband. Elisa looks at her garden filled with chrysanthemums as her children that she always has wanted; by doing this Steinbeck shows femininity. In a women’s nature it is known for the mother to protect her kid and Elisa does this by not letting anything harm her chrysanthemums by protecting them with a wired fence. “ She spread the leaves and looked down among the close- growing stems. No aphids were there, no snow bugs or snails or cutworms. Her terrier fingers destroyed such pests before they could get started” Steinbeck
