The Chrysanthemums - Critique Essay
In the literary critique by Ernest W. Sullivan, II, the reader gets an insight to the way the humans and canines interact with each other in very similar ways. In Sullivan’s essay, “The Cur in ‘The Chrysanthemums’”, the animals and humans in the story by Steinbeck are seen by the author as being characteristically similar throughout the story. Sullivan explains three ways in which the characters in Steinbeck’s story are characteristically similar throughout the story in the conflict essay about the cur in the story. The animals and the people in the short story “The Chrysanthemums,” by John Steinbeck, interact in the same way that means both are stuck in dead end lives.
In the story “The Chrysanthemums,” by John Steinbeck, Elisa Allen is caught off guard while working in the garden on the Allen ranch, by a tinker, in a wagon with a misspelled advertisement on the side in black paint. The tinker manages to gain Elisa’s trust by pretending to care about the Chrysanthemum’s in the ranch’s garden and then gets Elisa to find pans to pay for the fixing of. The tinker drives away and Elisa goes to get ready for a celebration dinner with Henry Allen, and a movie. At the beginning of the story, Elisa’s husband made a great sale of steer and wanted to take Mrs. Allen out for dinner and a movie. After the Mr. and Mrs. had gotten ready for the date, the old car is brought around front by Henry and Elisa gets in. Awhile up the road, Elisa sees that the chrysanthemums that had been given to the tinker earlier in a brand new vase. The vase was not seen from the passenger side of the car, but the chrysanthemums Elisa had given the tinker for the old woman up the street, had been discarded as an afterthought by the tinker. It was then that Mrs. Allen requested wine with dinner, and Mr. Allen agreed. Both husband and wife were silent while Elisa’s coat shielded the tears.
In the critique, Sullivan calls the relationship between Elisa and the dog imagery as outlined in
In the story “The Chrysanthemums,” by John Steinbeck, Elisa Allen is caught off guard while working in the garden on the Allen ranch, by a tinker, in a wagon with a misspelled advertisement on the side in black paint. The tinker manages to gain Elisa’s trust by pretending to care about the Chrysanthemum’s in the ranch’s garden and then gets Elisa to find pans to pay for the fixing of. The tinker drives away and Elisa goes to get ready for a celebration dinner with Henry Allen, and a movie. At the beginning of the story, Elisa’s husband made a great sale of steer and wanted to take Mrs. Allen out for dinner and a movie. After the Mr. and Mrs. had gotten ready for the date, the old car is brought around front by Henry and Elisa gets in. Awhile up the road, Elisa sees that the chrysanthemums that had been given to the tinker earlier in a brand new vase. The vase was not seen from the passenger side of the car, but the chrysanthemums Elisa had given the tinker for the old woman up the street, had been discarded as an afterthought by the tinker. It was then that Mrs. Allen requested wine with dinner, and Mr. Allen agreed. Both husband and wife were silent while Elisa’s coat shielded the tears.
In the critique, Sullivan calls the relationship between Elisa and the dog imagery as outlined in
Cited: Steinbeck, John. “The Chrysanthemums.” Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 2nd ed. Robert DiYanni. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2008. 459-466. Print. Sullivan, Ernest W., II. "The Cur in 'The Chrysanthemums '." Studies in Short Fiction 16.3 (Summer 1979): 215-217. Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 June 2012.