“Why-why Elisa…. You look strong enough to break a calf over your knee, happy
enough to eat it like a watermelon.” (Steinbeck 232) Most people reading this would just pass it
off as a tactless man’s attempt to compliment, but is that all it is? In “The Chrysanthemums”,
Elisa is a farm wife, whose only passion in life is found in her gardening. Henry, her husband,
owns a farm and is oblivious to the monotony of Elisa’s life. Throughout the story, Henry is on
the outside, never really understanding Elisa and how she feels. Until, a tinker comes by the farm
and speaks with Elisa about her Chrysanthemums. By asking just one question, the tinker opens
Elisa and allows her to release the passion and femininity that she keeps hidden throughout her
life. In John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums”, Henry Allen’s seemingly inept comment is not
just that but an allusion, put in place by Steinbeck, to the Dionysian maenads.
Dionysus is the Greek god of wine, merrymaking and gathering. His followers, the
maenads, were said to be pushed into some form of “divine madness”, aided by wine, which
would lead to prophecy and insight. More often, however, it led to drunkenness and promiscuity.
They would then dance, sing and wander about, not to mention, join in sexual activities to
stimulate fertility of the earth and achieve ecstasy. The maenads would occasionally reach a
dangerous “frenzied state” where if they happened across it, they would “tear animals apart and
devour the raw flesh” (“Maenads” par.1). So, knowing that, we take a second look at our story.
Elisa Allen has had an erotic experience with the tinker by merely speaking of the passion she
has for her chrysanthemums that has opened her eyes to how much of herself that she hides and
subdues. Henry notices a difference in Elisa, beyond the way she is dressed, but he has never
seen the passionate side of her and does not know what to say. When Henry claims that Elisa
looks strong enough to kill and eat a cow, Steinbeck is making an allusion to the maenads of the
ancient Greek world. David Leon Higdon, a scholar, claims that “With this image…Steinbeck
transforms the characters and the ranch, synchronizing empirical and mythical realities, and
identifying Elisa's new power and beauty with those of the Maenads or Bacchantes in their
worship of Dionysus” (par. 1).
It is quite clear that Henry’s comment is more than just that. “It is as if Steinbeck wished
his reader to feel, for one brief moment, that he or she had opened a door inappropriately and
Within Steinbeck's story, "Chrysanthemums," the main character, Elisa Allen, is confronted with many instances of conflict. Steinbeck uses chrysanthemums to symbolize this conflict and Elisa's self-worth. By examining these points of conflict and the symbolism presented by the chrysanthemums, the meaning of the story can be better determined.
Renner, Stanley. “The Real Woman Inside the Fence in ‘The Chrysanthemums’.” Modern Fiction Studies. Vol. 31. No.2. (Summer 1985). 305-317. print; reprinted in Short Story Criticisms. Vol.37. eds. Anja Barnard and Anna Sheets Nesbitt (Farmington Hills: The Gale Group, 2000). 333-339. print.
"O, that this too sailed flesh would meld/or that the everlasting had not fixed/his cannon against self-slaughter" (I.ii.129-132).
In the short story “The Chrysanthemums” John Steinbeck uses symbolism to reflect the characteristics of his main character Elisa Allen. Elisa, a married woman uncovers her deeply smothered femininity in an inconspicuous sense. Her life in the valley had become limited to housewife duties and the only sustenance that seemed to exist could merely be found in her chrysanthemum garden. Not until she becomes encountered with a remote tinker-man out and about seeking for work, does she begin to reach many of the internal emotions that had long inhibited her femininity. The tinker subtlety engages an interest in Elisa’s chrysanthemum garden that encourages Elisa to react radically. When Elisa realizes that there are other ways to live she attempts to lift the lid off of the Salinas Valley, but unfortunately the tinker’s insincere actions resort Elisa back to her old self and leaves Elisa without any optimism for her hollow breakthrough. Steinbeck’s somber details of the setting, strong description of the chrysanthemums and meaningful illustration of the red flower-pot reveal the distant, natural, ambitions Elisa Allen desired to attain.
