Tuesday, 20 November 2012

PERSONAL RESPONSE: THE CHRYSANTHEMUM AND THE GARDEN PARTY



I have read two short stories which are “The Chrysanthemum” written by John Steinbeck and “The Garden Party” written by Katherine Mansfield. I have made up my mind to choose the story “The Chrysanthemum” because I think this story is more interesting compared to the story “The Garden Party”. It is interesting in all aspects such as themes, character and the plot. Furthermore, this story is more challenging because of the words used and the underlying meaning of each sentence.

            There are a few characters in this story. One of the characters is Elisa Allen. Elisa Allen is the wife of Henry Allen. I chose Elisa because she is an interesting, intelligent and passionate woman. She is a hardworking woman. The line “…it was a hard-swept looking little house, with hard-polished windows, and a clean mud-mat on the front steps…” (Steinbeck, J.,1978, p.877) shows that Elisa always cleans and tidies their house neatly. However, Elisa also has a negative characteristic which is uncontrollable sex desire towards the Tinker. It can be proven in the line “…her breast swelled passionately…” (Steinbeck, J., 1978, p.880) and “…kneeling there, her hand went out toward his legs in the greasy black trousers. Her hesitant fingers almost touched the cloth…” (Steinbeck, J., 1978, p.880). All this actions are causes by her cold sex relationship with Henry. The evidence is there is no line that shows Elisa has a child in the text although she is an attractive woman.

            The next character is Henry. I like this character because he has everything that a woman wants in a husband. He provides for her, treats her with respect and even takes her out every now and then. The line “…what’s the matter, Elisa? Do you want to go? I don’t think you will like it, but I’ll take you if you really want to go…” (Steinbeck, J., 1978, p.882) shows that he respects Elisa and even asks Elisa whether she wants to go or not even though he can make the decision by itself. However, Henry is unimaginative. He praises Elisa “…I mean you look different, strong and happy…” (Steinbeck, J., 1978, p.882) and “…you look strong enough to break a calf over your knee, happy enough to eat it like a watermelon…” (Steinbeck, J., 1978, p.882). Henry should not praise a woman with a sentence like that. That causes Elisa lost her rigidity. The line “…for a second she lost her rigidity…” and “…Henry ! Don’t talk like that. You Didn’t know what you said…” indicates that Elisa does not like to be praise like that.

            The main theme of this story is the inequality of gender. Elisa is an interesting, intelligent and passionate woman but all these qualities go to waste. Having a professional career is not an option for her because of woman in this society is always expected to stay at home, takes care of the family and household. Although Henry is less intelligent than Elisa, but he is the one who runs the ranch, supports himself and Elisa, and makes business deals. All Elisa does is maintaining the garden and watching Henry’s work from far. This can be shown in the line “…Elisa watched them for a moment and then went back to her work…” (Steinbeck, J., 1978, p.877). In addition, all Elisa’s good quality such as her talent in business is not appreciated just because she is a woman. The evidence is in the line “…you’ve got a gift with things. I wish you’d work out in the orchard and raise some apples that big…”(Steinbeck, J., 1978, p.878). However, when Elisa said “…maybe I could do it, too. I’ve a gift with things, all right. She could stick anything in the ground and make it grow. She said it was having planter’s hands that knew how to do it…” (Steinbeck, J., 1978, p.878), Henry replied “…well, it sure works with flowers…” (Steinbeck, J., 1978, p.878). That shows Henry does not appreciated the talent that Elisa has.

The setting that has been discussed in this story is the Salinas Valley, California which is the location of where Henry and Elisa lived. The second setting is Elisa’s house. This is where Elisa did her gardening and watched her husband, Henry, talking to two men and making the business deals. The last setting is the road toward Salinas. This is the place where Elisa saw the discarded chrysanthemum shoots that the tinker has thrown away.

One of the issues that can be seen in this story is the importance of sexual fulfillment. In this story, Elisa is trying to seduce the Tinker because her desire in sex is uncontrollable. This can be shown in the line “…her breast swelled passionately…” (Steinbeck, J., 1978, p.880). The pursuit of sexual fulfillment can cause people to act unreasonable way. For example, she does those seducing action and that can be shown in the line “…kneeling there, her hand went out toward his legs in the greasy black trousers. Her hesitant fingers almost touched the cloth…” (Steinbeck, J., 1978, p.880). In addition, Elisa speaks to the Tinker with nearly pornographic language. It can be proved in the conversation between Elisa and the Tinker “…every pointed star gets driven into your body…” (Steinbeck, J., 1978, p.880). Furthermore, it is a husband’s responsible to fulfill his wife’s sexual needs and vice versa. Sexual fulfillment is one of the key of successful and happy marriage.

As a conclusion, honesty, faithfulness and sexual fulfillments are very important in a marriage. Those are the keys to achieve a happy marriage. A woman should only love and reserved herself for her husband, not for other man. On the other hand, male and female should be given an equal right. A husband and wife should appreciate each other. All this will ensure the happiness of a marriage. Elisa could have a happy marriage life.


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