Images in Steinbeck's The Chrysanthemums

In his short story "The Chrysanthemums," John Steinbeck uses images of strength and capability to evoke the inner feelings of his main character and to contrast her feelings with those of other characters. This contrast takes place largely along gender lines and toys with and depends on the gender-role expectations of the reader as well as of the characters themselves. In this way Steinbeck explores the mind-set of this particular woman and the nature of gender roles in society. An examination of the story and of specific passages which may seem ambiguous but which are essential in conveying a specific underlying meaning will illustrate how Steinbeck achieves his purpose.

The narrative itself is simple in terms of story--Elisa Allen is left alone to tend her flowers while her husband takes some men to the fields to sell them some cattle. An itinerant household repairman in a wagon comes by and compliments her flowers to get her to give him a job to do. She later learns of his deception as she and her husband are on their way to town for dinner. What is important in this story is not the bald facts of the story but the emotional content in the interaction of the characters with one another and in the interaction of Elisa with her world.

The key element in her world is her bed of chrysanthemums, representing her strength, that which she does best and about which she is the most proud. She reacts with pride when her husband refers to her flowers:

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2). This phrase--"symbol of her prettiness"--means more than it says, for the dress represents an aspect of her personality, her prettiness, her feminine side, while her gardening clothes represent her strength in terms of a masculine side--the gardening clothes include a man's hat and other male attire, for instance. This idea of gender differences is made more explicit by the vendor as he keeps talking about how his life is not a life for a woman and how women would not be likely to accept the loneliness or the animals crawling under the wagon at night. It is evident that Elisa takes exception to this and would like to live such a life. More than this, she does not see the world in terms of things a woman can and cannot do but instead sees it as what she herself as an individual would do. She makes a clear connection between herself and the vendor in terms of how an individual ability can make a person feel powerful and one with the universe, as she feels when gardening and as he feels when fixing things: When the night is dark--why, the stars are sharp-pointed, and there's quiet. Why, you rise up and up! Every pointed star gets driven into your body. It's like that. Hot and sharp and--lovely (251). The vendor senses th

Category: Literature - I