"The Chrysanthemums" and Dissatisfaction with Life

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, throughout the course of the story, Steinbeck uses vast symbolism to illustrate Elisa's attempts to elude her bland and unfulfilling lifestyle. The author points out that the symbols of three dogs are used by Steinbeck for representing Elisa's position in comparison to that of the men and to foreshadow her eventual failure of escaping her role. The paper illustrates that the repairman and Henry, represented by the ranch shepherds' interaction with the mongrel dog to foreshadow how Elisa's conflict will end.

From the Paper:

"The snarling dog in the story is a literary figure in the story of the repairman's mongrel dog, which represents Elisa. As Elisa lowered herself and bared her teeth in resistance to the repairman, the mongrel dog succumbed to the other ranch dogs with "raised hackles and bared teeth (29)". This parallel is continued in the physical descriptions of Elisa and the mongrel. As Elisa is "lean and strong (5)", the mongrel was "lean and rangy (28)". Also, the image of a dog about to place its paw on its owner is used to represent the subjectivity of Elisa to the repairman. As she is Kneeling there, her hand went out toward his legs in the greasy black trousers. Her hesitant fingers almost touched the cloth."

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• Analytical Essay # 55511 : "The Chrysanthemums" and Conflict"

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