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Margaret Sidorowicz- 1 Symbolism in "The Chrysanthemums" In his story "The Chrysanthemums", written in 1938, Steinbeck introduces us with a woman, named Elisa, who is trying to gain power in a man's world. Elisa Allen tries to define her role as a woman in a very close society. Her environment portrays the social depression, while the garden shows her power and masculine. Elisa has trouble extending this power outside the fence that surrounds her garden.
Finally, she learns but not accepts, that she possesses a weak feminine power, not the masculine one she had tried to achieve. The symbols in setting and characters show us the scope and nature of this empty society, and the chrysanthemums portray Elisa's existence and emptiness of her life. We can find those symbols almost everywhere in this story, which takes place around the same time it was written, in Salinas Valley, California, during the wintertime. The fog, in the beginning of the story, can be interpreted as something that can inhibit movement and sight, "sat like a lid on the mountains" (1 - 5). Moreover, the fog, like the close society, keeps things in step and restrained, like "a close pot." (1 - 5) Not only the fog, but also the orchards, "plowed up to receive the rain when it should come", symbolize the way our society create us to be empty inside, so it can fills us with whatever it feels is needed, regardless of our personal desires and needs.
The fences, which surrounds Elisa's garden, her working environment, symbolize Margaret Sidorowicz 2 her life. She is isolated from the real world, from the man's world. Also, like the fences, the narrow paths and ordered rows of her garden, are the symbols of society which demands from her to stop thinking, follow the paths, and don't go outside of the boundaries. Although, unlike her husband and the society he represents, Elisa shows us that at least she is trying to create something more than society dictates.
The control and care for the chrysanthemums represent her own control and care for her individuality. The uniqueness of her garden, the fact that "she could stick anything in the ground and make it grow" (10 - 15), and that her flowers are "bigger than anybody around here" (50 - 55) shows us that she has the power to shape who she is and what she does. The care she tends her garden with, also symbolizes her desire to have children and the frustration steams from not having them. She handles the chrysanthemums with love and care, just as she would handle her own children. Elisa places a "wire fence to protect her flowers from cattle and dogs and chickens" (10). She also make sure that "no aphids were there, no sow bugs or snails or cutworms" are there. "Her terrier fingers destroyed such pests before they could get started" (5 - 10).
These pests represent natural harm to the flowers, and, just as good mother, she removes them before they can harm The chrysanthemums also symbolize Elisa's femininity and sexuality. The portrait of Elisa caring for her flowers as they were her children is strong feminine image, which interlace, in this story, with her masculine image. We can observe the masculine image in the way she dresses "Her figure locked blocked and heavy in her gardening costume mans black hat clodhopper shoes She wore heavy leather gloves" (5 - 10), and in her "hard -swept and hard-polished" home (5 - 10). This image is carried over into Margaret Sidorowicz 3 her relationship with her husband. Elisa feels that Henry doesn't recognize or appreciate her femininity, and this makes her to be antagonistic toward him. There is a distinct lack of harmony between them, which causes Elisa to become discontented with her husband.
Observing her flowers, which mean a lot to her, everything he can say is "I wish you'd work out in the orchard and raise some apples that big. " (10 - 15) Henry's inability to understand Elisa's needs leaves her vulnerable in her encounter with the thinker, which renews Elisa's feelings of femininity and sexuality. Her masculine image disappears after the tinker romantically describes the chrysanthemums as a "quick puff of colored smoke" (50 - 55). The chrysanthemums symbolize Eliza's sexuality; so when tinker admires the flowers, she feels like he admires her and she "tears off the battered hat and shakes out her dark pretty hair" (60 - 65). By giving him the pot with flower, she gives him the symbol of her inner-self. As the tinker lives, Elisa starts to feel hope for herself and her marriage.
She sees a "bright direction" (90 - 95) and a new beginning of her marriage. After the tinker leaves, Elisa takes bath, scrubbing herself "with a little block of pumice, legs and thighs, loins and chest and arms, until her skin was scratched and red" (90 - 95). This symbolizes that she is feeling guilty for her attempts to cross these boundaries of society. She says "she's strong. Yes, strong" (100 - 105), but this is complete irony. The truth is that she is weak and unable to trust herself to be her own carrier.
When she fails to see the value of her own uniqueness, and fails to trust herself and what she feels is right, then she has failed in her struggle for existence over emptiness. This makes her unable to trust herself, to be confident in herself and to be responsible for her own actions and thoughts. Margaret Sidorowicz 4 She prepares for her night out with her husband full of hope for a better, more exciting life. By dressing slowly in front of the mirror and admiring her body Elisa is also admiring her femininity.
She hopes that Henry will recognize her as a woman and provide her with the romance and excitement for which she longs. However, her hope is quickly dashed. Henry's best compliment on her appearance after all her effort she put in order to look good is: "You look strong enough to break a calf over your knee, happy enough to eat it like a watermelon" (100 - 105). This unflattering remark on her appearance doesn't help Elisa's femininity, but her hope is totally crushed when she sees This one symbolic act has left her with no hope. She realizes that her life is not going to change, and that her femininity and sexuality are never going to be fully appreciated nor understood by Henry. She has to learn to be content with unexciting husband and her less than romantic marriage.
Her devastation at this realization makes her "crying weakly-like an old women" (120) Steinbeck leaves the reader questioning the future for women, but Elisa's tears will not rid the valley of the fog, for as author tells us in the beginning, "fog and rain do not go together" (1 - 5) Elisa will probably dominate her surrounding inside the fence, but she will never achieve the power outside of it, in a man's world. Hans P. Guth, Gabriele L Rico. "Discovering Literature, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2000. John Steinbeck, "The Chrysanthemums" p. 146 - 153 Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Femininity And Sexuality Unable To Trust Elisa
