Chrysanthemum

“The Chrysanthemums” is a story written by John Steinbeck which revolves around the main character Elisa Allen and reveals the relationship between Elisa and her husband, Henry. The writer explains that by communicating with other people, we can grow in the society. The main conflict in the story is that Elisa is not allowed to live a public life as compared to her husband. She is supposed to live a homebound life. This conflict implies that Elisa is expected to remain at home and subordinate to…

In John Steinbeck’s 1937 short story “The Chrysanthemums”, a women sets in her garden, fenced off to protect it from animals, while her husband stood with two business men. The men smoked cigarettes while they studied the little Fordson. The woman’s name is Elisa, she is described as “blocked and heavy”, and wearing a man’s hat, clodhopper shoes, and a figure printed dress mostly covered by an apron. The apron holding snips, the trowel and scratcher, seeds and a knife she worked with. Being a…

the world has unique tendencies, passions, and emotions. All of which can be expressed or tied to a specific object. Whether the feelings are negative or positive, they can vary in intensity. The dog in “My Kids Dog” and the chrysanthemums in the story “The Chrysanthemums” both represent strong emotions expressed by the protagonists. In the short story, “My Kids Dog” written by Ron Hansen, the protagonist, being the father, expresses his negative feelings for his his family’s dog in a variety…

their needs. These alternate realities tend to overtake a person’s life to the point where it becomes difficult to distinguish what is true. In literature, romanticism is used to express the feeling of imagination and escaping a reality. In “The Chrysanthemums”…

John Steinbeck's short story "The Chrysanthemums" is about woman named Elisa Allen who feels discouraged with her current life. Her frustrations come from not having any children and from her husband's failure to see her in a romantic, passionate way. The only way she releases the frustration is by tending to her flower garden where she grows stunning chrysanthemums. Steinbeck uses chrysanthemums as symbols of Elisa’s children and her sexuality. The chrysanthemums symbolize Elisa's children. She…

Instead, they rely on elements such as narration, character’s action, symbolism, and even a character’s clothing to give the reader a better understanding of the character’s personality. In short stories such as “Miss Brill,” “Everyday Use,” and “Chrysanthemums” the writers chose to use clothing to help develop their character’s personality. Miss Brill is a short story written by Katherine Mansfield. It is about an old woman who visits the park every Sunday to live in the fantasy she has…

success with Tortilla Flat, chronicling the adventures of a group of friends modeled after stories Steinbeck had heard of the paisanos in Monterey” (National). Working on a ranch during his younger days inspired the setting of his short story “The Chrysanthemums.” He used issues of agricultural labor rights and the rising influx of migrant workers in California as inspiration is his…

Two short stories titled, “The Chrysanthemums” and “The New Dress” have two main characters that are dealing with some type of conflict. In “The New Dress” by Virginia Woolf, Mabel, the main character, is dealing with issues related to her self-esteem. Her self esteem issues begin when she arrives at a party with her new dress and believes that all the women are gossiping about her thinking, “…oh these women, all were thinking-“What’s Mabel wearing? What a fright she looks! What a hideous new…

of nature and the main character, Myop, exposes her growth of maturity as the plot continues. The protagonist of “The Chrysanthemums”, Elisa, is similar to a speciously irrelevant component of the story as well. The commonalities demonstrate herself as a person, how others view her, and how she views herself. Throughout both short stories, “The Flowers” and “The Chrysanthemums”, authors Alice Walker and John Steinbeck…

The setting takes place in a ranch at Salinas Valley, California in December. Since it takes place during the winter, “it was a time of quiet and of waiting” (paragraph 2). This reveal that there isn’t much to do on the ranch since “there was little work to done” (paragraph 3). The valley is also described as a “closed pot” (paragraph 1) which hints that the ranch is isolated from any sign of civilization. To pass the time, Elisa work in her garden. While it give her something to do, this…