The Chrysanthemums Literary Analysis Essay

Sienna Follenvaider Ms. Leibowitz English/Humanities February 8th “Marigolds” Literary Analysis Essay “Marigolds”, a short story by Eugenia W. Collier takes place in the 1960’s during the great depression. Poverty has struck the town in rural Maryland, where fourteen year old Lizabeth struggles to find out who she is. One day out of pure boredom, children begin to throw stones at Miss Lottie's precious marigolds. The theme of Marigolds by Eugenia W. Collier is coming of age, which is developed through symbolism, characterization, and conflict.

Further supporting Henry’s expectations, the way Elisa dresses while she gardens, downplays her femininity. As Elisa is busy working in the fields, her hair gets in her way and she moves it to the side. In the process she “left a smudge of earth on her cheek” (1). Having dirt on her face did not concern her, and so she did not take time to remove it. In Elisa’s mind, tending her garden allows her to find inner happiness amongst her chrysanthemums.

Humans hate feeling powerless and vulnerable. We discover this in the film “X-men” and in the book “The Chrysalids” in which humans reject the thought of mutants, or deviations and instead believe that they can remove them. This causes conflict throughout both novels. The movie the “X-Men” and the book “The Chrysalids” are both set in a post nuclear disaster, where the characters are telepathic, the authors/directors incorporate symbolism to demonstrate power and prejudice, that mirrors our own world today.

The imagery Steinbeck uses creates beautiful woman who was very beautiful. He describes her with the body shape of what many of today's women strive for. He creates a young girl who appeals to both genders.

The Chrysanthemums takes place in a society that has no place for intelligent women. Elisa Allen is smart and has other attributes that go to waste since she is a women. The two men in this story Henry and the tinker are less talented than Elisa but have am more fulfilling and busy life. Henry is shown to be less intelligent but he runs the ranch, supports himself and wife, and makes business deals. All Elisa does is watch from afar while getting vague and condescending answers from her husband who doesn't see her as an equal.

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

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.

Truth and perspective can often be misleading. In "In a Grove," by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, several characters give their own testimonies regarding the murder of a samurai and the assault of his wife. However, these testimonies contradict each other in specific details. Although a perpetrator has been identified and captured, no conclusion regarding the true sequence of events that occurred can be found due to the confusing nature of the situation. The conflicting accounts of the events leading to the samurai 's tragic end create an ambiguous tale in which different viewpoints and opinions regarding the scenario are explained.

Alice Walker the author of the Flowers”, was inspired to write this story because of the tragedy that has happened to multiple black Americans and how it has affected their human rights. This story describes scenery that may have happened around South America starting off with a girl named Myop, a ten-year old girl who explores the world around her, unaware of the secrets the world beyond holds. In the first paragraph, Alice Walker clearly emphasises Myops purity and young innocence with the quote “She skipped lightly from hen house to pigpen.” This demonstrates how happy Myop is in this setting, we can identify she feels safe here, “ She felt light and good in the warm sun.”

Marguerite went through a terrible time in her life so detrimental to her that she didn 't talk, Not a single word. As marguerite grew and got older she lived that way without any words, regardless of who tried to help her. Although Marguerite was remarkably intelligent and a notably nice girl she chooses to block the world out instead because it was easier. Maya Angelou better known as Marguerite in the short story “Mrs.Flowers” has been through a traumatic assault in her young age. Marguerite has shut many people out, until she has a discussion with Mrs.Flowers who shows her that shutting people out is not how you handle situations you do not want or know how to deal with.

Devor even shows us how the gender stereotypes are divided among today’s society. There are many examples of gender stereotypes in Carter’s story that go hand in hand with Devor’s statements. In Carter’s texts, there are examples of how the males act in a feminine way and how the females act in a masculine way.

The story “The flowere” by Alice Walker is about a young girl named Mayop who sudden fall from innocence. Myop is happy and carefree as she skips around her family playing with the animals. She does not look beyond her free comfortable childhood. She decides to explore the woods as she had done many times with her mother in late autumn while gathering nuts. The setting of the story is in natural, outdoor surroundings, where most of the event occur.

Another example, is how disappointed Spanky and Alfalfa was for not being able to meet AJ Ferguson, but all along they were expecting the “worlds greatest racer” to be a man. Which supports the idea that a woman was not expected to play roles that were usually thought of being for men only. Labeling women with stereotypes or specific roles in society can have a negative effect, but, at the same time be a good opportunity for women to set goals and achieve

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.