"The Chrysanthemums": Impending War and Gender Roles

 Steinbeck wrote “The Chrysanthemums” as America exited the Great Depression, but also moved towards the Second World War. Americans had a general hope for a better future, and a sort of denial about the war they knew was eminent. The duality of these warring emotions presents itself in different thematic concepts throughout Steinbeck’s story.

The description of the Valley in the beginning of this story sets this tone of duality. Steinbeck states, “the stubble fields seemed to be bathed in pale cold sunshine, but there was no sunshine in the valley”. In this description the happiness and optimism represented in sunshine is in sight, but unattainable. Steinbeck also writes, “the farmers were mildly hopeful of a good rain before long; but fog and rain do not go together.” This shows that the people are hopeful for the end of suffering, but have an awareness that this is not. Steinbeck’s message of impending war is further enhanced with the symbolism of the rain and fog. The rain, or new life, is stamped out by fog, whose imagery closely mirrors the smoke of war.

Steinbeck includes a couple of symbols that also contribute to this idea of duality. The Chrysanthemum is a celebratory flower in the US but is a common funerary flower in other countries. Steinbeck also includes a lot of imagery with the color yellow. Yellow usually represents happiness and optimism, but the Japanese used the yellow Chrysanthemum as a symbol for bravery in war. So both symbols have a surface meaning of happiness, but also a dark connotation. This mirrors the American surface hope for prosperity, but the hidden awareness of impending darkness.

The awareness of this impending darkness becomes particularly apparent in the ending passage where Elisa questions Henry about the fights. Even though Elisa is a woman and vulgar things such as fights are supposedly hidden from her, she has a thorough knowledge of what goes on at the fights. This mirrors how even though the reality of impending war is supposedly unapparent, everyone secretly knows. Society’s denial is of this widely known “secret” is then embodied when Elisa says she doesn’t want to go the fights and continues to ignore their reality.

The Great Depression also caused conflict in the gender roles of Steinbeck’s time. The Great Depression forced men to be out of the house to look for work and this more closely chained women to their traditional roles at home. Women also felt an increased pressure to go out and provide for their families but they couldn’t because of these traditional expectations. This caused a big conflict in the expectations of women. Steinbeck presents this conflict in Elisa’s character. There are many parts of this story where Elisa is portrayed as a strong and capable person but she is never allowed to fulfill that capacity for power. For example, Elisa has this strong and powerful capability to cultivate life through the Chrysanthemums. Steinbeck describes her as a manly and “over-powerful” as she gardens. When she tries to give this gift to the traveling repairman he stifles her ability by throwing the Chrysanthemums to the ground. When Elisa sees this, she is reduced to “crying weakly—like and old woman.” Elisa is the perfect example of a woman with power being reduced into the weak traditional roles of women.

Cultural Assimilation: Fifth Meeting With My Conversation Partner

Over the past couple of weeks, Jose has spoken more and more frequently of his aspirations to attend business school in the US. He asks me to edit his papers with the eye of an American college professor, and tells me that he plans to take college courses at TCC directly after graduating from the EIP program. Last week, Jose went to take the COMPASS test TCC requires for enrollment so he can begin these plans next fall.  When I asked how the test went, Jose seemed a little disappointed and said he would have to take it again.

Jose said that the calculus portion was nothing like any calculus he saw in Venezuela. It never occurred to me that math could not be translated cross-culturally. Numbers are supposed to be a universal language, but apparently there is still a barrier in math interpretation. Jose said that he had taken calculus in Venezuela, but that questions are written in a different format in the US. This made me appreciate just how hard it must be to move to a new country. Not only do you have to learn a new language, but you also have to relearn skills because they are communicated differently.

Jose then told me if he was from America he would have passed the writing portion, but a higher score is required of foreign students. This surprised and slightly angered me. American students have no more right to an education than foreign students simply because they are born here. I get so frustrated because I feel everyone puts pressure on immigrants to assimilate and contribute to the American society, but at the same time America puts any means of contribution out of the immigrants’ reach. I don’t understand why “the land of opportunity” limits opportunity.

After discussing his test, Jose brought out a paper for me to edit so he could prepare for retaking the test. The prompt read, “Should businesses employ people for their entire lives?” To me this meant should someone be employed for his or her entire work life, but to Jose this read should employees be employed until their death. Because of this misunderstanding in connotation, Jose’s paper received a lower score. Even though he understood the words perfectly, a barrier still existed. I then realized that understanding connotation can only come with experience in a country, and I again more fully appreciated the difficulty of joining a new culture.

