The Chrysanthemums Character Analysis

Elisa is a lonely woman leading what seems like a mechanical life, her pride and focus is on her garden of chrysanthemums. They lived in Salinas Valley in the 1930’s where her husband raised cattle and she did nothing more then plant her garden and wonder about life outside of Salinas Valley.

Henry, Elisa’s husband thinks like a business man and doesn’t share her glee to the garden. the tinker on the other hand in the process of trying to earn a buck, honeypots her with feign interest in them. Elisa is unhappy in her marriage and guiltily indulges in the attention and woo the tinker is showering her with. She emotionally harps on her attraction to his mystique and dreams of a life with a man better then Henry, she emerged from reality into this bubble of romantic bliss that she felt she’s …show more content…
It seems to me as Elisa is questioning her relationship with Henry and herself as after the tinker gave her ego that boost to voice herself. This high ends so suddenly when she rides down the road with Henry on the way to town for a dinner and undeniably see’s what is obviously is her chrysanthemums tossed. The realization dawns on her as she realizes what she had with the Tinker is a figment of her imagination, her misreading the interaction with him. One should not find themselves so hurt when a stranger throws something out that had no meaning to him, to the tinker, Elisa is merely a client who he earned fifty cents from and a free pot. It seems as if Henry didn’t know much about him wife as Elisa chose break social norms of the 1930’s where it was uncommon for women to read and express interest about fights as it was considered a manly activity. Henry questions her if she would like to attend one and she says no and once again starts crying. Elisa is hanging on to the remaining shreds of the thought that life was different outside of Salinas