The short story, The Chrysanthemums, is an impressive work that appeals one and all. The stalwart literary artist, John Steinbeck, exudes his literary quintessence through this short story. A scrutiny of the work would enable one and all to understand the impressive use of literary style and expression to bring out the theme of the story. The story echoes with the emphatic use of symbols and figurative language so as to hog the attention of the readers and engage them in the text. This shows the literary skill and the creativity of the author who succeeds in accentuating the affective charm of the short story.
One cannot simply ignore the usage of the most conspicuous symbol of the chrysanthemums. The chrysanthemums go on to come across as the symbolic representation of Elisa and the constrictions that encompass her life. There is much commonality between the two as the chrysanthemums like Elisa are thriving, strong and beautiful in nature. Moreover, the flowerbed of the chrysanthemums just like the living place of Elisa are very much ordered and tidy in nature. In the course of the story, Elisa goes on to identify herself with the chrysanthemums. She even opines that she feels like being in unison with the plants when she engages in tending them. As the plants get noticed by the tinker, Elisa becomes very happy giving the impression that she feels like having been noticed herself. She goes on to offer this person the chrysanthemums when she offers herself. However, he ignores both, thereby signifying how the society has gone on to reject the females as homemakers or mothers. Just as Elisa is seen by the avid readers, the flowers too come across to be unimportant and unobjectionable. Both the flowers and Elisa are simply seen as decorative beings that have less value in the pragmatic world.
Apart from this, one can also find the use of the symbol in the form of the Salinas Valley. Now, the Salinas Valley goes on to symbolize the emotional life of Elisa. It needs to be reckoned that the short story finds an inception with a comprehensive description of this valley. The author likens this valley to this pot that is topped with a lid of fog. The author pens, “The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world. On every side it sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot.” (Steinbeck 1) This metaphor of the valley as this closed pot goes on to suggest that the female protagonist of this story is someone who is constricted inside the domain of existence as portrayed in the course of the story. Moreover, it symbolizes that her existence is reaching its nadir with time. “Just as the fog, described as a “gray-flannel,” has settled over the valley as if it were a lid on a pot, Elisa seems to be enclosed inside the fence that keeps animals from her garden. She feels emotionally enclosed as well.” (Price 1) The avid readers come to know that in spite of the presence of sunshine reaching the land nearby, no light can penetrate this valley in context. Now, it is hard to miss out on the figurative language that has been used by the stalwart author so as to bring out the social ambiance where Elisa lives. The author’s use of language also signifies the possibilities and impending occurrences in the life of the female protagonist.
Likewise, one needs to understand that sunshine is something that is associated with the notion of happiness. As the author talks about the fact that the milieu around the valley gets the sunlight, he points to the fact in a figurative manner that the people around Elisa are happy, while she herself is not. One can very well note that in the month of December, the ambiance in the valley is quite watchful and chilly, but not sans hope. The readers of the piece can very well comprehend that the explication of the weather of this valley applies to Elisa. Elisa comes across to be like a fallow field that is quiet yet not beaten down. Thus, the symbolic use of the valley in the course of the narrative of this short story is not a lyrical explication of the ambiance. Rather, this valley stands for the unhappiness in her life. The figurative language that has been used by the author points to the claustrophobia in Elisa’s life that is intertwined with the hope of the inner core of her heart.
It would be correct to conclude that the author, John Steinbeck, goes on to portray his literary charm and aesthetic sense as he stirs the mind of the readers of the story with the apt use of figurative language and symbolism. The avid readers are only left to pine as they find out how “at the end, Elisa is a woman who has succumbed to the lot to which society, and marriage, has relegated her; hence, she sheds tears “like an old woman.” (Price 1) Thus, the story leaves a very lasting mark on the innermost core of the hearts with all the emotional appeal that gets accentuated via the quintessential literary style of John Steinbeck.
Works Cited
Price, Victoria. “The Chrysanthemums.” Galileo. Literary Reference Center, Galileo,
2010. Web. 14 March 2016.
Steinbeck, John. The Chrysanthemums. London, Modern Classics, 2014. Print.
