Reponce Paper on Chrysanthemum

Harrynarine John

The Chrysanthemums

Response Paper

The chrysanthemum by John Steinbeck is an amazing short story, that I really enjoy reading. In this story Steinbeck, shows us how the main character Elisa changes, from being this lonely individual, to a person who just want to experience more wonderful things in life. We can see in the reading Elisa is a very story woman, but also a woman who craves affection and love. To me the chrysanthemums flower symbolizes Elisa changes. As stated the flower needs to be pampered in order to grow, so as Elisa, she needs attention. Quoted

"Well, look. These will take root in about a month. Then she must set them out, about a foot apart in good rich earth like this, see?" She lifted a handful of dark soil for him to look at. "They'll grow fast and tall. ……..”

In this quote Elisa is explain to the drifter how the woman should take care of the flower in order for it to grow and we can see she went in great details. This symbolized to me that there are many things she is missing from her life, and that she basically live a lonely life.

At the beginning, we see that Elisa is a very closed minds person, which I think the fence around the flower symbolize, it’s basically showing that Elisa is trap in her own lonely world, just like the flowers and in order for the flowers to gloom they need to be pampered just like Elisa. But when a drifter came by he started to talk to Elisa, at first Elisa shot him down, for example he ask her like 3 times if she had anything pots, etc. to fix. He even begged her and she kept on saying no. But when he glance at the flowers she was setting he ask her what was those, she then started to talk, to me this was when her changed started. She started to break out of her shell as I would say it. The drifter then told her that there was this lady, who has a lovely garden, who asks him to bring her some of chrysanthemums seeds if he ever came across any. Elisa was very pleased to hear that, she...