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Comparing The Chrysanthemums And The Turtle, By John Steinbeck

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John Steinbeck short stories, The Chrysanthemums and The Turtle, (Chapter three - grapes of wrath) both clearly demonstrate the theme of isolation throughout the story. “The Chrysanthemums” tells of isolation that Elisa Allen, and on a larger scale, women in general, struggle through. This short story provides many indications of this with the use of the setting, and detailed descriptions of Elisa Allen. The inability to voice their own opinions causes Elisa to divulge in another means of expression, her chrysanthemums. In the Turtle, John Steinbeck shows that the little by little the turtle becomes desolated by everything that happens to it. He faces many obstacles that make him more and more isolated. John Steinbeck not only shows the effect …show more content…

John s/tieback talks about The Salinas Valley which symbolizes Elisa’s emotional life. The story opens with a lengthy description of the valley, which Steinbeck likens to a pot topped with a lid made of fog.”The high gray-flannel fog of winter closed off the salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of world. On every side is sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot.” The metaphor of the valley as a “closed pot” suggests that Elisa is trapped inside an airless world and that her existence has reached a boiling point. We also learn that although there is sunshine nearby, no light penetrates the valley. Sunshine is often associated with happiness, and the implication is that while people near her are happy, Elisa is not. It is December, and the prevailing atmosphere in the valley is chilly and watchful but not yet devoid of hope. In the Turtle, by John Steinbeck Isolation is also apparent. The obstacles encountered by the turtle are unrelenting. He is tormented by a red ant which parallels the discomforts and hardships of the road, but he manages to eliminate it, crushing it against himself.”a red ant ran into the shell, into the soft skin inside the shell,and suddenly head and legs snapped in” He is interrupted by challenges constantly and ultimately becomes isolated from himself but still won't give

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In specific, Steinbeck manipulates intercalary chapters, a robust narrative, and allusions in order to get his point that community is indispensable across. To begin, Steinbeck’s intercalary chapters abruptly halted the narrative, yet progressed the themes in a stunning manner. The turtle in chapter three is a delicate symbol and an excellent example of an intercalary chapter that moved the whole book, so to speak. Steinbeck leaves a whole chapter to describe a turtle for seemingly no apparent reason; nevertheless, when describing this turtle, he releases a powerful symbol that preys on the sympathy of the reader.

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In the allegory “The Turtle,” the author John Steinbeck explains that as life gets harder people work hard to succeed, and people may try to get in the way. Although the story does talk about a turtle climbing an embankment, people can relate to this story on an emotional level because they can understand overcoming the struggles in life. The struggles in life depend on what goals people set out to achieve. In this paper, the writer will examine the allegorical meanings of the turtle.

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The Chrysanthemums Literary Analysis One of the themes of “The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck is gender inequality. In this short story, the main character Elisa Allen was a strong, smart woman who was stuck being a common housewife. Elisa wishes she could go out and be like the tinker, sleeping under the stars and adventuring every day of her life. Elisa’s husband owns a ranch of some sorts, and when he tells Elisa of the business deal he’d just made he gave her an unspecific explanation, or a dumbed down one so he doesn’t “confuse her”.

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525 Words | 3 Pages

“The Turtle,” or The Struggle? In the short story “The Turtle,” the author John Steinbeck claims that life always throws different obstacles in the reader's way. Steinbeck supports his claim by using the turtle’s journey as a metaphor for life. The author’s purpose is to show that even though life can be difficult, the reader must persevere. The author writes in a reflective tone for readers to reminisce on their struggles through life.

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A key example of this is that she was just referred to by the farm workers as “Curley’s wife”. Curley’s wife has a dream to become a Hollywood star. Curley’s constant mistrust and control gets in the way of her achieving this. Because of this mistrust, she is isolated and not able to have any communication with anyone, unless it’s behind Curley’s back. Her dreams are unachievable unless able to escape

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Loneliness and isolation is an ongoing theme throughout the novel Of Mice and Men, experienced by several characters to different degrees. Some characters are more isolated and lonely than others, yet every character in the story goes through this theme during one point in the story. There are various reasons why each character is lonely or isolated. In general, all the ranch workers feel some sort of loneliness because they move alone from ranch to ranch and do not have real connections with others, Curley’s wife experiences this theme because she is the only woman on the ranch and nobody wants to interact with her because Curley is very protective and hostile of her. Thirdly, Candy struggles through being lonely and isolated after Carlson shot his dog and because Candy does not work with the others since he is a swamper.

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At the point when John Steinbeck 's short story "The Chrysanthemums" first showed up in the October 1937 release of Harper 's Magazine (Osborne 479), Franklin D. Roosevelt had quite recently been reelected president. The nation was recouping from the Great Depression, associations were creating, and kid work in assembling was ended (Jones 805-6). The principal female bureau part in American history, Frances Perkins, was delegated the Secretary of Labor (Jones 802). She was one of only a handful couple of ladies in her an opportunity to pick up balance in a male-commanded society. For most ladies, freedom was an intense battle normally finishing off with overcome.

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Through the use of literary techniques, Susan Hill creates a sense of isolation that affects the characters in different ways as the novel progresses. At the beginning of the novel, Hill uses literary techniques to romanticize the isolation

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Gray with a flannel fog of winter describes the Salinas Valley where Elisa lives and the dress and manners she has on her ranch in the foothills. Confined by the dark fog that restricts the valley and the surrounding mountains like a “lid placed on a pot,” she and the valley have no sunshine, no happiness, no noise, and no warmth. While the Allen ranch is clean and organized, a feeling of oppression and entrapment is felt in the physical setting and is seen in the development of the character Elisa. The valley, “Closed off” by the winter fog and isolated from other life, Elisa is also trapped and closed off in a life behind her garden gates.

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When I was young I heard red chrysanthemums symbolized love and deep passion. And Yellow chrysanthemums symbolized neglected love or sorrow. Thus, I picked the story" the chrysanthemums" which was written by John Steinbeck. The story is told from a third person, we are confident that we are dealing with a narrator, who is far away from the character's feelings and emotions. Also, the story focuses on Elisa.

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“On every side it sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot.” Since Elisa lives in the valley, it is as if she is also confined in a closed pot. As a woman living during these times, Elisa did not go far from home, and she could not see beyond the valley because of the fog. In the story, it is described as being cut off from the rest of the world when Steinback writes, “The high gray-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world.” The description of the valley paints a picture for the reader of her surroundings and helps them understand part of her loneliness.

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1212 Words | 5 Pages

Explore the ways in which Steinbeck conveys the theme of Isolation in Of Mice and Men Raj Year 10 Steinbeck, in Of Mice and Men, juxtaposes Georges and Lennie’s friendship with the loneliness of the other characters to convey the theme of isolation. He does this to show how disconnected from the American Dream the ranch workers were in 1938, having worked in one himself, and the hardships they face as a result of that. Friendship was uncommon in the many American ranches in 1938; however, George and Lennie has a friendship like no other. Their trust for each other is so great that Lennie trusts George with his life.

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In this quote Steinbeck is talking about how the valley can be compared to a closed pot because it is so foggy that

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“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, is set in California in the 1930s during the Great Depression. George and Lennie, farm workers with the dream of owning their own ranch, are the protagonists. They find work in a ranch near Soledad and are met by different characters suffering from loneliness, motivated only by their dreams. In the novel, “Of Mice and Men”. Steinbeck portrays the theme of loneliness and isolation effectively through key fictional characters and a number of underlying themes.

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The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck demonstrates many feminist examples, it both agrees and goes against the Cult of Domesticity. Elisa Allen is one of the main characters in this story, demonstrating the domestic role of Cult of Domesticity. She works on the garden which is a common womanly duty. But within her working on the garden, she does not just plant the flowers she does the hard labor towards gardening along with her husband, Henry Allen, as well. We see examples of Elisa doing hard labor on the first page, while she is checking to see what her husband is doing with the three business men, Elisa is cutting down the old year 's chrysanthemum stalks with a pair of short and powerful scissors.

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