The Chrysanthemums

“The Chrysanthemums”, by John Steinbeck, is about a women wanting more. Elisa Allen lives on a ranch with her husband Henry Allen. Elisa is a lean, strong women, her eyes are as clear as water, and she has a knack for gardening. Elisa treats her Chrysanthemums, which are her prized possession. One day her husband Henry, who is a successful business man, comes and tells Elisa about a successful business deal he made. Henry says that he is going to take her to town for dinner to celebrate after he gets back. While he is gone, a tall, bearded, and charming man comes to the farm. He is a tinker, he fixes pots and pans, and sharpens utensils, that got lost and does not know how to get back to the highway. The tinker asks Elisa if he can do anything
The Allan’s in the story also do not go out much or go to town. Whereas John and his wives never had enough money to go out either. Elisa Allen is very attracted the the tinker in the story and she wanted to touch him, I believe John put this information into “The Chrysanthemums” because his wives always left him. Lastly, Elisa is very protective of the flowers because she has no children so Elisa focuses on growing her flower. John and his wife have no children so the flowers represent his wives desire for children. Overall, John Steinbeck uses his life experiences in my of his writings not just in “The Chrysanthemums”. John had a tough life so many of the experiences he inserts into his writings are not positive or uplifting. A question I asked myself was, “How was John Steinbeck's relationships with his three wives?” because in “The Chrysanthemums” Elisa and Henry do not have a very good relationship. My second question was, “Why didn't John Steinbeck finish his degree at Stanford?” I asked this because I think John could have been in the middle class and could of had a better job in