John Steinbeck's 'The Chrysanthemums'
Myles Hypse
March 2nd, 2017
English 1B
3:30-4:50pm
Clothes & Chrysanthemums
John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums” tells the evolution of a character over the course of a story. Steinbeck accomplishes this by using specific point of view to carry out his vision, very similar to the way Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni uses distinct character development in her short story “Clothes” to entice and pull the reader in. These elements work together in both stories to create a theme that has the greatest impact on the reader. The point of view in Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums” and the character development in Divakaruni’s “Clothes” can be related through the repression of women and the changing of the characters clothing.
Ann Charters defines …show more content…
In Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums”, omniscient point of view helps the reader see the changes Elisa’s goes through after the visit from the tinker. When the story begins, Elisa is described as wearing a manly looking outfit. The narrator even describes her body as “blocked and heavy.”(321) As the tinker talks, Charles A. Sweet Jr. points out Elisa's calculated and conscious masculine efforts become more and more feminine (212). When the tinker leaves Elisa bathes herself, and looks at herself naked in the mirror, and then dresses up in a pretty dress, and makeup. These feminine items contrast with the gardening outfit and suggest a renewed Elisa. At the end of the story, after she sees the flowers on the road, she pulls up her coat collar to hide her tears, something that suggests a move backward into the repressed life she lived before the tinker payed her a visit. Likewise, in “Clothes”, the author develops Sumitas character through the clothing she wears. At night Sumita was freed when her husband let her wear American clothes in secret. But when Somesh Sen is killed Sumita is forced to choose between an oppressive life in India and a free one in America; choosing a life in America, Sumita sports American
March 2nd, 2017
English 1B
3:30-4:50pm
Clothes & Chrysanthemums
John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums” tells the evolution of a character over the course of a story. Steinbeck accomplishes this by using specific point of view to carry out his vision, very similar to the way Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni uses distinct character development in her short story “Clothes” to entice and pull the reader in. These elements work together in both stories to create a theme that has the greatest impact on the reader. The point of view in Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums” and the character development in Divakaruni’s “Clothes” can be related through the repression of women and the changing of the characters clothing.
Ann Charters defines …show more content…
In Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums”, omniscient point of view helps the reader see the changes Elisa’s goes through after the visit from the tinker. When the story begins, Elisa is described as wearing a manly looking outfit. The narrator even describes her body as “blocked and heavy.”(321) As the tinker talks, Charles A. Sweet Jr. points out Elisa's calculated and conscious masculine efforts become more and more feminine (212). When the tinker leaves Elisa bathes herself, and looks at herself naked in the mirror, and then dresses up in a pretty dress, and makeup. These feminine items contrast with the gardening outfit and suggest a renewed Elisa. At the end of the story, after she sees the flowers on the road, she pulls up her coat collar to hide her tears, something that suggests a move backward into the repressed life she lived before the tinker payed her a visit. Likewise, in “Clothes”, the author develops Sumitas character through the clothing she wears. At night Sumita was freed when her husband let her wear American clothes in secret. But when Somesh Sen is killed Sumita is forced to choose between an oppressive life in India and a free one in America; choosing a life in America, Sumita sports American