The Chrysanthemums

The Chrysanthemums was a short story written by John Steinbeck in 1937. This short story was about a pretty yellow flower. John Steinbeck did a good job in written this story. The main character Elisa is a hard working women who can plant really nice chrysanthemums in her garden and can get them to grow up looking really good.

One day Elisa was working in her garden planting her pretty chrysanthemums, and her husband Henry is out in the fields working. A old man that is in a wagon comes along and tries to get Elisa to buy something, or to get her to let him replace something of hers to make some money. Elisa had nothing for the man to do so he pretended to be interested in her pretty yellow chrysanthemums.

She told him how they are chrysanthemums, he said that their was a women up the road who wanted some of those flowers. Elisa without giving it a second thought ran to the house and gave this man some of the flowers. She was just trying to be nice and give him something to do for some money. After that she felt very sorry for him and gave him a pot to fix. After he fixed the pot he went on his way.

Later that night Elisa and her husband went into town for dinner,and along the side of the road Elisa saw the flowers that she had given to the man. She never saw that man again and thought that it was kind of strange ow he just showed up out of nowhere and then just disappeared again never to be seen.

The theme of this story I think would be on how you can't trust just anyone. Elisa thought that she could trust this man and help him out, but she thought wrong. Later that night when her husband and her was going into town she saw the flowers on the ground along the road. This made Elisa feel really bad and old herself. In the long run you should never trust someone that you don't know. Make sure that you always know the person that you are talking to so you don't get into trouble.

How much of what the wagon man tells Ellen is true? Clearly his story about taking chrysanthemums to a customer is a fabrication. Is it likely that he has regular customers on his route, or that he has any customers at all? Are you convinced by his story about travelling from Seattle to San Diego and back every year?

Is Ellen convinced? Not at first. Initially she just wants him off her land, but when he shows an interest in the flowers her mood changes entirely. Does she show a genuine interest in the man or does she simply relish the opportunity to show off her expertise?

There are two important points to consider here.

Think about how Ellen and the wagon man each have a particular practical skill.

Also, think about the symbolism of the confined existence which each leads. The man lives a roving life, to be sure, but he is alone, and his home is a wagon. Ellen lives on a farm, but all she can call her own is a fenced-off flower garden.

Consider how Ellen stares wistfully after the wagon as it leaves. Do you think she would like the wagon man's life (whatever she believes it to be)? Is she happy with her current life, or angry at having had it reflected back to her? Consider how she reacts to her husband when he comes home, and his reaction to her uncharacteristc strength of will.

Perhaps her new-found strength derives from a notion of having performed some sort of good deed.

Yet the positive attitude with which she dispatched

the man with her flowers recedes. Does she recognise in herself a bourgeois selfishness? She could, after all, have given him some jobs to do and paid him honstely without indulging in an act of charity. This combination of selfishness and guilt would account for her mood at the end of the story, and it could be extended to imply that she actually feels sorrow at the loss of her chrysanthemums. I would not go this far, but it is worth mentioning in relation to what I said about the significance of the flower garden as a metaphor for Ellen's life.

These are some ideas. Please do get back to me if you are not sure about anything I have written or have any more questions.

Adam

Reading the short passage "The Chrysanthemums" gave me a clear picture of this place.In the passage Steinbeck describes Salinas Valley as being a dull and miserable place. Salinas Valley is the past, because it was closed from the rest of the world. As it was stated in the sshort passage on (p.288 line2)On every side it sat like a lid on thhe mountain annd made of the great valley a closed pot.

The tinker states the Chrysanthemums are lengthy stemmed flowers.The Chrysanthemums is a punching sack for Elisa to get out her baffle over the lack of rrespect that she receives

as a woman.The flower gives her hope.Elisa is trying to acquire management skills over her life,because she feels trapped in,she's a very discipline woman.

Henry and relationship is boring they don't pay close attention to one another needs. Henry loves to be seen, he's also aa jealous man.

I think Elisa is a real lonely person trapped inside a different time zone. She can't live life as she would like too.

In John SteinbeckÐŽ¦s short story The Chrysanthemums a struggle for equality is portrayed through the character Elisa Allen. Elisa is a frustrated woman living in a male dominated society. This theme is introduced to the audience at the beginning of the story. ElisaÐŽ¦s figure is described as ÐŽ§blocked and heavyЎЁ and her home is described as ÐŽ§hard-sweptЎЁ and ÐŽ§hard-polished.ЎЁ I believe that Elisa is possibly unhappy with her female role, so in turn, she tries to reach out into some masculine areas or activities. Elisa seems as though she attempts to react to situations as a man would, but due to a womanÐŽ¦s emotional side she is unable to do so. Take, for instance, when her husband comments about her ÐŽ§strongЎЁ chrysanthemum crop. She is very pleased by the manliness that the word strong implies. Although quickly her husband asks her out for a night out on the town, therefore she is reminded of her womanhood. The next situation involves the Tinker, offering to fix pots, pans and etc. When the dirty, tired man approaches her she declines his services, possibly as a man would. But the Tinker finds her sweet spot by asking her about her flowers. He pretends to be interested in her love for flowers. As he is doing this she emerges from her masculine side and her femininity burst through. She has allowed her emotions to come through, a trait woman posses. As she goes into her home