“The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck dives into the world of his wife Elisa Allen. As a 35-year-old woman, she has no children and is extremely dissatisfied in her passionless marriage to her well-meaning but completely inept husband, Henry. His low level of self-confidence also contributes to this feeling. Despite having her chrysanthemums to make her a little happier in her life, she ultimately fails to address her dissatisfaction in every other aspect of her life, ultimately leading to a life of dissatisfaction. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Elisa is deeply dissatisfied with her marriage. Elisa and her husband Henry are more like roommates than husband and wife, in the sense that their marriage is passionless and they go about their daily activities more or less completely separate from each other. Elisa feels disconnected from Henry due to this lack of togetherness and it is illustrated when Henry tells her that he has "sold thirty head of three-year-old steers" getting "almost my price as well" (Steinbeck). Elisa reacts by saying “Good,…Good for you” (Steinbeck). Her reaction shows how she doesn't celebrate it as an achievement for both of them, but only sees it as something good for Henry, even though this achievement is intended to benefit both of them. The lack of communication between Elisa and Henry also contributes to her dissatisfaction with her marriage. The couple never has disagreements because they know how to have one. When the story opens and the scenery of the Salinas Valley is described, it talks about the fog and the farmers hoping for rain, "but fog and rain don't go together." These elements are not willing to confront each other just like Elisa and Henry. Elisa, like the fog, is too indistinct while Henry, like the rain, is completely absent. In their first discussion about the story, Henry describes an ongoing argument and jokingly asks Elisa if she wants to go and she replies “Oh, no… No, I wouldn't like to argue” eliding the lack of friction between them that prevents their relationship from get stronger. Elisa's low self-confidence acts as a profound obstacle to her satisfaction in life. Her appearance and the clothing she wears are described as "Her figure appeared stuck and heavy in her gardening costume, a black men's hat pulled low over her eyes, hopper shoes, a figured print dress almost completely covered by a large corduroy." apron... She wore heavy leather gloves to protect her hands while working” and this intentionally allows her to camouflage herself and not draw attention to herself. Her low self-confidence can also be attributed to the narrow confines of her world. The setting of the story is described as “The high flannel-gray fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and all the rest of the world. On all sides it lay like a lid on the mountains and made the great valley a closed vessel” (Steinbeck). In this closed vase, her attention is always focused on her chrysanthemums, leading her to think that's all she can be good at. This also explains why Elisa avoids responding to Henry's offer when she wishes aloud that Elisa could harvest a crop of apples in addition to her chrysanthemums (Steinbeck). Although Elisa has “planter hands” that destroy pests like aphids, bugs and slugs “before they could get started,” and has an abundance of energy that “The chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for…” she is reluctant to take raise his bid (Steinbeck). Although Elisa would most likely be successful in this new venture, her low confidence andthe fear of failure prevents her from moving forward. In her world of dissatisfaction, chrysanthemums probably offer Elisa the greatest joy and are a great source of pride for her. One day, while she is working in the garden, a tinkerer shows up unbeknownst to her, convincing her to give him a brand new plate. When he enters the scene for the first time, the tinker asks Elisa if she has any work for him stating: “I repair pots and sharpen knives and scissors. Do you have any of those things to do?" (Steinbeck). At first, Elisa is visibly irritated that the man bothers her, but when the tinker searches for something to connect with her and finds the chrysanthemums, "the irritation and the resistance melts from Elisa's face” (Steinbeck). As she began to explain her chrysanthemums to the man, her eyes began to “become attentive and eager” and shine (Steinbeck suddenly gains a kind of strength from the sexually charged moment in which they share the bond over their mutual appreciation of chrysanthemums as “her breasts swelled passionately” and her “voice became hoarse.” This strength is something she has not been able to get from her husband While Henry values ​​his chrysanthemums for their function and size, stating "Some of those yellow chrysanthemums you had this year were 10 inches across," the tinker "values" them for their beauty, describing the flower as "A kind of flower". long-stemmed flower? Does it look like a quick puff of smoke?" (Steinbeck). This elicits a response from Elisa that her husband has been unable to conjure. When the man asks for chrysanthemums to take to a woman down the street, Elisa was thrilled to help him as she "ran excitedly along the geranium. path marked out at the back of the house" to get a vase to put the flowers in and tears off her "tattered hat and shakes her beautiful dark hair" as well as taking off her heavy leather gloves (Steinbeck) . her softening and completely opening up to the man, in a way that she doesn't do with her husband. Her bond with the tinker brings her momentarily out of her confined self and gives her hope for the future. As well as his conversation with the man. tinkering with chrysanthemums, they also discussed the life of the tinker on the street. Elisa began to think about what life on the road would be like, even challenging the tinker, saying: “You might be surprised that I have a rival sometime who can sharpen scissors And I can also take dents out of jars. I could show you what a woman could do” (Steinbeck). The man replied, "It would be a lonely life for a woman, ma'am, and a fearful life too, with animals crawling under the cart all night" (Steinbeck). As she walks away, Elisa observes: “It's a brilliant direction. There's a glow there" suggesting that Elisa believes that maybe she can try something new that doesn't have to do with her chrysanthemums and still succeed. After meeting the tinker, she goes home and prepares for dinner with her husband by dressing in her finest clothes, “the symbol of her beauty,” hoping to elicit a response from her husband about her beauty, just as the tinker did with his chrysanthemums (Steinbeck). When Henry sees her, he responds simply “You are so pretty,” completely unaware that she wanted him to call her beautiful (Steinbeck has good intentions but is unable to connect with his wife on an emotional level. He has been blinded by his own work and from her role of providing for the family and fails to see that Elisa needs more satisfaction in her life. As the couple begins to drive to dinner, Elisa notices the flowers she gave to the tinsmith being thrown onto the pavement . For Elisa, this is a huge betrayal because she has opened herself up to it.