Symbolism in The Chrysanthemums
            
            
             John Steinbeck's short story The Chrysanthemums shows Elisa Allen, a strong, capable, childless woman of thirty-five who is frustrated with her present life with her husband, Henry, a man of unscrupulous confidence (French 83). She "longs for what women's magazines vaguely call romance" (Segal 215), and is "a woman who has a strength of will usually identified with men, as well as an ambiguous combination of traditionally masculine and feminine traits" (Hughes 59). Through symbolism Steinbeck shows how Elisa struggles to fulfill her personal, social, and sexual needs as a woman in a world dominated by men.
             The story opens by describing a "high gray flannel fog of winter [that] closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from the rest of the world." This image represents Elisa's depression, boredom, and lack of change in her life. The heavy fog is further described as making the valley appear as a "closed pot," which is in relation to Elisa's emotions and how she keeps them to herself and keeps them inside.
             Elisa's frustration to conform to a woman's role is evident when she is first introduced. She is described as "blocked and heavy" because she is wearing heavy gloves, heavy shoes, a "man's black hat," and a big apron that hides her dress. Her home has masculine qualities as well, being "hard swept" and "hard polished." Elisa is bored with her life and her husband and is trying to extend her female role into other masculine areas.
             "As a dominant symbol Elisa's chrysanthemums are the very backbone of the plot" (Hughes 60). They symbolize Elisa's role as a mother, as she is frustrated with her life because children and romance are missing in her marriage with Henry. She tends to her garden with love and care just like a mother would to her child. She even &...