English Essay

The Chrysanthemums
In “The Chrysanthemums,” Steinbeck uses strong character, elaborate imagery, and comforting metaphor to highlight the difficulty of a woman’s life on the farm.   This ultimately shows society that women were not respected as they are now.
The plot of the chrysanthemums centers primarily on the thoughts and experiences of Elisa. Elisa is a married woman who works in her garden, most the day, with her chrysanthemums.   The chrysanthemums show Elisa’s inner-strength.   She feels made to be inferior to her husband, Henry, and her garden gives her a kind of strength that others don’t see because she is a woman.   While Elisa is working in her garden, Henry comes by to talk to her about going to town that evening.   He mentions the town fights and Elisa doesn’t want to go because, since she is a woman, it would be considered out of a woman’s place to go.   After they make their plans, a man pulls up in an old wagon and began to talk to Elisa while she was in her garden.   The man begins to acknowledge the beautiful work she is doing. Elisa begins to feel her inner-strength and a kind of importance to the society, because someone thinks her work is outstanding, instead of petty, like Henry thinks of her garden.   The man begins to ask how she does it, and Elisa shares her experience with the flowers.   He tells Elisa that he knows a woman that has been very interested in getting for beautiful chrysanthemums.   Elisa puts some in potted sand for the man to give to the woman, and she instructs him on how to take care of them.   As she kneeled to get the plants it is said that, “her breasts swelled passionately.   The man’s eyes narrowed and he looked away self-consciously.   Elisa then began to reach for his greasy black trousers” (Page 730).   This act of control, again, shows her inner-strength in her marriage because even though Henry is very judgmental of her work, she still loves him.   After the man is gone, Elisa begins to get ready for dinner.   After she is...