Summary Of The Chrysanthemums

"The Chrysanthemums" is a short story in which John Steinbeck, the author, presents a telling of Elisa and Henry Allen’s marriage through Elisa’s perspective. The work takes place in the 1930s in the Salina Valleys, where Elisa is tending to her Chrysanthemums, while Henry is negotiating a business deal. Throughout the story, the reader gets an inside look into how Elisa truly feels about her relationship and life with Henry. Symbolism is an object, person, or an action that means more than what it literally is. Within the story, Steinbeck includes symbolism to the Chrysanthemums, themselves. The Chrysanthemums in the work symbolize the children Elisa never had, her femininity, and her role as a woman living in the 1930s. Firstly, the Chrysanthemums symbolize the children that Elisa never had. Elisa tends to her garden and handles the flowers with such love and care, similar to what a mother would do with a child. Just as one would also do with a child, Elisa is very protective of her flowers. To protect them, she places wire fencing around them, and makes sure that nothing comes in harm’s way of them: “No aphids were there, no sowbugs or snails or cutworms. Her terrier fingers destroyed such pests before they could get started” (1). The Chrysanthemums are symbolic of her children, which she is very proud and fond over: “In her tone and on her face there was a little smugness” (1). She is content and pleased with her natural ability to nurture these flowers by her