The Chrysanthemums Literary Analysis One of the themes of “The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck is gender inequality. In this short story, the main character Elisa Allen was a strong, smart woman who was stuck being a common housewife. Elisa wishes she could go out and be like the tinker, sleeping under the stars and adventuring every day of her life. Elisa’s husband owns a ranch of some sorts, and when he tells Elisa of the business deal he’d just made he gave her an unspecific explanation, or a dumbed down one so he doesn’t “confuse her”.
In the short story “The Flowers”, Alice Walker sufficiently prepares the reader for the texts surprise ending while also displaying the gradual loss of Myop’s innocence. The author uses literary devices like imagery, setting, and diction to convey her overall theme of coming of age because of the awareness of society's behavior.
Alice Walker uses imagery and diction throughout her short story to tell the reader the meaning of “The Flowers”. The meaning of innocence lost and people growing up being changed by the harshness of reality. The author is able to use the imagery to show the difference between innocence and the loss of it. The setting is also used to show this as well.
Transitional states of maturity can be challenged or championed by unexpected discoveries which can be confronting or provocative. This is explored through Alice Walker’s 1973 prose fiction, “The Flowers”, as the protagonist’s view on the world is transformed due to the personal zemblanic discovery made. The short story explores the themes of loss of innocence and death in order to address cultural indifference and the prejudice experienced by certain groups within society, which in turn causes individuals to be effected negatively. Walker hopes to evoke sense of political and social reflection in her audience, hoping that intimate discoveries of past inequity by her readers will ensure cultural equity maintains future momentum.
The setting shapes the mood and tone of a story and has a great affect on what happens in a story. The setting influences the events that take place, how the characters interact and even how they behave. Settings show where and how the character lives, what they do, and what they value. Characters have a relationship with the setting just as much as they do with other characters in the story. This is seen in the effects the setting has on the development of the Character Elisa in the story “The Chrysanthemums.”
In a simile, she compares gardening to “boxing… The wins versus the losses” (Hudes 16). Through this comparison, Hudes conveys Ginny’s deep desire for a sense of control and success in her life. This desire is fed by the memory of her father, who was only bearable when he was gardening. Specifically, the assertion of this desire for control is evident as she recalls that her father “was a mean bastard…” but “became a saint if you put a flower in his hand” (Hudes 15). From those experiences of dealing with her father, a psychological analogy between nature and peace was instilled in Ginny’s mind at a young age, and is what she relies on as an adult to handle her emotional trauma.
In “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier the coming of age short story where a now grown up Lizabeth reminisce her childhood especially going into Ms.Lottie’s garden. Ms. Lottie, who did not like children but treated her precious marigolds gets them destroyed by Lizabeth. After destroying them, Lizabeth realizes her errors believing she became a women in that moment. This short story has several literary device that are used in it to help deepen the meaning. The use of imagery, symbolism and metaphors in “Marigolds” helps the reader that it is important to not lose
However, there are deficient expressions of femininity. Through the use of the symbol of the red tulips In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood shows how flowers are given special attention as objects; these flowers can grow at a time. However, not a lot of women can. The overall passage in this passage is the handmaids are parallel to a red tulip. The author includes this chapter in her book to show everybody has their own purpose in society.
Walker described her mother as radiant when she was planting, her work outshining the wrongdoings done to her and the people before her. The garden was where her mother could make truly make “art.” The garden was also a representation of the creativity of the women who hold a talent close to their heart
Jordan Matthews is contrasted with the character of the flower seller who is free-spirited, ephemeral, and associated with the natural world. The flower seller’s sense of freedom brings an almost unrealistic aspect to her character. The
He could hear them; didn't they know that he could hear them? “Do you think the flowers are for me?" Asks Claire breathless and Jared has to do a double take before understanding the question. Regis and flowers? That certainly sounded like his best friend, but he only did it for one person and that person was…
For example, Fowles emphasizes Ernestina’s rigid persona, as she feels obligated to act and behave a certain way in Lyme, a town which “gave ladies an excellent opportunity to assess and comment on their neighbors’ finery; and of course show off their own” (Fowles 127). Despite Ernestina’s appeal to the Victorian status-quo of feminine behavior, her adherence to this societal ideal limits her ability to express herself in any other way, as demonstrated through her “unwelcomely artificial” humor, and the city’s “hidebound” and solemn nature (129). As a result, Ernestina embodies a sterile, rigid, and un-natural perspective of love, and is never truly happy; without being able to express what she wants, her marriage is only a piece of paper, meaningless and simply the result of a “market for brides” (129). On the contrary, Fowles depicts Sarah as the human embodiment of freedom, the polar opposite of “English solemnity too solemn, English thought too moralistic, English religion too bigoted” (129-130). And though Sarah may never