The Chrysanthemums review

 "The Chrysanthemums" by John Steinbeck

Read "The Chrysanthemums" here

Buy "The Long Valley" here

"The Chrysanthemums" is a short story that fits in line with Steinbeck's other works and was a part of his collected stories in the book "The Long Valley", . It takes place on a ranch in the Salinas Valley and deals with unfulfilled dreams. Unlike Steinbeck's other works, the main character in this story is a woman. Elisa Allen is a rancher's wife who spends her time in her garden tending to her prized chrysanthemums. She watches her husband from afar, jealous of him in his business. A stranger pulls up in a wagon, and she becomes enamored with his life. She was longing to be on the road and meeting new people. The two flirt with each other, and after he leaves, Elisa gets ready to go out on the town with her husband, Henry.

Steinbeck was interested in the author D.H. Lawrence, and wrote "The Chrysanthemums" in the same vein as Lawrence's short story "Odour of the Chrysanthemums". Both stories deal with sexuality and balancing needs and self-interest (Charters, pg.222). The chrysanthemum flowers symbolize Elisa's "femininity and sexuality" and represent her caring nature (Kassim, 2021). The flowers become a stand-in for the children she wishes she could have someday. Elisa feels that she is in a romantic-less relationship with Henry and doesn't appreciate her female attributes. 

While Steinbeck has written female characters as flat and with a sexist point of view, this story surprises the audience with a strong female protagonist. "Steinbeck's sympathy and understanding for women are almost shockingly modern" (Sparknotes.com). Elisa is allowed to thrive in her garden, but he gives her a positive sexual desire not usually seen in works when the story was written. Unlike his other female characters, Elisa is not pregnant, nor does she and Henry have kids.

Ultimately, Elisa wants to feel beautiful and loved by her husband, who only points out her strong traits around the ranch. "Steinbeck uses Henry and the tinker as stand-ins for the" patriarchy. Henry ignores Elisa's potential and desire for a more exciting lifestyle. (Sparknotes.com). Elisa's passion for her flowers symbolizes her "intimacy with the rhythms of the natural world and represents" her innermost self (Charters, pg. 1508). The gardening metaphor extends to her ending, which can be seen as pruning away her romantic notions in order to blossom a new future for herself (Charters, pg. 1509).

During her encounter with the stranger or tinker, Elisa is attracted to him after he compliments her chrysanthemums. His appreciation of her hard work leads to a flirtatious conversation ending with Elisa hopeful that her life can change. She takes a bath to get ready for her night out with Henry. "Elisa sheds her old self by scrubbing and brings new life and change" (Kassim, 2021). She admires her body in the mirror before putting on a dress and makeup, hoping that this change will spark something in her marriage. However, Henry's compliments are less than flattering, and Elisa realized that her marriage would never be more excited. The best she can hope for is some wine with dinner.

In this story, Steinbeck's usual theme of the "American dream" is present in Elisa's longing to have children and be appreciated as a woman rather than a worker. One of the things that I enjoyed about this story was that it featured a strong woman with needs and desires. However, in the end, her passions are not met. Even though it was written in 1938, the story has a more modern feel, highlighting the life of a strong woman, even though she is still being held back. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. If you've read it, please leave your comments below, and let me know your thoughts on author John Steinbeck. Two more works left to review, so keep checking back and make sure to follow on Twitter for updates!

Works Cited

Sparknotes.com, 2021. https://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-chrysanthemums/section1/, https://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-chrysanthemums/themes/

Lone Star College, 2021. “Symbolism in The Chrysanthemums” by Elizabeth Kassim. https://www.lonestar.edu/symbolism-chrysanthemums.htm

"Part Two: Commentaries." The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction, by Ann Charters, 9th edition. Bedford/St. Martins, 2015.

A Rose For Emily Review

 Review of "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner

You can read "A Rose for Emily" Here

A relatively short story, "A Rose for Emily", recounts the life and tragedy of an older woman who passed away. Lonely, Emily lived in a big house alone with only a manservant to take care of her. The town would often say "poor Emily" anytime something terrible happened to her, yet the town never actually reached out to Emily to help her. Emily's father died and left her the house. She almost had a lover to marry, but then he died, and Emily was teaching painting until her students got older and no new ones came in. The town often depicts Emily as a nuisance and wants to pass her off to her kin from Alabama. The ending of the story paints an even more tragic life for Emily.

This is only my second reading of Faulkner, and while there are some similarities to Barn Burning, I think "A Rose For Emily" is easier to read. Faulkner's style of writing tends to be a bit wordy and but it helps the reader imagine the story in their head. The story is told as town residents recount the life of Emily, from her father's death to her courtship with Homer Barron, then her life as a hermit. It's a well-written narrative device that allows for a shocking ending. The story takes place in a large house in the South, and since the subject is a dead woman, it has a gothic feel. Gothic novels focus on morbid and horrific situations often involving mysterious secrets set in mansions or castles, designed to hook the readers and leave them breathless (Sparknote.com, 2021).

According to Faulkner, the story is about a young woman with hopes and dreams that never come to fruition. Emily was a young girl that just wanted to be loved and yet was kept down by her father, then society (Charters, pg. 1425). The story describes the older Emily as obese and ugly. This depiction follows the sexist and patriarchal notion that a woman's worth lies in her youth and beauty. Emily being old and disgusting means that her life then has no value. Several times, it is mentioned that her family, the Grierson's, thought of themselves in high regard despite their actual social status. Emily holds onto her family's value because that is all she has left.

Another theme is change vs. tradition. The town is trying to change and modernize itself. Emily refuses to pay taxes based on an old verbal agreement with the long since dead mayor of the town. She refuses to have the town install a mailbox at her house, even though she doesn't even gather the mail from the post office. To Emily and the older men that gather in Confederate uniforms at her funeral, time is relative. "The past is not a faint glimmer but an ever-present, idealized realm" (Sparknote.com, 2021).

The story's tragedy comes through at the end when it is revealed that Emily killed her lover before he could leave her. The sad part is that it's implied that she would still lay down next to the dead body on the bed because she craved that affection. "She had broken all the laws of her tradition, her background, and she had finally broken the law of God too" (Charters, pg. 1425). The tragedy lies in the fact that a young Emily was hampered by her father and didn't have any family to help her after that. By the time she killed Homer, she had already compromised her traditions and religion and had no one else to turn to for support. The townsfolk, for all their complaining and gossip of Emily, never did anything to help her. In the end, the only love and affection she had came from the dead body of her lover.

It is a pretty engaging story of an older woman not loved by anyone but the talk of the town. While it does have elements of a Southern Gothic, it also feels in line with Faulkner's other works. The former mayor being Colonel Sartoris, a character in the previous story I read, "Barn Burning". Faulkner was known for creating stories in the same setting, and this feels like it's a continuation of "Barn Burning". Perhaps the young Colonel Sartoris from Barn Burning grew up to be the town's mayor in this story. A shorter read than "Barn Burning"; I recommend checking this one out.

Works Cited

Sparknotes.com, 2021. https://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/a-rose-for-emily/section1/, https://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/a-rose-for-emily/themes/

"Part Two: Commentaries." The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction, by Ann Charters, 9th edition. Bedford/St. Martins, 2015.