Relationships In John Steinbeck's The Chrysanthemums '

Some people can easily become consumed by their work and eventually start to become a major recluse. This is the case for Elisa Allen in John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums.” Elisa has become enveloped in her love of gardening and has become a very introverted and quiet person. It seems like she is a rock and no one can reach her, however, this is not the case. The way to connect to an unreachable person is to find out what they love and appreciate it as much as they do. Even the most stubborn and self-protective people can have their defenses penetrated through this method. When we first meet Elisa she is hard at work among her precious chrysanthemums. We can see within the text that she is so enveloped in her work that she starts
In doing the he managed to find a common ground, a way to connect to her. By making a connection it piqued Elisa’s interest and made her very excited that someone would appreciate the sheer beauty of her work. The man says, “Kind of a long-stemmed flower? Looks like a quick puff of colored smoke?” He then continues to say that they smell nasty until you get used to them so that he can figure out if she likes the smell. By saying this he is not picking one side or another until after Elisa states that the smell isn’t bad. After this he goes on to say that there is a lady down the road with a very nice garden who would like to add a few chrysanthemums to it. I’m guessing that the traveling man knew that the flowers were harder to grow from the seed rather than just uprooting it and transplanting it. He decided to ask her for seeds so that she can have an opportunity to speak her knowledge about the plant. After she tells him that it’s better to do a transplant he acts disappointed to make her think that he truly does care about the flowers. Since she is so filled with elation at someone noticing her handiwork she decides to open up even more and just give the man a flower to take to the other woman’s garden. At this point the traveling man has completely exposed Elisa as she starts to tell him about her “planting hands.” Once she realizes what she has said and that she almost touched the man she feels ashamed. However, she still tries to find something for him to do because she feels as if she owes him even though the only thing he did was make her feel important and elated. Elisa ends up allowing him to fix two kettles and gives him fifty cents. As soon as the traveling man is paid he says a few words of departure and leaves. By the end of all of this Elisa has taken off her hat and gloves which is symbolic of her tough shell