Annotated Bibliography Essay

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Annotated Bibliography Palmerino, Gregory J. "Steinbeck's 'The Chrysanthemums'." The Explicator 62.3 (2004): 164+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. Elisa an "Embryonic feminist," as Charles Sweet has suggested? Or, as Leroy Thomas argues, is she a "Sexually frustrated woman" whose release comes only from gardening? Are the chrysanthemums "a substitute for children," which the Allens are apparently without, as suggested by Mordecai Marcus? Finally, is Henry "Rendered effectively sterile" by a wife who "Secures herself within a fortress of sexual reticence and self-withholding," as indicated by Stanley Renner? These kind of mysterious questions grow out of a more deeply rooted dysfunction between Henry and Elisa a lack of real communication. When Henry approaches Elisa's garden and comments on her impressive crop of chrysanthemums, his business sensibilities cause him to wish out loud that Elisa would raise a cash crop of apples equally impressive. Is Henry incapable of getting his own price because he lacks skills in the ways of complicated or unpleasant discourse? Nevertheless, to "Celebrate" his sale, Henry offers to take Elisa out for dinner and a movie .His wife replies, "No, I wouldn't like fights." Interestingly, Elisa does not say the fights, which, as it is revealed later in the story, Elisa has been reading about all along. Elisa wants to know what her husband means by "Nice." But Henry says he means "Strong." Elisa uncharacteristically forces the issue and insists on knowing what he means by strong. Henry predictably interprets his wife's verbal assault as "Some kind of a game" rather than confrontational and responds in kind: "You look strong enough to break a calf over your knee, happy enough to eat it like a watermelon." Elisa loses "Her rigidity" momentarily and scolds him: "Henry! Don't talk like that. You didn't know what you
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