The Chrysamthemums Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Chrysamthemums - Essay Example Flower and wire fence create a picture how her tender emotions are imprisoned. Through such enclosures, she watches the activities that are taking place in the society. Elisa has no conflict with her husband; everything apparently seems to go on well. Her dissatisfaction with her life has nothing to do with the attitudes of her husband and his disposition towards her. The story critically examines her psychology. The images of seasons, weather, plants and animals—all work as natures agents to provide support to the happiness of her life. When a bright and energetic woman has to fall in line to follow the routine procedures of married life, an unseen compulsion blocks her career goals and she turns cynical. Elisa makes desperate efforts to come to terms to find real happiness in life, but in vain. She thinks that she is going round and round in the same circle with no possibility of finding an opening. A powerful woman feels powerless for no apparent reasons, except that she is married. Steinbeck further writes, â€Å"She took off a glove and put her strong fingers down into the forest of new green chrysanthemum sprouts that were growing around the old roots. She spread the leaves and looked down among the close-growing stems. No aphids were there, no sow bugs or snails or cutworms. Her terrier fingers destroyed such pests before they could get started.†(p.375) This description indicates something profound about Elisas personality. She is cut out to accomplish the great, but she has to find satisfaction in activities like trimming the plants and dealing with the chrysanthemums. Being unable to find the perfect disciplines in her choices in life, she practices to adjust and carry on with the available discipline! In fine, the story "The Chrysanthemums" is steeped in symbolism to highlight the plight of an ambitious