John Steinbeck's The Chrysanthemums

John Steinbeck was a man who wrote a story named Chrysanthemums. He intertwined his home life and his story in this particular book. This means he did not completely make up this story; he used his own experiences to develop the story and make it more believable. Chrysanthemums is based in Salinas Valley, California; this is the place that Steinbeck was from. Steinbeck also spent a lot of time with lower class people such as minorities of the time. A lot of his stories are about minorities, which gives us an idea of what to expect the main character to be in this story; it is about a pretty typical life of someone in Salinas Valley California. In brief terms, this story is about a woman who takes an interest in an outsider, just to be crushed …show more content…
The story is based in rural Salinas Valley in the winter. As stated earlier he mentions that the fog is settled on the town like a pot keeping everyone out. This means that this is a town where everyone knows everyone. He explains about the area a little bit telling us about how there is a river, foothill ranches, and fields. All of this was shrouded in grey though because of the fog. Usually it would be bright and shining upon the flowers, but in December there is not as much sun as in the summer. This also put in the story that it is almost gloomy there. It gives the place a dark undertone. He spends about a whole paragraph explaining how it is during the winter so we can see that this seems to be relevant toward what he is trying to put towards the story. He also notes that “It was a time of quiet and of waiting.” (Steinbeck 581). This shows us that things are going pretty slow around there. For someone who strives excitement it would be boring to live in this place during the winter at the least. He then continues to write about how the “hay was cut and the orchards we plowed”, which also goes makes it seem kind of empty. Everything there was to do was done pretty much, except for the chrysanthemums. It is explained later in this essay how these are represented. Now when we meet the tinker, we are given a setting for him as well. It is a smaller one than the main …show more content…
When the tinker was given one it symbolized hope of a new more interesting life. When she saw it lying on the ground as if it were nothing. That showed how her hopes represented nothing to him and by the end of the story, we can see she has lost hope of ever living the life she wants. Another thing a chrysanthemum could represent is the flower people usually stay away from cause of its odor. Elisa could be represented by a chrysanthemum since the tinker decided to come but soon left because he probably felt uninterested with her. He also reveals that in one of the nicest gardens he has seen has not seen the chrysanthemum in it. The gardener decided to put every flower except the chrysanthemum in the garden. The chrysanthemum was forgotten; this is just like how Elisa feels with her husband, that there is a lack of fun and attention, with the tinker he also represents the chrysanthemum. He represents it by being the missing plant in her garden. The tinker himself also represents a glimmer of hope, a chance to escape, and something new in life. There are also various times throughout the story that Elisa notes that she wishes she could do stuff that men did. It was not always completely obvious that this was what she was trying to convey but it was. For instance she states that “I wish women could do such things” when she talks to the tinker about his lifestyle. She wishes she could live a more rugged life, one