John Steinbeck’s short story “The Chrysanthemums” is set in December near Salinas Valley‚ on a farm. The main theme in this short story is gender inequality. Gender inequality is seen throughout the story many times in different ways. In this essay I will explain how Steinbeck uses characters‚ culture‚ and plot to reinforce gender inequality throughout the story by making connections between the textual evidence and gender inequality‚ in order‚ to get a better understanding of why the theme is gender
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and happiness are generally categorized as parallel emotions‚ but they are definitely not the same. Contentment is a state of having no problems or issues‚ whereas happiness is having joy. John Steinbeck writes about a woman who learns the difference between being content and being happy in “The Chrysanthemums”. Steinbeck’s protagonist‚ Elisa‚ is married to a man who has subpar communication skills and who has little to no understanding of women. Though Elisa is content with being poorly understood
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Mike and Elisa from the stories‚ “The Vigilante” and “The Chrysanthemums‚” from John Steinbeck novel‚ The Long Valley‚ both felt emptiness inside and wanted to fit in with their community to fill the shadow within themselves. A shadow is a portion of our personality that we neglect and never accept within ourselves. The shadow comes in different forms and once we think we understand it‚ it appears in another form. Jung states that‚ “ the shadow is an integral part of our nature‚ and it can never
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Symbolism in John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums” In “The Chrysanthemus” Steinbeck’s ability to reveal major insights about both the central characters as well as humanity in general. Through heavy yet artful symbolism‚ an author can make something seemingly confusing or insignificant; manifest itself into a hugely relevant detail. “Chrysanthemums” is one of those tales. Utilizing a variety if symbols‚ such as Elisa`s clothing‚ images of inside versus outside‚ fights and flowers carefully
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Steinbeck’s "The Chrysanthemums" is a feminist text. Throughout the whole book there is a slight undertone about how Elisa is tired of her life and wants to leave her husband and the boring tedious life she leads there with him. While she is a somewhat strong woman‚ what with helping around on the farm‚ it still seems like she is eager to get away from it all and have an adventure. The story begins with discussing how good of a gardener Elisa is‚ and how proud she is of her garden. Gardening is usually
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The Chrysanthemums Feminist Lens The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck shows the world in the perception of women during a period of time where they held little power‚ were contained and weren’t as valuable as men. The protagonist Elisa is contained within her house and her garden. This is shown when the author says “like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot.”(112) also the fence in Elisa garden represents a barrier between her and the outside world. Elisa is shown as
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Elisa’s Point of View In the short story‚ “The Chrysanthemums” John Steinbeck tells the story of Elisa Allen living on a ranch in the Salinas Valley with her husband Henry. Elisa is a thirty-five year-old house wife that takes pride in growing chrysanthemums. One day while cutting down last year’s chrysanthemums her husband tells her that he has just sold thirty cattle and is going to take her out to dinner and a movie. After that‚ a traveling tinker stops by her house and offers to fix any pots
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miniature versions of books or novels‚ where an author takes a tale and crams it into a ten to twenty page story. John Steinbeck is not only a well-known novelist‚ but also writes short stories like “The Chrysanthemums” and “Flight”. In Steinbeck’s “The Chrysthemums” Elisa Allen is married to a negligent ranch owner. While her husband works on the ranch‚ Elisa tends to her chrysanthemum garden daily. One day while tending to her garden‚ a charming tinker man pulls up to her in his wagon and tries to
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The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck Often times‚ we go through life feeling confused‚ lost‚ and sad. Living life through various facades grows weary over time. Eventually‚ we are led to the inevitable search to strive for the discovery of who we really are. Self-identity is an important focal point in our individual triumphs and tribulations we experience in our journey of life. During times of conflict‚ we frequently struggle with only ourselves. "The Chrysanthemums" by John Steinbeck‚ written
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Myles Hypse March 2nd‚ 2017 English 1B 3:30-4:50pm Clothes & Chrysanthemums John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums” tells the evolution of a character over the course of a story. Steinbeck accomplishes this by using specific point of view to carry out his vision‚ very similar to the way Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni uses distinct character development in her short story “Clothes” to entice and pull the reader in. These elements work together in both stories to create a theme that has the greatest
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