Assignment on the chrysanthemums

Introduction of the chrysanthemums

In this report, there is a complete literary analysis of the story named The Chrysanthemums. This story was written by John Steinbeck. He was one of the greatest authors. The main theme of this story is related to the inequality of gender. In this story, Elsa was the main character. The other two characters are Henry Allen that was the husband of Elsa. The last charter was the tinker, he was just a worker involved in sharping and repairing household devices. Elsa was an extremely innocent and humble character of the story. She was in love with Chrysanthemums. They were present in her garden. Moreover, her husband was a businessman and they both love each other.

Techniques and devices used for imagery

In this story, the author had perfectly used imagery. The first one is related to the grey weather. He wanted to explain about the winter weather in that area. He had described in words. He said that there was no sun present and it was completely overcast with clouds. The next one is related to the dressing of Elsa. He said that she was interested in masculine dresses. When she was gardening she was wearing a men’s hat and also a loose shirt. On the other hand, he also gave a proper explanation about the Elsa and Henry’s house. He had explained that they had a small house that contains a garden with Chrysanthemums in it. In the last, he also explained the tinker as rich. When tinker met with Elsa he describes his wealth by sharing his important business terms with her. He also wanted to impress her with all his things. His whole character was imagery.  

Significance and symbolism

In this story, the author had used two symbols with perfection. The first one is Chrysanthemums and the next one is Salinas’s valley. Both of these were used in a proper way. It can be noted that the Chrysanthemums is symbolizing both Elsa and the limited scope of her life. This is because the Chrysanthemums are extremely lovely just like her. Moreover, the next thing is that flowerbed is completely like Elsa’s house. Another thing is that she explicitly identified by these Chrysanthemums. Elsa was only happy when someone talks about these Chrysanthemums. This is the reason why when the tinker noticed the Chrysanthemums she became happy and brightens.

Another fact is that the emotional life of Elsa is defined by Salinas Valley. This is because, at the start of the story, the author gave a brief introduction to the valley and its main points. Furthermore, the metaphor of this valley was a closed pot and it is highlighting that she was trapped in the airless world where there is no happiness. This is because the sunshine was associated with her happiness. When there is no sun, she became unhappy. The weather description by the author is also highlighting the current mood of Elsa

Techniques and devices used for settings

From the story, it can be noted that its setting is related to the Elsa character. He had shown that their house was present in the rural area. Moreover, his husband Henry was also a farmer. He was doing a business of selling cattle to different people. The next thing is that author had highlighted the valley of California. Moreover, Elsa was interested in gardening and it was showing that her fertility. She was a kind-hearted and emotional girl. The fact was that her husband was just busy with his business and not giving her proper time. This was the reason she was busy doing gardening. Due to this case, a character tinker gave her too much attention and due to this, she thought that she is vulnerable. The tinker was not a man of his words. He was just playing with her feelings but he changed her mood dramatically (Wharton, 2013).

Conclusion of the chrysanthemums

Summing up all the discussion from above, it is concluded that literary analysis has been presented in that report of the story the Chrysanthemums. This story was written by John Steinbeck. The main theme of this story is related to the inequality of gender. Then the main character of this story was Elsa. In this report, there is complete information about the imagery, symbolism and setting have been presented with perfection. All of these things are completely related to Elisa's character. It is showing that its main theme is totally related with inequality of genders. This is because her husband is not giving proper rights to her.

Reference of the chrysanthemums

Wharton, E. (2013). Roman Fever and Other Stories.