Elisa Allen is working on her garden and she sees her husband, Henry, speaking with two men about selling his steers. The garden bed and the house are called to attention and it is pointed out that they are very clean and organized. Once the strangers leave, Henry comes over to her and politely praises her on how lovely the garden looks and then wishes that she would attend to the orchards in the same way. She at first is egger to help but realizes that he was joking. Henry says they should celebrate by going to town and jokingly suggests seeing a fight, to which Elisa turns down. Henry leaves and a wagon pulls up with a charming, yet uneducated, tinker. They joke about the ferocity of the dogs. He asks for work to pay to feed his self and Elisa denies that there is work for him to do. He notices the chrysanthemums and tells her that he has a client that wants to raise some. She suddenly is excited and begins to ready some plants for him to take with him, and she instructs him on how to take care of them. She expresses her passion and her connection to the flowers in a seductive manner, even to the point of wanting to have physical contact with the tinker. She refrains from touching. The tinker points out that it’s hard to feel that way when hungry. Elisa gives in and finds something for him to work on. As the tinker works, Elisa expresses her opinion that women can do that same kind of work he does, to which he says it would be to lo...
“been awakened at the dawn of day by the most heart-rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood. No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose…[he remembered] the first time [he] ever witnessed this horrible exhibition. [He] was quite a child, but [he] well remembers it.” (7)
Those are the first thoughts that come to my mind as I read through my brand new schedule for the fall semester. How hard could it get? Just writing words decorated with elegant syntax that manages to make coherent arguments. Using “Aurora” to say that dawn had fell, or “supine” to explain we are lying on the coach, academic writing has become a competition between elaborated pieces that has made reading and writing a quirky, long and peculiar journey that could never be used in real life unless you pursued academic writing as your life long occupation. But that is what the system has required, what can we do? We embrace it, and write based on the blueprints that are handed down
...althy individual, this is a warning.” There are deep psychological issues that lead to violent crimes against people” (cfawr). What is more shocking is that most animal abusers abuse animals for entertainment of both themselves and others, and to show their aggressiveness.
... Their attitude and tone is something that can be contrasted in the two stories.
Seeing maimed animals are not pleasant images. Those images sometimes appear across computer and television screens. The advocacy groups who place these images in the public’s view are trying to jolt people into the realization that abuse exists. For every ten seconds that goes by an animal is getting abused (“Animal… Statistics”). One statistic states that “71% of pet-owning women entering women’s shelters reported that their batterer had injured, maimed, killed or threatened family pets for revenge or to psychologically control victims; 32% reported their children had hurt or killed animals” (“Animal… Violence”). Animal cruelty comes in several forms, some of which people do not know. There is animal experimenting, animal abuse, and mistreatment of animals. and through revealing the results from research, one discovers the horrific effects of animal abuse.
Steinbeck, John. “The Chrysanthemums” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V Roberts and Robert Zweig. 10th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2012. 416-422. Print.
C. Thesis Statement- The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate why Chipotle is an undisputed leader in the growing fast food casual.
In the short story by John Steinbeck, The Chrysanthemums, symbolism, allegory and foreshadowing flood the story from start to finish. Steinbeck’s chosen words to describe the setting, plot and conclusion allows readers to evaluate and analyze the story in many ways. The story begins by describing the setting as enclosed, gray and repressive. Elisa Allen is introduced as the central character of the story, onto which the symbolism and allegory mainly affect. As the story develops further, Elisa’s encounter with a Tinker, leads her to “explode those repressed desires,” (Shockett) which have been suppressed by the symbolically “closed pot” (Steinbeck) in which the story takes place. The use of literary techniques
Every 60 seconds an animal is abused. Dogs, cats, horses, and many other types of animals are being neglected and tortured everyday, yet resulting in few and minor consequences for the perpetrators. Animal abuse is prevalent in the United States and has been an ongoing issue since the 1970's, and prior to. Society as a whole has chosen to avoid the facts and arguments about animal cruelty, because to some it is seen as acceptable and typical. It becomes much more frowned upon when people actually see the results of the cruelty, especially in the media.
For animal welfare and the causes of animal abuse new research has been created. Since animal abuse is fairly a new subject, new research is constantly brought up. In the Bahamas a study was done in the College of Bahamas, and it states that, “…dogs were equally likely to be considered members of the household in homes without domestic violence,” (Fielding 197). Homes with violence show that humans substitute human victims for animal victims. Animal rights activists are trying to break down symbolic boundaries betw...