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CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
In this chapter, there are three problem formulations will be analyzed by the writer. The first problem is about the description of the major character; Elisa
Allen. The second problem is about the symbols are used in the short story, and the third problem is about the reflection of the symbols toward the major
character‟s life.
A. The Description of the Major Character: Elisa Allen.
Elisa Allen is a ranchers wife, an awesome gardener, and a pretty strong lady. But still, she doesnt quite seem happy with her day-to-day life, so when
the tinker approaches and the pair strike up their mysterious and revealing conversation, her life changes, maybe forever. When Elisa is first introduced,
shes wearing a gender-bending outfit that conceals her body, making her figure looked blocked and heavy p.5. The fact that shes wearing mens clothes might
mean that Elisas the kind of lady who isnt afraid to go against whats expected of a woman. But on the other hand, the clothes, which are manly, could also be
seen as oppressing her womanliness by hiding it from the world. “The Chrysanthemums” is a story about a strong woman; Elisa Allen.
Elisa Allen is the story‟s protagonist, a thirty-five-year-old woman who lives on a ranch in the Salinas Valley with her husband Henry. She is lean and strong,
and wears shapeless, functional clothes. The couple has no children, no pets, no near neighbors, and Henry is busy doing chores on the ranch throughout the day.
Elisa fills her hours by vigorously cleaning the “hard-swept looking little house, with hard-
polished windows,” and by tending her flower garden. Her life is full of loneliness and frustration.
Elisa‟s inner frustration can be seen from her dressing. She is frustrating about her relation with her husband; Henry Allen.
But here, she tries to define her role as a woman through gardening and her efforts to show off woman‟s power in male-dominated society. Her husband
does not pay attention to her. She feels lonely and unhappy with her life, especially her marital life. Her husband is a rancher. He is always working the
cattle in their farm; because of her husband job she never has enough attention from her husband. She also does not have children in her marital life with her
husband. Because of that, the solution of her frustration is taking care of her flower garden where there is a beautiful chrysanthemum. She loves her
chrysanthemum a lot. Like her children, she gives her love, care and attention to her lovely flower. Elisa feels more enjoy in gardening than her relationship with
her husband. It is written in the short story,
“…Her face was lean and strong and her eyes were as clear as water. Her figure looked blocked and heavy in her gardening costume, a man‟s black
hat pulled down over her eyes, clod-hopper shoes, a figured print dress almost completely covered by a big corduroy apron with four big pockets
to hold the snips, the trowel and scratcher, the seeds and the knife she worked with. She wore heavy leather gloves to protect her hands while she
worked
...” p.5 She is ignored by her husband. This ignorance causes her to take care of
her beautiful chrysanthemum than her husband who does not care about her. The other saying shown that her husband does not really interest for Elisa‟s
chrysanthemum , “… I wish you‟d work out in the orchard and raise some apples
that big…” p.10. Henry Allen is Elisa‟s husband, a hard-working and successful small-scale rancher. As the story opens, he has completed the sale of thirty steer,
and he wants to celebrate with Elisa. He suggests an evening in town, with dinner and a movie, and compliments her on her gardening skills. But there is no
intimacy in his talk; the two are serious and formal with each other, and when Henry attempts a bit of humor Elisa does not understand it. As the couple prepares
to leave for town, Henry can see that something is bothering his wife, but he cannot guess what it is and everything he says is wrong. In the face of her strange
mood he blunders, he is bewildered and speaks helplessly. He is a good man, and he wants to make her happy, but he does not know what she needs. Knowing that
her husband does not show his interest in Elisa‟s chrysanthemum, Elisa feels that her husband does not really appreciate her and does not have interest in her too.
She feels that Henry does not recognize her femininity and her beauty. Henry does not able to understand Elisa‟s needs as a woman.
One of the major weaknesses of Elisa Allen is her misconception that changing her physical appearances and mannerisms, to become more masculine,
makes her appear stronger; when in actuality it emphasizes her true feelings of weakness. For example, when Elisa is gardening she wears a costume, which
includes: a mans hat, clodhopper shoes, a print dress that is covered by a large corduroy apron, and heavy leather gloves-all of which make her figure look
blocked and heavy. Although Elisa feels that by dressing in this manly fashion she will be considered equal to men in a mans world, she is still seen by the men as
just an average house wife. Another example of her attempts to hide her feminine qualities is while she is tending to her garden. Steinbeck describes Elisa as over-
eager and over-powerful when she had control of the short and powerful scissors, and when she is seen destroying the aphids, sow bugs, snails, and
cutworms of her garden with her terrier fingers. Clearly, Elisa is over- compensating, using more power than needed or used by a female to kill the
pests living in her garden.
In this story, the author also mentioned another character who makes Elisa changed her looks for a while; the tinker. The man is a tinker who
travels up and down the coast every year with a horse-drawn wagon bearing the legend “Pots, pans, knives, scissors, lawn mores, Fixed.” He is large, with
careworn face and hands and a dirty suit. Because he depends on his salesmanship to earn his living, he is skillful at bantering small talk, but his friendly laughter is
only superficial. Elisa has no work for him and is about to send him away when he notices the chrysanthemums and gets her to talk about them. Instantly her tone
changed. She becomes enthusiastic, and she finds some work for him to do. When she finds her discarded chrysanthemums on the road that evening, Elisa realizes
that his interest in the flowers was insincere, simply a way to win her over. When the traveling tinker comes along and talks about his wandering habits, she begins
to think about how limited her life is, and she longs for adventure. The idea that her chrysanthemums will be shared with a stranger who will appreciate them
gratifies her, makes her think that in a small way she is part of a larger world.
When the man betrays her by throwing away the chrysanthemums, he makes it clear that her world extends only as far as the boundaries of the ranch.
When the tinker approaches her, Elisa feels interested in him. Elisa feels that way because the tinker shows her that he is interested in her flower. The
tinker says, “…Kind of a long-stemmed flower? Looks like a quick puff of colored smoke
… That‟s it. What a nice way to describe them…” p.50.When the tinker says that, Elisa feels appreciated and attractive to him.
After the tinker leaves, she feels confident about herself, “… and then she scrubbed herself with a little block of pumice, leg and
thighs, loins and chest and arms, until her skin was scratched an d red…
after a while she began to dress, slowly. She put on her newest underclothing and her nicest stockings…she worked carefully on her hair,
penciled her eyebrows and rouged her lips…” p.93-94 She applies her make up slowly. She hopes that her husband will pay
attention to her and recognize her needs as a woman and wife; love, care, attention and romance. But, Elisa‟s hope is quickly shattered when she heard Henry‟s
comments on her change, “… you look strong enough to break a calf over your knee, happ
y enough to eat it like a watermelon…” p.103, and also her hope is really shattered when she sees her chrysanthemum that he gave to the tinker is on
the road. She feels frustrated and devastated by the way of the tinker towards her chrysanthemum. In the end, she is as she was; back to who is she at the first. Elisa
Allen struggles to characterize her position as a woman in a very close society. Her environment portrays the social depression, while the garden shows her
power and masculine. Elisa has trouble extending this power outside the fence that
surrounds her garden. She finally learns but not acknowledges that she possesses a fragile feminine power, not the masculine one she had attempted to attain.
B. The Symbols Used in