To the casual eye, the story "The Chrysanthemums" by John Steinbeck is about a woman named Elisa Allen who has a green thumb for her care of her flowers garden. However, when an individual takes the time to analyze this short story, one can deduce that it goes far beyond the relationship between a woman and her garden to a much deeper level. Depicting the efforts of a woman trying to fit into a male-dominated society along with the traces of patriarchy, Elisa struggles to gain power. This essay analyzes “The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck. The article shows how throughout the story Elisa tries to understand her role in such a patriarchal society. Elisa achieves this by being able to show her growth through specific scenarios that have happened in her life and thus allowing readers to understand that discovering themselves will allow them to develop further. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay With this in mind, Elisa is the protagonist and a dynamic character, meaning she undergoes internal changes due to the conflicts she faces over the course of the story. Its appearance is quite relevant when it comes to internal changes because it tries to protect itself from giving in to its own needs and desires. She is first introduced wearing "her gardening costume, a black man's hat pulled down over her eyes, sod shoes...". With an outfit that makes her figure "look[ed] stuck and heavy" simply means that she is protecting her femininity from the world. By wearing “heavy leather gloves to protect his hands,” he also protects himself from the harsh judgment of society because he can cease his presence in it and hide his vulnerability. Elisa is proud of her garden and takes care of it, but these thick gloves do not allow her to physically come into contact with her flowers and/or plants. This can be seen as her happiness, represented by the flowers, which are kept well hidden. Wanting to feel joyful and indulging are different from each other and in this case Elisa doesn't allow herself to feel this strong emotion she aspires to or anything else for that matter. Elisa's sacred garden with "chrysanthemums" have been interpreted as symbols of Elisa's sexuality, or childlessness, or artistic sensibility, and all of these connections make sense when considering Elisa's ties to her husband or society". These connections determine who and how he is. Just looking at the surface of Elisa's characteristics, it seems that she is a normal woman who loves gardening. No one would think that his garden symbolizes what he desires. To accompany the story by starting with a description of Elisa's appearance, Steinbeck also vividly describes the setting for readers to visualize in their minds. She keeps her guard up, just as “the high flannel-gray fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and the rest of the world.” To grow Elisa needs to know how to let her guard down. However, since Elisa is as impenetrable as fog while rain is symbolized by growth, “fog and rain did not go together.” Rain is necessary for the growth and nourishment of a garden, but in this case Elisa must be willing to let her guard down in order to feel the emotions that come before her blossom like her garden when she takes care of them. Furthermore, not only does she not allow herself to feel joy, but she is also closed off towards her husband, Henry. Referring to how the garden is a symbolization of Elisa, the author quotes Enrico "bent over the wire fence thathe protected his flower garden." This wire fence captures the true inner essence of who Elisa is. Wanting to protect herself, she is the only one who can enter her garden and all its beauty. Not even her husband Henry dares to enter because, like a fence, Elisa keeps people and feelings away with her thick gloves. He doesn't want to open himself up to the idea of ​​letting people in and invading his personal space. Although the relationship between Henry and Elisa is quite unique, “Oppression” seems like too strong a word for the way Elisa is subjugated by her life as Henry's wife, but she is clearly limited in ways that frustrate her.” For example, although they are married, she will never reveal her true feelings to him. Furthermore, he protects her by “going into town around five and having dinner at the Cominos Hotel. As?". Instead of asking her what she wants to do, he tells her directly and leaves her with no choice but to follow the plans she had already made. Traditional gender roles play into their relationship because Henry is the man when they are inside the outer perimeter of the house, but when they are inside the house, Elisa becomes the "man" of the house. Moving from the courtyard and/or garden to when Henry was telling Elisa about the project inside the house, Elisa tells him “there is hot water for your bath. Hurry. It's getting late." This fits perfectly with traditional gender roles because women are always seen taking care of their husbands while their husbands are out providing for the family, such as when Henry “sold those thirty head of three-year-old steers. I've almost gotten my price too." He is trying to earn a living to provide for himself and Elisa while she takes care of the household chores which also includes yard work. Despite being a simple man, his relationship with Elisa makes her feel oppressed, especially when he "would[es] [Elisa] train in the orchard and pick such big apples." He hides his inner emotions and submits to unfair impositions just like when Henry mentions apples. She tends to please everyone around her except herself. Furthermore, Henry was not the only male character to exist in the text. A tinkerer was introduced about halfway through the story. Elisa's interaction with this man revealed relatively much. Despite being married, she gets along immediately with the tinker. With every sentence spoken, the story reveals pieces of Elisa's true personality and who she truly is. This is a completely different interaction than the one with Henry considering how “Elisa took off her gloves” as well as “touching the bottom brim of her man's hat, looking for stray hairs.” Her hair shows her feminine side and also, taking off her gloves gives Elisa the opportunity to experience all the sensations, emotions and everything that life has to offer because she finally has the “ability” to touch. Chrysanthemums are his greatest pride and joy, so when the tinker takes an interest in them, his "eyes become attentive and eager." By allowing the tinker to "[pass] through the fence," he too enters his world, thus earning his trust. She is revealing her deepest self to him, which is why this leads her to take off her hat too. This would explain how Elisa is finally immersing herself in the simplicity of the joy of life and is blooming like her flowers. While this interaction allowed her to have fun without any worries, it also reveals the harsh reality of women's power and choices in the male-dominated society. As previously mentioned, a woman's choice and/or power in society is not taken seriously when Elisa states, "I wish women could do these things" referring to sleeping.