In Steinbacks’ “The Chrysanthemum”, Elisa Allen’s
interaction with the repairman indicates her need of a different life that she
had been experiencing. She was born at a time where women had little opportunity
to choose the things they want and express their wants. It can be seen that
Elisa is an intelligent and passionate woman who’s been married to a man that
she do not like. Her interaction with the repairman is mostly exchanged with thought-provoking
conversation and the need for sex. Because these are the things that were not
given to her by her husband. The repairman, even though he exchanges flirts
with her, do not feel the same. It is shown that he does not share Elisa’s
passion at all when he threw Elisa’s chrysanthemum shoots away – a representation
of Elisa.
The mood of the passage is the one that follows:
B- surprise and joy.
Mrs. Lacey smiles at the other character, and it is clear she's being true, since right after it she shakes her head in order to show her inability to understand the other character's action of bringing an ant with him. Mrs. Lacey is not angry or upset, but feeling in the same way mothers do when their kids do weird things they are not able to understand due to generation gap, to their kids' immaturity, among other things.