John Steinbeck Chrysanthemums

Whenever we leave the safety of our own homes, we usually come across all sorts of people. Some are familiar, like family or friends, while others may not be so familiar, like complete strangers. There are short people and tall people, skinny people, and not so skinny people... in short, the variety of people that live outside our four walls is vast. And because it is so vast, and because there is so many different types of people out there, it is almost impossible not to judge and analyze the people that are around us. When we analyze or judge, we tend to look at their clothes, hair, shoes, and even their bodies. For example, if we were to come across a woman and just take a quick glance at her, we would not find anything wrong with her. To

In the end, other than actually sitting down and having a conversation with her, we really do not know exactly what was on in this woman’s mind. However, it is safe to assume that there is more to a person than what we see. In “Chrysanthemums”, by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck tells a story about a woman named Elisa Allen who seems to be happy (since she has a nice home, husband, and a beautiful garden), but we realize that there is more to Elisa than meets the eye. Elisa, who seems to be happy, is in all actuality not happy at all. And we see this unhappiness with not only her dissatisfaction of being a housewife, and with the fact that she does not have control over her own life, but also with the introduction of the “Tinker Man” who reminds her what true happiness feels

She takes care of the chrysanthemums as if they were her own children, “She spread the leaves and looked down among the close-growing stems. No aphids were there, no sowbugs or snails or cutworms. Her terrier fingers destroyed such pests before they could get started” (Steinbeck 243). We can say that she is protecting her chrysanthemums because they are the only things that she has control over. By having this sense of control we can say that this brings her joy because she does not have control of her own life. In a way, she feels important, because without her, her garden would die. The decision that she makes to tend to her garden and care for it closely shows that this is the one and only way to make herself