Elisa's Power In The Chrysanthemums By John Steinbeck

In John Steinbeck’s story “The Chrysanthemums” the main character Elisa is in the garden wearing men’s clothing; her appearance made her seem strong. "Her face was lean and strong and her eyes were as clear as water"(Steinbeck 226). Elisa has a strong self-confident attitude in the beginning of the story before meeting the pot fixer, and by the end of the story she lacks confidence and feels like she is losing control. In the beginning, Elisa likes the power she has over the chrysanthemums. The author implies that she uses more power than she needs over the helpless chrysanthemums. "She was cutting down the old years chrysanthemums stalks with a pair of short and powerful scissors... even her work with the scissors was over-eager, over-powerful. The Chrysanthemums stems seemed too small and easy for her energy"(Steinbeck 227). Elisa’s use of the powerful scissors shows her power and control over the chrysanthemums, which allows the reader to see her strong confidence.
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At this point the reader starts to sense Elisa’s loss of confidence. Elisa was resistant to the pot fixer at first, but when the Pot fixer asked Elisa what her plants were, she could not resist his selling technique. “The irritation and resistance melted from Elisa’s face.”(Steinbeck 229). Elisa became weak when the pot fixer asked about her chrysanthemums. At first she was resistant to him, but the Chrysanthemums now had power over her.

Although Elisa tries to resist the pot fixer, she lets his tactics get the best of her when he continues to talk about her chrysanthemums. She gives in and finds work for him that she does not need really need done. “At the back of the house she dug in the can pile and fund two old and battered aluminum saucepans… ‘Here, maybe you can fix these’” (Steinbeck 231). At this point Elisa has lost control, and the situation is out of her