The_Chrysanthemums_菊花_斯坦贝克

summary
Elisa Allen and her husband Henry live peacefully on their farm. When Elisa is busy with her chrysanthemums in the garden, a tinker passes by and asks for work .She refused directly. Later when the man enquires about her chrysanthemums and asks for some “seeds” to bring to“ a lady”, Elisa gets emotional and finds him two pots to mend. The tinker drives away with fifty cents and the cuttings . When riding on the road with her husband, Elisa sees the chrysanthemum shoots she sent to the "lady" thrown on the road. She is dismayed and cries sadly .
Symbols--- Fences
---Barriers that separate Elisa from the rest of the world
Her fences protect flower garden from cattle, dogs, and chickens which represent her husband’s world while her flower garden represents Elisa’s world. The Tinker’s entrance into the gate represents Elisa’s passions fully released and she is no longer completely isolated. Elisa’s fence helped to divide her from the outside world full of influences and from a husband who was not completely aware of her.
Symbols--- Red flower pot
---Power and passion The red is important here because red is the symbol of power and passion. At this point in the story, Elisa is beginning to feel her own power. She is realizing she can bring forth life in her flowers, even if she is not powerful in other aspects of her life.
Symbols---Chrysanthemums
---Elisa and the limited scope of her life When the tinker notices the chrysanthemums, Elisa visibly brightens, just as if he had noticed her instead. She offers the chrysanthemums to him at the same time she offers herself, both of which he ignores and tosses aside. His rejection of the flowers also mimics the way society has rejected women as nothing more than mothers and housekeepers. Just like her, the flowers are unimportant: both are merely decorative and add little value to the world.
Symbols--- The Salinas Valley
---Elisa’Biblioteka Baidu emotional life
The metaphor of the valley as a “closed pot” suggests that Elisa is trapped inside an airless world and that her existence as reached a boiling point.
Symbols--- Fog and rain
---The female and male equivalents to Elisa and Henry
When Henry comes over after talking with the men, he speaks with Elisa about going out for dinner. He also suggests they go to the fights. When she mentions she is not interested, he backs down very easily. This exchange between the couple clues the reader in to the lack of conflict in their marriage.
Symbols--- Clothing
---persona’s change of Elisa from masculine to feminine
When the story begins, narrator describes Elisa’s body as “blocked and heavy.” The masculinity of Elisa’s clothing and shape reflects her asexual(无性的） existence. After speaking with the tinker, Elisa begins to feel intellectually and physically stimulated. A change that is reflected in removing her gloves and hat, showing her lovely hair.
Thank you!
Also, since the encounter with the tinker is likened to a sexual experience, the red flower pot is significant of their passion. The pot is symbolic of her self and her feelings.
The Chrysanthemums
菊花
John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
Born: Febrary 27, 1902, in California Achievements: widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939) and East of Eden (1952) and the novella Of Mice and Men (1937). Characters of his works: social novels dealing with the economic problems of rural labor
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.
When the tinker leaves, Elisa undergoes an almost ritualistic transformation. All her feminine dresses contrast sharply with her gardening clothes and reflect the newly Elisa. At the end of the story, after Elisa has seen the castoff shoots, she pulls up her coat collar to hide her tears, a gesture that suggests a move backward into the repressed state in which she has lived most, if not all, of her adult life.
The description of the weather and the general spirits of the inhabitants of the valley applies equally well to Elisa, who is like a fallow field: quiet but not beaten down or unable to grow. What first seems to be a lyrical description of a valley in California is revealed to be a rich symbol of Elisa’s claustrophobic, unhappy, yet hopeful inner life.