"The Chrysanthemums" by John Steinbeck illustrates through subtle symbolism a woman's struggle for sexual identity. Elisa Allen, the protagonist of the story, cultivates a likeness of herself through her chrysanthemum garden, but fragments of her are also depicted by key objects encountered during the story. Elisa tries hard to project a tough, masculine image of herself rather than the feminine alternative, but the effort results in nothing but a façade. "The …showed first 75 words of 1240 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1240 total…was no longer hers. Not unlike her heart, Elisa's flowers require constant care and would never survive a rough life on the road, which confirms that Elisa is not as tough and rugged as she would like to believe- Elisa will always be female at heart. Works Cited Steinbeck, John. "The Chrysanthemums." Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. 2nd Compact ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2003. 359-366.