& # 8220 ; The Chrysanthemums & # 8221 ; Essay, Research Paper

My Analysis of the Short Story: & # 8220 ; The Chrysanthemums & # 8221 ;

The short narrative & # 8220 ; The Chrysanthemums & # 8221 ; gives penetration into the life of its writer. John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California. The venue of the narrative is of cardinal resemblance to the Salinas in which Steinbeck was born and bread. & # 8220 ; Salinas was a typical American little town, [ differing ] merely in location and a few typical characteristics & # 8221 ; ( McCarthy 3 ) . The supporter of this narrative, Elisa Allen, besides resembles Steinbeck & # 8217 ; s first married woman. & # 8220 ; Steinbeck likely based the character of Elisa Allen on his ain first married woman, Carol Henning Steinbeck. Like Elisa, Carol was a adult female of considerable endowment and energy who wore & # 8216 ; masculine apparels & # 8217 ; and was & # 8216 ; strong, large-boned & # 8217 ; and & # 8216 ; handsome instead than reasonably & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ; ( Hughes 23 ) . Similar to the clip frame in which Steinbeck lived, the subject of the narrative comes across as being male dominant and the countrified scene allows us to visualise this.

& # 8220 ; The Chrysanthemums & # 8221 ; is a good word picture of most matrimonies in the early 1900 & # 8217 ; s, the hubby is the main breadwinner and the married woman is considered nil more than a homemaker. & # 8220 ; The simple narrative lineations are enriched by sarcasm and imagination which contrast the rich land and the unfertile matrimony, the fertile workss and Elisa & # 8217 ; s inner emptiness & # 8221 ; ( McCarthy 26 ) . The narrative begins by presenting the scene: & # 8220 ; The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and the remainder of the universe & # 8221 ; ( Steinbeck 115 ) . This graphic illustration unconsciously gives the reader a expression into the ascendant subject. However, it is non until the flood tide of the narrative that the reader begins to detect Elisa & # 8217 ; s true hurting and demand for her ain self-identity. The chief supporter in & # 8220 ; The Chrysanthemums, & # 8221 ; Elisa Allen, is a mid-aged homemaker who besides has a passion for turning chrysanthemums. & # 8220 ; [ Elisa & # 8217 ; s ] passionate engagement with the procedure of seting becomes an look of all the suppressed love affair in her life & # 8221 ; ( Lewis 393 ) . & # 8220 ; She is a strong, childless adult female of 35 that has subliminated her maternal inherent aptitudes by bring forthing singular flowers & # 8221 ; ( Gallic, John 83 ) . Nevertheless, & # 8220 ; the workss and flowers can non counterbalance for the deficiency of apprehension and fondness from her hubby & # 8221 ; ( McCarthy 27 ) . In the narrative, Elisa plays the function of a simple-minded lady who allows her hubbies ideas and actions to rule her. & # 8220 ; Elisa & # 8217 ; s matrimony neither fills her clip nor fulfills her desires & # 8221 ; ( Hughes 24 ) . However, Beach concludes that Elisa without a uncertainty has a & # 8220 ; soul & # 8221 ; and is much less simple than she seems ( Beach 32 ) .

Henry Allen plays the function of a typical male, & # 8220 ; [ he is ] unthreatening and fundamentally decent. & # 8221 ; However, & # 8220 ; his concentration on his ain function as supplier, organiser, and determination shaper has blinded him to the fact that [ his married woman ] needs something more in her life than a orderly house and a good garden & # 8221 ; ( Lewis 394, 394 ) . & # 8220 ; [ The tinker ] is described as large, bearded, and graying, a adult male who has been about, who knows something about life and people & # 8230 ; & # 8221 ; ( Lewis 392 ) . When the tinker begins a treatment with Elisa and discovers her exposure, he so uses this as a portion of his strategy to pull strings her emotionally. & # 8220 ; [ The tinker ] is accomplished at estimating a individual & # 8217 ; s emotional demands, and he has developed a installation for the sort of conversation that verges on the implicative & # 8221 ; ( Lewis 392 ) . There are several differences found between these two work forces. & # 8220 ; In contrast to [ Elisa & # 8217 ; s ] hubby, [ the tinker ] is a sort of adventurer who lives spontaneously, a adult male of the route non bound by standard steps of clip and topographic point & # 8221 ; ( Lewis 392 ) . Hughes besides makes a comparing between Henry and the tinker: & # 8220 ; compared to Henry Allen, the tinker is, so, an exciting and romantic figure & # 8221 ; ( Hughes 25 ) .

