The Chrysanthemums

In The Chrysanthemums, John Steinbeck is able to use symbolism in many ways to create images about being a female during the 1930s. Everything in this time period seemed to be male-dominated, and a woman was expected to depend on them for many things. Women were both socially and emotionally stereotyped and it was it seemed as though their feelings were laid out for them. It was assumed that women were always to do what is expected of them, and that they were easily softened ups and suckered into things. Steinbeck uses this symbolism to give the reader a thorough understanding of what it is like for Elisa Allen to be a woman in this era (447).
In The Chrysanthemums, Steinbeck creates a gloomy mood to start off the story. He says “the grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and all the rest of the world” (447). This sets the scene of isolation, which can be applied to the topic that women of the 1930s seem to be in their one world. “Ther...