Lily’s new found family gave her hope, helped her grow in strength and confidence, and discover truths that broke down her walls and impacted her positively. The day Lily ran away and busted Rosaleen out of jail they ended up in Tiburon where her life would change. In Tiburon, there was a pink house with three sisters named August May and June who raised bees and sold honey. They were the sweetest three women Lily had ever met.
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”.
When all three sisters died--though their martyrdom was not intentional--they became symbols of what it means to stand up to oppression, giving hope to those left behind. Specifically, they showed the women of their time period that it is not only men who are the brave ones, prompting a large movement for women to escape from gender roles. Clearly, the importance of sacrifice is a prominent theme in Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies.
“They were pure and innocent—something that wasn’t often found in this world of greed, disgrace, and self-gratification” (Preston 88). Clover often thought of the girls in his cellar as flowers; his mother taught him that flowers were pure and beautiful, and that is what he wanted his family to be similar too. One night, Summer Robinson is walking alone in the dark, something her crazy-hot-protective boyfriend ☺ always tells her not to do. She suddenly hears and sees a man walking toward her saying “Lily”, and he soon calls her Lily. Because of this, Summer feels uneasy and tries to find an escape route; the man kidnaps her and brings her to his cellar.
Hardships can shape an individual’s ability to persevere through difficult times and act as barriers to one’s aspirations. A person who faces rough hardships will develop to become rigid and resilient through struggle, while an easily distracted individual may stray off course and be left behind. In the short story “The Chrysanthemums”, John Steinbeck explores the idea that when an independent and strong-willed individual is faced with a patriarchal gender barrier, they are likely to become overwhelmed with feelings of insecurity and weakness. In the mid-1900s, there was a widespread belief in male superiority and the perception that women should not have demanding careers as they were inferior to men in physical, emotional, and mental strength.
In the beginning of the story, Steinbeck describes Elisa as having masculine qualities. “Her face was lean and strong and … her figure looked blocked and heavy in her gardening costume…” (Steinbeck 237-238). The word “strong” describes her many times throughout the story. She is so strong that the stems of the chrysanthemums “seemed too small and easy for her energy” (Steinbeck 238). As the story progresses, her attitude goes through a significant
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
The novella ‘of Mice and Men’ was written by John Steinbeck in the 1930s. It is set in a difficult period of time when America was sunk in deep depression. However, themes of loyalty shine brightly throughout the novella. He shows that even though Americas economy is in tatters, loyalty can still be as prominent. There were also distinct themes of disloyalty, mainly between characters.
In her short story “Marigolds”, Eugenia Collier, tells the story of a young woman named Lizabeth growing up in rural Maryland during the Depression. Lizabeth is on the verge of becoming an adult, but one moment suddenly makes her feel more woman than child and has an impact on the rest of her life. Through her use of diction, point of view, and symbolism, Eugenia Collier develops the theme that people can create beauty in their lives even in the poorest of situations. Through her use of the stylistic device diction, Eugenia Collier is able to describe to the reader the beauty of the marigolds compared to the drab and dusty town the story is set in.
In this excerpt from “The Beet Queen”, by Louise Erdrich, Mary and Karl Adare give the impression as diverse characters. The passage explores their retorts to their surroundings in the environment and of their perspectives around them during the time of depression. Erdrich uses literary devices such as tone, imagery combined with juxtaposition, selection of detail, and point of view to convey the impact from the environment. Erdrich expresses, “And then, either to protect himself or to seize the blooms, Karl reached out and tore a branch from the tree.”
1. Of Mice and Men contains many symbols. Discuss two of these symbols. Two prevalent symbols in “Of Mice And Men” by John Steinbeck are dogs and rabbits. Dogs are used in the novel to represent Lennie, and they way he’s treated.
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
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. At the beguining of the story the author makes use of proper and necessary diction to create a euphoric and blissful aura. The character Myop “skipped lightly” while walker describes the harvests and how is causes “excited little tremors to run up her jaws.”. This is an introduction of the childlike innocence present in the main character.
Masculine and Feminine Roles in Steinbeck’s “Chrysanthemums” In the story “The Chrysanthemums”, by John Steinbeck, Elisa Allen lives an unsatisfactory life as she desires more than what is bestowed upon her. The reader learns Elisa’s husband is culpable for not seeing the beauty of his wife, leaving an open door for the antagonist, a traveler, to prey upon Elisa’s. Steinbeck uses Masculine and Feminine roles of the early 20th century, Internal Conflict, and an antagonist, to show Elisa’s struggle for Identity. Steinbeck illustrates Masculine and feminine roles of the 20th century in the “Chrysanthemums” to show Elisa’s struggle with identity.
Elisa Allen, the protagonist of The Chrysanthemums was miserable, a 35 year old women, and dressed manly when tending to her flowers. ‘Her figure looked blocked and heavy in her gardening costume, a man's black hat pulled low down over her eyes, clod- hopper shoes, a figured print dress almost completely covered by a big corduroy apron with four big
