Imposed
Historical Societal Boundaries on Women as Exemplified by John Steinbeck’s
Symbolism of a Single Soul in “The Chrysanthemums”
At any given point in time, there can be examples of
societal boundaries placed upon any given person, group, race, or culture. In John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums,”
he symbolizes in many ways and with many examples of how society imposed
certain boundaries and expectations among women during a certain period of time
in the past. Within these
boundaries, he demonstrates the desire to move beyond them by one woman, yet
her fear of the unknown causes her to settle for what she knows, what is
expected of her, and disappear back among her own boundaries she has
created. Presented with several events,
such as an unplanned guest, several conversations regarding what women should
not do, and her own strength seen and verbalized by her husband, Steinbeck
demonstrates the inner struggle of one struggling for equality.
Paragraph 1 discusses how closed off they are from the rest
of the world – “fog of winter … It was a time of quiet and waiting” (Steinbeck
237) – like her liberties were at a standstill and all shall remain as is,
waiting for equality to come. We see her gardening and snapping heavily at the
chrysanthemums, dressed heavily in men’s clothing. However, she took care of the delicate flowers,
as a woman would do – a woman’s job. It
ironic that she can dress like a man but not do anything a man can do. Her clothing is symbolic of how she represses
her situation as a woman not able to live in a man’s world as she would like. She
is described as “heavy and blocked with a face that was lean and strong, but
eyes as clear as water, as if they were clear and ready for the future”
(Steinbeck 237). Then she has the wire fences which “protected her flower
garden from cattle and dogs and chickens,” but it also
protects HER from the boundaries of the outside world (Steinbeck 238). The outside world was not one she was
supposed to be exposed to in any way except what was expected of a woman. When
attending the fights in town is brought up, her husband asking how a woman
could have fun at such a gruesome event quashes her temporary moment of excitement,
her desire to do something out of the norm for a woman in those days. She is quickly struck back down again,
reminded of her “place” in society.
As suggested by Gregory J. Palmerino, the
conversations between husband and wife demonstrate further issues of
dysfunction in the lives of the two – a lack of real communication. “For everywhere is there a conflict in ‘The
Chrysanthemums,’ but nowhere is there a fight.
This absence of friction prevents Henry and Elisa’s relationship from
progressing, whether it be as lovers, partners, or parents.” (Palmerino
164) He goes on to say the initial
dialogue between the two “sets the tone for subsequent encounters and reveals
the couple’s fundamental problem: they do not know how to fight.” (Palmerino
165) Even when Henry brings up seeing
the fights, “he is incapable of directly stating his desires, too, so he
couches his true feelings in a ‘joking tone.’” “Henry and Elisa are neither
capable nor willing to pursue a dialogue that might produce discord.” (Palmerino
165)
The stranger’s appearance brought upon a strange
and unexpected situation for her. Leroy
Thomas describes the event as a “symbolic sexual experience.” (Thomas 50) She slipped into somewhat of a fantasy for a
moment with thinking about doing what the man did, living on the caravan,
traveling and free. When she spoke of
such a desire, he reminded her it’s not good for a woman, but she snapped back
asking how he would know? Steinbeck’s
description of the man and carriage portrays a crazy, haphazard, and dirty, yet
free life. They have a discussion about how he doesn’t feel that’s the life for
a woman and she states in several terms how she can keep up with the best of
them – sharpening her own scissors, fixing pots, yearning for the caravan life
(Steinbeck 242). Thomas describes her initially being
antagonistic towards him until he asks about her chrysanthemums. (Thomas 50) The man grows quiet, then changes the
conversation to showing interest in and begins to question her about her
flowers, which created an excitement inside her she could hardly control. When he asked about bringing some to a person
down the road, her excitement grew even more, quickly yet carefully describing
how to care for them for the person he was to bring them to. She cared for the flowers as if they were the
children she did not have in her life. She
shows so much passion when discussing something someone seems actually
interested in, a passion not seen when she speaks with her husband. She lives such a simple life with him, yet
inside there is so much more waiting to get out.
At one point she almost touches the man, wanting to intimately
know a man that lives this life, “…her hand went out toward his legs in the
greasy, black trousers. Her hesitant fingers almost touched a cloth. Then her
hand dropped to the ground. She crouched low like a fawning dog” (Steinbeck
241). He was allowed into her garden, “perhaps a symbol of penetration.” “It is as if Elisa and the tinker, through a
symbolic sexual experience of sorts, have created the chrysanthemums that Elisa
puts in the pot for the tinker to take with him.” (Thomas 50)
When she went inside to bathe, “she tore off her soiled
clothes and flung them into the corner”, as to rid herself of the ideas she
had, “then she scrubbed herself with a little block of pumice, … until her skin
was scratched and red” to scrub off even more of the ideas she had had
(Steinbeck 243). How silly of her to think she could ever live a life like
that. What on earth was she
thinking? Slipping back into where she
was supposed to be as a woman during those times, she put on “the dress which
was the symbol of her prettiness” (Steinbeck 243). She took a lot of time making herself up and
transforming from the rugged person outside to the feminine woman she was
supposed to be.
While waiting for her husband, “she sat unmoving on the
porch” staring toward the river road for a very long time (Steinbeck 243). What was she yearning? Was she thinking she
might see the man on the road at some point?
When her husband finally approached her, he questioned why she looked so
nice? She was puzzled and he went on to
described her as “different, strong, and happy” (Steinbeck 243). This was a great
shock to her. She had not realized what
she felt inside was showing outwardly. Steinbeck exemplifies the theme of the
story further in paragraph 104: “For a second she lost her rigidity. ‘Henry!
Don’t talk like that. You didn’t know what you said.’ She grew complete again. ‘I’m
strong,’ she boasted. ‘I never knew before how strong’” (Steinbeck 243).
In Steinbeck’s story of this woman, she gets temporarily lost
in a moment when the stranger appears and somehow falls weak to his ways, even
giving him some of her precious chrysanthemums to bring to someone else. Her spirit is lifted by this encounter then
further lifted by her husband’s describing her as strong. As they are going to town to eat, her heightened
spirit is crushed. “When she sees her ‘babies’ at the side of the road where the
tinker has thrown them, she is catapulted into sadness.” (Thomas 51) It was as if everything was just a lie. “The temporary
fulfillment that she has experienced with the tinker turns void.” (Thomas 51)
When she says “he might have thrown them on the ground”, that would have at
least given them a chance to live, but he didn’t care about them at all
(Steinbeck 243). They passed him on the
road and she couldn’t even look at him, as if she wanted to deny and forget
that the entire event had ever happened.
She had exposed her passion to him, threw off her hat, took off her
gloves, and had almost touched a man who falsely showed interest in anything
she had to say or who she was.
In the last paragraph “she relaxed limply in the seat”,
showing she succumbed to her demise as a woman with limitations and boundaries
most cannot cross (Steinbeck 244). She
feels doomed to live in this repressed state she knows all too well. In John
Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums,” he symbolizes in many ways and with many
examples of how society imposed certain boundaries and expectations among women
during a certain period of time in the past. Although three times in the
story she is declared “strong”, her weakness shows through with her frustration
of being trapped in her simple life with all of her skills and passion going to
waste.
Works
Cited
Steinbeck, John. “The
Chrysanthemums.” Literature: An
Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and
Dana Gioia. University of Southern California: Pearson, 2014. 237-244. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment