Chrysanthemums- Setting Review

    

    John Steinbeck's "Chrysanthemums" takes place in a lonely ranch on a dark December day. The ranch sits in a valley between hills covered by a grey, foggy sky. Steinbeck describes the ranch in detail, and explains that there was not much to do, and this is probably because of the cold winter weather. We can infer based on the setting, the time of publishing in 1937, and the common themes of his other works that the narrative occurs in depression era America. 

    Steinbeck connects the internal conflict of Elisa, the main character, directly to the setting with which she lives. She appears in her garden where her effort is shown through her blooming flowers in the winter, and her role on the farm can be inferred based on the general role of women at this period in history. Clearly she feels restless. The valley the ranch exists in is described as a "pot" closed in by the dark sky, and the traveling stranger who comes in looking for work just so happens to fix pots. She shows interest in his lifestyle living as a traveler, and resists the notion that, as a women, she could not handle it. These details could mean that she wants to see an escape from her current life and pursue her passions. She has a knack for making things grow, and expresses great passion when explaining the process to the stranger who comes to her garden, yet she doesn't help grow for her husband on the farm. She could feel that this cements her to the farm itself, or that she desires to be elsewhere using her talents. When leaving for dinner, Elisa sees her chrysanthemum sprouts on the ground by the highway, and she realizes that the stranger had used her. Her talents never actually made it out of the space she felt trapped in.

    Steinbeck describes the setting pretty plainly in the beginning of the story, with enough detail for the reader to immediately gain a sense of gloom. Using great details to put the reader right onto the farm, he explains it down to the specific placement of farm equipment. He does not describe the house or garden though, just the landscape that it is on- this could mean that the actual living space is secondary to the symbolism behind the enclosed valley. Even with the detail of the initial setting description, Steinbeck still leaves the reader with enough absent to interpret the connection between the farm itself and Elisa's character. He does not explicitly state how the setting is so integral to how her character interacts with her world, but it can be implied through the rhetorical context.