The Chrysanthemums Literary Analysis

As the short story progresses we see a reoccurring imagery of sunshine that seems to highlight Elisa mentally and physically. In the article, Timmerman states, “Organizational and Gendered Imagery in John Steinbeck's ‘The Chrysanthemums.’”, the author explains how organizational imager occurs in two different moments of the story, as he writes, “The color yellow used throughout the paragraph accentuates the illusion of sunshine… It remains an illusionary world wrapped in fog” (Timmerman, 32). This line reveals that the sunshine that we as readers see at times of the short story is just an illusion and the reality is the fog that sets the mood of the story and reflects Elisa. The imagery of the bright direction, what the reality is what is present in the beginning of the novel. As Steinbeck opens up by saying, “The high-grey flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley….” (Steinbeck, 800). This line is a great way to set off the mood and setting of the story from just the …show more content…
Throughout the short story we see how Elisa is seen more as a victim of life that causes her to lose her mobility, and identity under a place dominated by men. We do see how Elisa tries to overcome her limitations as she creates her own garden interacts with the Tinker, loves the flowers as if it was her own children but despite all the ways she try to overcome her constraints he remained in the confinement in the end. There is a loss of identification for Elisa where we truly don’t really see her until towards the end of the novel where she losses all the hope and returns to the feminine qualities that define a women and is appreciated by men. The flowers, the fence, the fog, and the imagery of light and dark all confirm that for Elisa her world is where she can stay happy in an isolated place that accepts her unlike the unknown place that makes her seem like a stranger in the real