The conversation between the tinker and Elisa sets the lifting action and the eventual flood tide of the narrative. During their conversation, the tinker repeatedly asks Elisa for something to repair, each clip being turned away. & # 8216 ; No, & # 8217 ; & # 8220 ; she said shortly. & # 8221 ; & # 8216 ; I tell you I have nil like that for you to make & # 8217 ; ( Steinbeck 119 ) . However, the tinker eventually discovers Elisa & # 8217 ; s soft topographic point and intentionally takes advantage of her. The tinker begins discoursing Elisa & # 8217 ; s chrysanthemums and how beautiful they are, thi

s makes Elisa feel like she is valued ( Lewis 393 ) . He so tells her that he had done some work for a lady who had wanted some chrysanthemum seeds. “ [ The lady ] said to [ the tinker ] , ‘If you of all time run across some nice chrysanthemums I wish you’d seek to acquire me a few seeds’ ( Steinbeck 119 ) . Elisa is overjoyed by any outside involvement in her flowers and tells the tinker that she will give him some sprouts to take to the lady. After traveling over waies for the attention of the cherished sprouts, she gives the tinker a “bid ruddy flower pot” filled with the chrysanthemum sprouts ( Steinbeck 120 ) . Elisa in the interim finds some pots for him to repair. As the tinker begins to go forth Elisa reminds him for the concluding clip to maintain the

dirt moistness for the sprouts, she hands him 50 cents, and commands him clean good. & # 8220 ; As [ Elisa ] prepares for the eventide, the power she normally puts into scouring the house is redirected into her readying to do herself every bit attractive as she now feels & # 8221 ; ( Lewis 393 ) . Finally Elisa and Henry are ready to travel into town for dinner. The flood tide occurs as they drive closer into Salinas ; Elisa notices a & # 8220 ; dark spec & # 8221 ; in the center of the route, at this clip she subconsciously knows what the topographic point is and is disgusted with the tinker ; & # 8220 ; she whispered to herself unhappily, & # 8221 ; & # 8216 ; He might hold thrown them off the route. That wouldn & # 8217 ; Ts have been much problem, non really much. But he kept the pot & # 8230 ; & # 8217 ; ( Steinbeck 123 ) . & # 8220 ; Elisa is shattered by the indurate mode in which [ the tinker ] had drawn something from her secret ego and so wholly betrayed her & # 8216 ; gift & # 8217 ; by non even taking the problem to conceal the flowers & # 8221 ; ( Lewis 393 ) . It is at this point in the narrative that Elisa genuinely recognizes her topographic point in society. Elisa now unhappily realizes that she can ne’er carry through her wish to be anything more than what she is already, a homemaker.

Many obstructions have been overcome in the past seven decennaries, one in peculiar being the battle for adult females & # 8217 ; s rights. In & # 8220 ; The Chrysanthemums & # 8221 ; the subject of male laterality radiances through clearly. The behaviours and descriptions of each of the characters allows the reader to visualize Elisa & # 8217 ; s hungriness for her ain ego worth, Henry & # 8217 ; s function as the adult male of the house and the tinkers place of being a adult male of the route, out to make whatever he can to do a penny. However, Steinbeck & # 8217 ; s descriptions of these characters are non merely words, they are words with feeling. Elisa is a homemaker and a nurseryman but she is besides a lady of self-respect who wants to lift above and be more than what everyone expects of her or of any adult female in general. & # 8220 ; Steinbeck & # 8217 ; s characters, like Henry Allen are rather pleased to be able to do a nice life, but every bit of import, like Elisa Allen, they are get downing to feel that non everyone can be satisfied by staff of life entirely & # 8221 ; ( Lewis 394 ) . It is non until the flood tide of the narrative that Elisa begins to give up on her end to be free from a male tyrannizing society. The tinker genuinely misleads her into believing that for one time person was interested in her life, for one time person really thought of her as being superb. & # 8220 ; John Steinbeck creates a minute of choler and injury in & # 8220 ; The Chrysanthemums & # 8221 ; when Elisa sees her flowers dumped out onto the route. Her feelings illustrate the deep and reliable nature of her psyche & # 8221 ; ( Beach 26 ) . The characters & # 8217 ; ideas, words, and actions make this narrative astonishing. & # 8220 ; Among Steinbeck & # 8217 ; s 50 or more pieces of short fiction, no narrative has been more extremely praised than & # 8220 ; The Chrysanthemums & # 8221 ; ( Hughes 21 ) .

Beach, Joseph. & # 8220 ; John Steinbeck & # 8217 ; s Authentic Characters. & # 8221 ; Readings on John Steinbeck.

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Gallic, Warren. John Steinbeck. Second Ed. Twayne & # 8217 ; s United States Author Series.

Boston: Twayne, 1975.

Hughes, R.S. John Steinbeck: A Study of the Short Fiction. Twayne & # 8217 ; s Studies in Short

Fiction Series, No.5. Boston: Twayne, 1989.

Lewis, Leon. & # 8220 ; The Chrysanthemums. & # 8221 ; Masterplots II: Short Story Series. Ed. Frank N.

Magill. Vol. 1. Pasadena: Salem, 1986.

McCarthy, Paul. John Steinbeck. New York: Unger, 1980.

Steinbeck, John. & # 8220 ; The Chrysanthemums. & # 8221 ; Fiction: A Longman Pocket Anthology. Ed.

R.S. Gwynn. Second Ed. New York: Longman, 1998. 115-124.