The Chrysanthemums

"The Chrysanthemums" is a short story by American writer John Steinbeck. It was first published in 1937 before being included as part of his collection The Long Valley the following year.

Plot summary

The story opens with a panoramic view of the Salinas Valley in winter, shrouded in fog. The focus narrows and finally settles on Elisa Allen cutting down the spent stalks of chrysanthemums in the garden on her husband’s ranch. Elisa is thirty-five, lean and strong, and she approaches her gardening with great energy. Her husband, Henry, comes from across the yard, where he has been arranging the sale of thirty steer, and offers to take Elisa to town for dinner and movie to celebrate the sale. He praises her skill with flowers, and she congratulates him on doing well in the negotiations for the steer. They seem to be a well-matched couple, though their way of talking together is formal and serious. Henry heads off to finish some chores, and Elisa decides to finish her transplanting before they get ready to leave for town.

Elisa hears “a squeak of wheels and a plod of hoofs,” and a traveling salesman drives up in an old spring-wagon. (He is never named; the narrator simply calls him “the man.”) The man's large and dirty appearance imply that he is used to being alone. He earns a meager living fixing pots and sharpening scissors and knives, traveling from San Diego to Seattle and back every year. The man chats and jokes with Elisa, who answers his bantering tone but admits she has no work for him to do. When he presses for a small job she becomes annoyed and tries to send him away.

Suddenly the man’s attention turns to the flowers that Elisa is tending. When he asks about them, Elisa’s annoyance vanishes and she becomes friendly again. The man remembers seeing chrysanthemums before and describes them: “Kind of a long-stemmed flower? Looks like a quick puff of colored smoke?” Elisa is delighted with his description. The man tells her about one of his regular customers who also gardens. He claims this customer has asked him to bring her some chrysanthemum seeds if he ever finds some in his travels. Now Elisa is captivated. She invites the man into the yard and prepares a pot of chrysanthemum shoots for the woman’s garden. She gives him full instructions for tending them. Elisa envies the man’s life on the road and is attracted to him because he understands her love of flowers. In a moment of extreme emotion, she nearly reaches for him, but snatches her hand back before she touches him. Instead, she finds him two pots to mend, and he drives away with fifty cents and the shoots, promising to take care of the shoots until he can deliver them to the other woman.

Elisa goes into the house to get dressed for dinner. She scrubs herself vigorously and examines her naked body in the mirror before putting on her dress and makeup. When Henry sees her, he compliments her, telling her she looks “different, strong and happy.” “I’m strong,” she boasts. “I never knew before how strong.” When Henry and Elisa drive into town, she sees a "dark speck" ahead on the road. It turns out the man tossed her chrysanthemum shoots out of his wagon but kept the pot Elisa had put them in. Henry does not notice the speck on the road and Elisa does not mention it to him. She turns her head so he cannot see her crying.

Characters

Elisa Allen - Protagonist
Henry Allen - Elisa's Husband
Men - Meeting with Henry Allen
Scotty - Ranch Hand
Traveling Salesman

Symbolism

The chrysanthemums that are mentioned throughout the story are a symbol of Elisa. Chrysanthemum stems are long, strong, and tough which are symbolic of Elisa's masculine qualities. However, the flower itself is delicate and tender which represents the parts of Elisa that are feminine. The contradictory characteristics of chrysanthemums being both strong yet beautiful epitomize how Elisa is atypical of a woman for being both masculine and feminine.^[1]

References

Further reading

• Busch, Christopher S. "Longing for the Lost Frontier: Steinbeck's Vision of Cultural Decline in 'The White Quail' and 'The Chrysanthemums'." Steinbeck Quarterly 26.03-04 (Summer/Fall 1993): 81-90.
• Pellow, C. Kenneth. "'The Chrysanthemums' Revisited." Steinbeck Quarterly 22.01-02 (Winter/Spring 1989): 8-16.
• Palmerino, Gregory J. "Steinbeck's The Chrysanthemums." Explicator 62.3 (2004): 164-167.
• Dickmann, Denise "John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums": A Woman Bound By Society".