"The Epiphany in Steinbeck's 'The Chrysanthemums'"
Short stores are written to deploy "hidden" messages. Although short stories are brief enough to skim through, the reader must read between the lines to understand its true meaning. There are a variety of types of short stories, one of which is epiphany. Epiphany is "some moment of insight, discover, or revelation by which a character's life or view of life is greatly altered" (Kennedy, 14). John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums" exemplifies an epiphany in which the main character struggles to find her identity. Steinbeck describes Elisa Allen, a lonely farmer's wife. Elisa is introduced as a very manly looking individual with a little hint of feminism : "Her figure looked blocked and heavy in her gardening costume." She wore " a man's black hat, clod-hopper shoes and heavy leather gloves." She was also wearing "a figured print dress almost completely covered by a big corduroy apron." (Steinbeck 254) Even if Elisa hid behind the symbolic attire, she was still doing the "female" job of tending a garden. Her ability to raise these chrysanthemums demonstrated her competence in creation, as well as her nurturing side. As a woman of that time, she feels trapped as an individual of society. Elisa, like many other women, was n
This salesman travels to countries, making whatever little money he can from his customers by repairing their pots or knives. "The irritation and resistance melted from Elisa's face" (Steinbeck 257). As Elisa explains the care of the chrysanthemums, she becomes vulnerable and ends up finding work for the salesman, paying him fifty cents. " (Steinbeck 260) Elisa's epiphany starts to die out when her husband Henry sees her and all he can say is "you look nice". Elisa is left feeling rejected and emotionally depressed. Elisa starts to feel that she is not isolated from the world as she thought she was. " After the salesman departs, Elisa feels like a renewed woman and rushes to take a bath, scrubbing away her old, shy self. " This has proven that Elisa will forever be trapped inside her garden. The story ends with Elisa "crying weakly-like an old woman. This is exemplified in the setting of the story : "The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world. We tend to portray ourselves as someone we "hope" to be. John Steinbeck prepares his reader for this "moment of realization" by introducing Elisa's dreary life as a housewife. But, just as Elisa realizes that she is not allowed to "leave the fences of her garden", we too are trapped in the world of "Reality".
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