Paul Lee
Professor Carroll
English 221
April 29, 1991
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Awakening of Elisa's Desire
in "The Chrysanthemums"


John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums" is a short story published in The Long Valley in 1937. In this story, as in his other stories, Steinbeck manages his legendary motifs to write about the life of working people.
The story is narrated by Henry Allen, Elisa, his wife, and the big, stubble-bearded man. Elisa Allen is working like a man with strong spirit on her husband, Henry's ranch until Saturday afternoon for her chrysanthemum transplanting but her mind is looking forward something happenings to escape from her monotonous and simple life. In the beginning of the story, when her husband meets his strange visitors, "Elisa watched them...." (1510) and "Elisa cast another glance toward the tractor-shed" (1510). Through conversation with her husband there seems to be lack of communication - their problems: her husband didn't talk to her about selling their steers before he sold them to the strangers and yet he doesn't know that Elisa doesn't
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like to go to the fights. Maybe Henry is indifferent to her and she is indifferent to her husband, too. ( So they don't have babies?) Now she comes across a big stubble-bearded man, who fixes "Pots,pans, Knives, sisors, lawn mores..." (1511). She changes her attitude which is against him . And she opens her mind to give the lady (who the big man tells) chrysanthemum roots. Elisa recognizes the big man who is talking with herself about "planting hands" which she is proud of having them like her mother had them. Telling about the planting hands, "She was kneeling on the ground looking up at him. Her breast swelled passionately" (1514). She feels him and moves herself. "The man's eyes narrowed. He looked away self-consciously" (1514). And exchanging some sexual conscious talks, Elisa can not help but "kneeling there, her hand went out toward his legs in the greasy black trousers. Her hesitant fingers almost touch the cloth. Then her hand dropped to the ground. She crouched low like a fawning dog" (1515). Elisa expresses her love to the big man. Until she meets the big man, Elisa lived in the closed world - loveless, restless and bored rural life. So, first, she is scared to talk with the man and rejects his offer to fix her things. He concerns on chrysanthemums, which are her favorite flowers and information of a lady (I suppose she doesn't exist this
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world), down the road, who cares for chrysanthemums make Elisa open her heart to the outside world like the big man. And thanks to the chrysanthemums She gives lovely talks with him instead she shares love with her husband. So she wants to help the big man and tries to make him money. When the big man leaves with the chrysanthemum stems she gave him, Elisa becomes to realize her reality again. Still her husband, Henry doesn't realize what happens to Elisa and what she wants - may be his love! In the end of the story "Elisa cries weakly - like an old woman" (1518) - in her age of thirty-five, ironically, in the beginning of the story she looks rather happy instead she is sad or cries as in the end of the story.
The story's plot, its point of view, and its characterization describe theme of awakening of Elisa's desire. The story is known to us as the straightforward movement of the plot. The plot is composed by describing the scenes: Elisa's continuous daily hard work on her flower garden; Henry's carelessness makes her long for curiosity; The big man's appearance to Elisa makes her feel love like a dog; when the big man leaves, she misses him whom she felt love with; and she finally keeps the big man in secret and cries herself for him. The story's settings are the Henry Allen's foot-hill ranch of Salinas Valley near Salinas of Northern California and in
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December afternoon in 1930s. The first sentence describes that winter fog closes the Salinas Valley from the outside world. Until afternoon there is no sunshine but fog. It's all dark out there and the narrator feels that "it is a time of quiet and of waiting" (1509). And the farmers hope a good rain before long but they know that rain wouldn't come with fog like this. In the beginning of the story the narrator tells us the settings in the specific descriptions: at first the Salinas Valley and the Salinas River are described and then the willow scrub, Henry's foot-hill ranch and orchards are mentioned and Elisa Allen, who is working in her flower garden, and in the distance Henry, her husband, who is talking to two strangers. The flow of description gives us perfect picturesque setting so that we can understand well the story's introduction. In "The Chrysanthemums" Elisa Allen is a middle-aged woman and characterized as farmer, Henry's wife, who enjoys what she is working and is proud of herself who has "planters' hands" (1510) like her mother had them for raising chrysanthemums. The story is narrated by the author but the author views most of the action from the perspective of one (Elisa) of the characters. The narrator is not describing all the characters in the story but he describes Elisa in much details. The narrator tells us that "She was thirty-five. Lee 5

Her face was lean and strong and her eyes were as clear as water. Her figure looked blocked and heavy in her gardening costume.... Her face was eager and mature and handsome; even her work with the scissors was overeager, over-powerful. The chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for her energy" (1510). From this descriptions about Elisa, we realize that she is strong. But we also note that she is in troubles in the end of the story: "She turned up her coat collar so he (her husband) could not see that she was crying weakly - like an old woman" (1518). Why does "strong" Elisa "cry weakly" in the end of the story? What makes her cry helplessly? Elisa is energetic to be strong but she is lonely enough to cry weakly because there is lack of communication with her husband, and desire of sexual relation with her husband and desire to escape from isolation in the country life. Elisa speaks to the big man, who came from the outside of Salinas. Her internal feeling shows us how she wants to talk with him about planting chrysanthemum stems and slowly she opens her heart revealing her desire quietly: "Well, I can only tell you what it feels like. It's when you're picking off the buds you don't want. Everything goes right down into your fingertips. You watch your fingers work. They do it themselves. You can feel how it is. They pick and pick the buds. They never make a
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mistake. They're with the plant. Do you see? Your fingers and the plant. You can feel that, right up your arm. They know. They never make a mistake. You can feel it. when you're like that you can't do anything wrong. do you see that? Can you understand that?" Now the big man answers: "Maybe I know sometimes in the night in the wagon there -." Elisa communicates with the big man instead she can't communicate with her husband. Then "Elisa's voice grew husky. She broke in on him: 'I've never lived as you do, but I know what you mean. When the night is dark - why, the stars are sharp-pointed, and there's quiet. Why, you rise up and up! Every pointed star gets driven into your body. It's like that. Hot and sharp and - lovely'" (1514 -1515). The chrysanthemum stems symbolize the emblem of her communication with the outside world. Her realization comes after she talks with the big man about transplanting chrysanthemum roots.
As the narrator shows us in the straightforward movement of the plot and simple characterization, the story tells us clear theme. In the story Elisa reveals that her strong appearance is no more her feeling inside herself. Behind her energetic expressions for her work of transplanting chrysanthemums, she keeps her strong desire in her heart and she unveils her desire through the meeting with the big man. I sure have no doubt that we
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can see awakening of Elisa's desire in the story.


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