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Personification
Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
The first line of The Chrysanthemums establishes its setting:
The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world.
The Chrysanthemums takes place in California's Salinas Valley in the 1930s. This period was particularly difficult for farming communities in the western United States, due in large part to the Dust Bowl, a series of dust storms that impeded farmers' ability to keep their crops alive. While the Salinas Valley was not part of the region most centrally affected by the Dust Bowl, it was no stranger to difficult growing seasons and struggled to absorb high volumes of Dust Bowl refugees from neighboring states. Two of Steinbeck's most prominent works, East of Eden and Of Mice and Men, also take place in the Salinas Valley.
The setting of The Chrysanthemums embodies the desperation and isolation that Elisa experiences living in a patriarchal society and household. The infertile fields of the Salinas Valley mirror Elisa's lack of sexual satisfaction in her marriage, as well as her fear that she is not sexually desirable. The valley is closed off from the rest of the world in the same way Elisa feels closed off from the men around her and the world of agency they enjoy. Just as Dust Bowl farmers worked the land in hopes that rain would come, Elisa contorts herself to find empowerment where none readily exists.
Related Themes:
