For many women, the societal standards of the late thirties prohibited them from openly expressing their rights as human beings. In John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums,” Elisa Allen struggles to find how she fits into this society. She is “closed off… from the sky and from the rest of the world” in a “pot” (Steinbeck 1). Being closed off from society leaves Elisa with the task of finding her own way of living out her marriage and discovering what expectations her husband has of her. Throughout this story, objects traditionally thought of as manly are constantly brought to light as Elisa struggles to live her own ideas of marriage, while enduring expectations set by society. The adjectives “black” and “sharp,” along with the symbol of water, are used to describe the internal struggle between society and women’s rights that Elisa hides from her husband and, ultimately, herself. Elisa eventually falls indifferent and numb to this internal battle and what society expects. 

Though Elisa knows that she must hide her manly side in order to maintain a pure womanly image for society, one finds the manliness she wants to feel symbolized in the black manly objects described throughout the story. Elisa works in her garden with a “man’s black hat pulled low down over her eyes”- behind her stands “the neat white farm house” that her husband and she reside in (1). Elisa melds to the standards of society, living in a clean house, providing food for her husband, she even plants a stereotypical garden with flowers; however, if one is to look deeper into this act one finds that Elisa wants to be involved in the man’s job of working the dirty jobs. She wears gloves but quickly takes them off and her “fingers destroyed” the dark soil of the ground; however, she puts the gloves back on as her husband walks up to her, hiding this side of herself from him (1). It is not that she is ashamed of the power she wants to undertake; she simply does not know how to bring it up to her husband. When her husband points out that she could “raise some apples that big” Elisa is motivated and knows that she could. Apples represent the product that comes from the black manly work of the soil: a task that Elisa is willing to commit to, hopefully, in doing so, balancing the influence in their marriage. Down the road comes a stranger with a “graying” beard; at first what this stranger brings does not appear black or white. With the presence of this man Elisa is stuck in a state of confusion and indifference, she realizes that she wants badly to go against societal standards noticing the strangers black “suit,” “eyes” and that every “crack was a black line” to him on the fence where he rests (3). She knows the risks of turning over to the dark side, yet one finds her “breast swelled passionately” towards the man (5) at the thought of living as he does. She longs for what happens “when the night is dark” and the freedom that comes with it (5). Elisa knows that she is just as capable as any man to do the work of the world, yet something stops her from pursuing the tinker’s career any further. She grows indifferent to the idea knowing that she would have to leave her home life behind. 

However, after this lapse in her judgment she quickly scrubs herself clean of all the dark soil on her body, making herself completely feminine. She knows what she has done is wrong, so she leaves the manliness to her husband as she places his dark suit upon the bed. After the chaos of the day, Elisa looks toward the river road and finds a “grey afternoon” sky (6). Though Elisa longs for something more within her marriage she knows what a proper wife should do but is, ultimately, stuck in a state of grey. When Elisa rips off her hat one finds her “dark pretty hair;” no matter how much Elisa tries to tear away the manly objects, she will always have a piece of darkness with her. She tries to cover her hair with a new hat but struggles having to “[pull] it here and [press] it there,” eventually relenting she shows her indifference to expectations. While Elisa will always long for a world in which women have more say in the marriage and more prominent work, she decides to suppress her own needs in order to maintain her societal image and her effortless relationship. 

Instantly one’s attention is drawn towards Elisa’s obsession with sharp objects. Her eye sharpens at the thought of  “stick[ing] anything in the ground and mak[ing] it grow” like any farmer or man in society (2). Sparking this interest is the fact that with such a task Elisa becomes of equal status with her husband both in society and their personal relationship. Fascinated by the “little sharp points beneath each letter” on the side of the strangers wagon, Elisa tries not to succumb to her interests in the man and the outside world (2). When the stranger asks Elisa if she needs any pots mended or knifes sharpened she “harden[s] with resistance” (3). Elisa, though metaphorically stuck in a pot separated from the world in her valley, resists temptation and tells the stranger that she has nothing to fix. She tries not to loose her womanly morals that are expected from, essentially, everyone; however, for a moment she finds indifference to these morals and describes in detail her longed for passion of being more useful in the world and with her husband to the stranger, describing it as “sharp and—lovely:” “every pointed star get[ting] driven into [her] body” (5). The sharpness of such a moment creates adrenaline within Elisa. She is fascinated with the sharpness of a knife, which has been used by man throughout history to hunt for food and keep the family alive.  She wants to be considered someone that is not protected but the protector. Regardless of these thoughts, she quickly realizes that she has gone too far into her craving for equality with the stranger, later needing wine at dinner to numb herself, both from her sad reality and her thoughts. Ultimately, Elisa’s fascination with sharp objects is a metaphor of her desire to cut away from societal standards, to become her own individual and to distance herself from such feminine ideals. 

Water brings life to all living things, including Elisa and her chrysanthemums. The Salinas Valley is filled with fog and though Elisa is “hopeful of a good rain,” she knows that “fog and rain [do] not go together” (1). Elisa is essentially stuck in a marriage that is foggy with no real meaning in work, but she knows what she wants: to create new life for the world, she can feel this when she digs into the soil and her chrysanthemums grow. She wants to create new opportunity for all fellow women knowing that she can grow and create anything that a man can, sometimes more beautifully. She still holds out hope for something she knows she has no say over in such a society. Surrounded by a river with a “bank of willows and cotton-woods” Elisa is constantly reminded of the stream she would like to travel down that is visible yet unattainable (2). The stranger comes and opens a world of “rain or shine” in Elisa’s eyes and she realizes that the world is not always in a fog (5). Elisa takes this information and decides that she will take action regardless of her place in society. She bathes in the tub and hears her husband “splashing” in the water and can feel a page being turned in their relationship (6). Being freshly bathed, her husband comments that Elisa looks “strong” and “happy” bringing hope to Elisa that her husband feels the same way about society and is also indifferent to what others may think (6). Yet again, and for the final time, the hope of bringing new meaning to women life is broken at the sight of her chrysanthemums on the side of the road and Elisa is found “crying weakly” on the way to dinner (7). She knows that she lives in a cruel world and that if her chrysanthemums cannot bloom she cannot expect to give life to a new movement. Elisa does not succumb to her manliness and also decides that she cannot and will not fight society: she just is. Her stream of hope leaves through the tears she sheds. Water brings life; yet, Elisa will never have a life of true meaning and work. Elisa only has her chrysanthemums, unless society decides, one day, to water her with work and life. 

Struggling with her place in society for so long, Elisa ultimately gives up and just lets the world define her. It is not that she does not know the difference between what she wants and what society expects; she simply decides to numb herself to the world. One is not satisfied with the ending because one is left with nothing, for in a moment “the thing was done” (7). 