Comparing The Chrysanthemums And Shiloh

The Unhappily Married in Fiction The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck and Shiloh by Bobbie Ann Mason have many similar components with slight differences. The point of view in Shiloh is told by third person limited, and in Chrysanthemums it is also third person (mostly Elisa’s view.) The Chrysanthemums is a story about a wife named Elisa Allen who is unhappy with her life and marriage. Similarly, in Shiloh the main character's name is Norma Jean Motif, and she is also unhappy with her marriage. These stories struck me as interesting because of the unique time period they are set in. Chrysanthemums was published in 1938, and Shiloh was published in 1982. Both characters show signs of wanting to become independent and gain more freedom. Also they both have masculine characteristics because of the motivation to independent. The comparison of gender roles, point of view, and setting are big factors of why these stories work together to be so similar with slight differences.
Chrysanthemums was published about a decade after the Women’s Rights Movements, and Shiloh was
Norma Jean is very independent, lifts weights and tries to educate herself. Both Elisa's husband and her mom do not agree with her choices about the new things she's trying. On page 575 it says, “Something is happening. Norma Jean is going to night school... She spends her evenings out-lining paragraphs” (Mason 575). She starts a English Comp class and it symbolizes her not only trying to educate herself but also re-writing her life. Both characters become more independent while their husband’s are at work. Norma Jean starts feeling trapped, and feels a loss of freedom with her husband home, and mom pushing into her personal life. The more they try to change Norma’s life, the more she gets uneasy with them. At the end of The Chrysanthemums, Elisa notices her flowers that she gave on the side of the