Lawrence

Death in a FlowerRalph Waldo Emerson once said "Is not marriage an open question, when it isalleged, from the beginning of the world, that such as are in the institution wish to getout, and such as are out wish to get in?"(Brainy Quote). Emerson's expressions are alltoo true for many married people as well as those in serious relationships. It seems thatengaging in marriage is a step that many take only to find out it was a mistake. Nothingis ever perfect in relationships as well as in life and in death. D.H. Lawrence similarlyillustrates the theme of relationships and their unsuccessfulness in life in his short story"Odour of Chrysanthemums". He realistically demonstrates these themes with "thepitiless self-discovery sometimes brought about only through the death of another" (72).In the story, Mrs. Elizabeth Bates, the protagonist, realizes the harsh realities of marriageas she waits for her husband to come home from the mineshaft one night. She isbombarded with the thought of him getting drunk at the local tavern and is furious at hisinconsiderateness to the children and her. When Elizabeth discovers the death of herhusband, she deals with the fact that she never loved him; he was simply a stepping stonefor her two children and her unborn child into the world. Through diction in "Odour ofChrysanthemums" , a depressing and thought provoking story, Lawrence majesticallyuses beautiful language and vivid scenes through imagery, foreshadowing, andsymbolism to portray the hard times in Elizabeth's life. The main theme in the story isthat truth and the relationships in life are often difficult and are sometimes not figured outuntil the ultimate tragedy, death.Conflict is very strong in Elizabeth's life. As the plot thickens, she begins todiscover the truths in her life through the events during the day. Realizing that herhusband is the root of much of the conflict, Elizabeth takes a deeper look at his own flesh

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and blood: her son. "She saw herself in his [her son's] silence and pertinacity; she sawthe father in her child's indifference to all but himself" (75). Lawrence characterizesElizabeth through her son's action. She starts to see traits in her son that she had notnoticed before; moreover, the fact that she sees herself as quiet and determined in herson's personality makes her look like a warm nurturing mother. In contrast, she sees aselfish image in the child inherited from the father, characterizing the father as a badinfluence to the son. Her thoughts foreshadow to the reader and to her that the marriageis having problems because she cannot even find a moral trait in her husband let alone herson. Her thoughts also demonstrate her feelings of anger towards her husband becauseshe thinks about the negative characteristics that her son possesses from the father ratherthan the positive. While waiting for her husband to return home from work or the barrather, she regrets ever moving in with him, "...what a fool I've been, what a fool! Andthis is what I came here for, to this dirty hole, rats and all, for him to slink past his verydoor" (78). She feels threatened and upset that her husband is so selfish as to not evencome home to his family when she has given up so much for him. Growing suspicionproves that Elizabeth no longer trusts her husband, and she faces with the reality of herdiminishing marriage.The conflict in Elizabeth's marriage is escalated by the representation of fire.Throughout the entire story, fire is forthcoming. As the fire starts to dwindle the climaxrises and death becomes more evident. The mood is set in the beginning of the storywhen the miners are described as "shadows diverging home" (73). A gloomy, lonelyemotion is felt by the scene, and fire is the only source of light and brightness. It isquickly obliterated as death approaches. "As she [Elizabeth] dropped piece after piece of

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coal on the red fire, the shadows fell on the walls, till the room was almost in totaldarkness" (77). Elizabeth becomes restless as her husband is no where to be seen orheard. To keep the fire burning all night would be absurd, so she slowly lets the glowingambers disperse into nothingness in hopes he will return home soon. Her hopes weakenin this ironic statement, "what a fool she had been to imagine that anything had happenedto him!" (79). Whereas she may not be serious; her words will come back to haunt herwhen she finds out that her husband has died. The strange thing is "'E [the husband] worsmothered [in the mine]!" (83). The fire at the home gradually disappearing, symbolizesthe very ashes at the mine that smothered Mr. Bates to death. Deep down Elizabeth feelsthat it was a long time coming because he was always coming home drunk andinconsiderate, but her feelings of guilt creep on--for she had inadvertently hoped thatsomething had happened to him.As fire represents the feeling of death, so too do chrysanthemums represent adeeper emotion. The powerful use of symbolism and imagery is evident in the storythrough the representation of chrysanthemums. The essence of these mums is far beyondtheir pink, purple, yellow, or white colors. They effectively symbolize the ups and downsin life. "It was chrysanthemums when I married him, and chrysanthemums when youwere born, and the first time they ever brought him home drunk..." (78). Getting marriedand having kids is an exiting time in life but associating mums with the hard times in life,such as drunkenness, foreshadows that the events to come are not so bright and thrilling.It appears that Elizabeth loves her kids but is very reluctant to her husband. When herlittle daughter Annie tells her that the mums smell good, Mrs. Bates disagreesimmediately, "...he'd got brown chrysanthemums in his button hole" (78). To smell the

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beauty of the flowers was awkward to Elizabeth because