Many readers who analyze Steinbeck's short story, "The Chrysanthemums", believe that Elisa's flowers represent her repressed sexuality, as well as her anger and resentment towards men. Some even push the symbolism of the flowers and Elisa's masculine actions to suggest that she is incapable of establishing a true relationship between herself and another. His masculine features and his chrysanthemums are enough to make him fully blossom. This essay will discuss an opposing point of view. Instead, he will argue that Elisa's chrysanthemums and masculine qualities are natural manifestations of a male-dominated world. Relevant examples from "The Chrysanthemums" will be given in an attempt to illustrate that Elisa's qualities of character and her gardening skills are the survival traits she adopted to survive and maintain her femininity and vulnerability in a world of men. The first evidence that this conclusion is supported is by the behavior that occurs between Elisa and her husband, Henry. There is a “deep-rooted dysfunction between Henry and Elisa, [which is] a lack of true communication” (Palmerino, 1). They are “successful” farmers, but it is Henry who takes care of economic production. The opening sets up a contrast of characters which continues throughout the play by showing Henry selling thirty head of oxen, while Elisa grows "beautiful" chrysanthemums. The contrast is that of the differences between the masculine and feminine perspectives of the other. This shows a limitation of Elisa from a man's point of view. Henry tells Elisa that she knows how to grow things, but he feels that she only contributes aesthetically. In other words, Elisa feels that her contribution is not as valid as that of a man even if the insult is hidden... middle of paper... true love, she might be able to be finding fulfillment in its flowers more than ever. They can be released into the male world and survive, beautiful and strong, although fragile, just like her. Chrysanthemums are not Elisa's frustration, they are her hope in a world she sees without hope. So, when the handyman simply places the flowers on the side of the road, we must consider the symbolic weight of the chrysanthemums. Higdon states that “the crucial question remains whether or not Elisa was destroyed” (Higdon, 668). The reader can see how flowers are, above all, a positive symbol of growth and life. Elisa may have nowhere to turn for real understanding, since men are not capable of exploring her inner qualities, but it is better for her to grow flowers than to shut down her own emotions and feelings and to use others like the men around him..