Time Magazine in the 1950s

I read a 1955 Time Magazine from the week before Thanksgiving.

I found the shift between the 30s edition of Time and this magazine most interesting. This magazine was a clear intermediary step between 30s culture and today’s culture. An increased presence of a global community and interest in entertainment existed in this edition, as did an emphasis on movement away from tradition. These elements illustrated a culture more similar to today’s than I first expected.

The advertisements first caught my eye as an indicator of a growing global community.  Compared to the 1931 edition, this edition printed many more advertisements for various forms of transportation such as airplanes and trains. Time still printed car advertisements, but usually in conjunction with another form of transportation. For example, an advertisement for an airline consisted of a car company saying how proud they were to be affiliated with such a hard working airline. This advertisement publicized not only the airline, but also the car company’s progress towards the future of transportation— airplanes. An emphasis on these new methods of transportation shows that the ability to have a connected global society was becoming more accessible.

Many advertisements for travel destinations and travel agents illustrated this growing accessibility. These ads marketed towards families and encouraged travel to exotic destinations and interaction with new cultures. Travel was no longer limited to the elite, but was also available to the middle class. Availability to the middle class is the first indicator of normalcy for any institution, so clearly global awareness was becoming more common.

I also saw ads for long distance phone calls and public service announcements about the postal service. An increased need for these services indicates that not only were people traveling far away from home, but also moving further away from their place of birth. People and ideas disseminated across larger distances than before.

The foreign news section of Time was another indicator of a larger global community. Time dedicated the first foreign news section to Geneva and the discussions of inter-country relations held there. The foreign news section also included many stories about Eisenhower’s visits to various countries. In general, foreign news seemed focused on the relationships amongst countries rather than their individuality. An interest in these relations indicated a heightened global awareness and connectedness that did not appear in the 30s edition. 

Something else I noticed about this magazine was an increase in advertisements for entertainment and entertainment goods.  Time printed many advertisements for TVs, radios, remote controls, and luxury items such as pianos in addition to the travel advertisements I discussed earlier. Many of these ads included pictures of people relaxing and enjoying themselves. This idea of relaxation contrasted greatly with the 1930s advertisements, which tended to focus on increased functionality and efficiency. An increase in luxury goods shows evidence of more disposable family income and increased economic welfare. This also seems to be the beginning of the entertainment industry that dominates today.

Traditional values also seem to come into question in this edition of Time.  The topic of Princess Margaret and her romance with Captain Townsend appeared many times. The magazine printed a debate about her decision to cancel her engagement with this divorcee within its first few pages. The responses were highly varied. Some said her marriage to a divorcee would bring the values of the church into question, some said it didn’t matter. The fact that a debate even existed about the morality of divorce shows a movement away from the traditional value of marriage. This signals a shift away from traditional norms and towards today’s worldview where divorce is a socially acceptable institution.

An article about the farmers market in France also brought traditional customs under direct scrutiny. The magazine criticized the farmers market, which had had been established centuries before, for it’s inefficiency and wastefulness.  The article says that this important French tradition is inefficient due to the cost of transporting the food to the market’s customary location, and the amount of food turned around and shipped elsewhere because of the location’s inaccessibility. The argument of tradition vs. efficiency comes into direct question in this article, and clearly efficiency wins in the American view. This again shows a shift away from the traditional in favor of a future that values progress and productivity.

The overall lack of emphasis on Thanksgiving in this magazine greatly surprised me. I specifically chose Thanksgiving as my holiday because I thought that the shift in familial values would be interesting to observe. I expected to see a bunch of Norman Rockwell paintings and an emphasis on family and spending time together. But there was practically no mention of Thanksgiving and what it represented. I saw one life insurance ad that briefly referenced Thanksgiving saying that in this time of being thankful for the past, we should plan for the future, but after that ad, nothing. This indicates less of an emphasis on traditional family values than I expected.

In general, the similarity between 50s culture and today’s culture surprised me. After years of watching “Leave it to Beaver”, I expected a more homely and traditional society, but that wasn’t what I encountered at all.  While not as strongly as today, 50s culture clearly valued a global community, entertainment, and efficiency and progress in place of tradition.

Holiday Customs: Fourth Meeting With My Conversation Partner

With fall break just around the corner, holiday breaks were fresh on my mind. During todays’ meeting, this led to a discussion about Venezuelan versus American holiday customs. Jose said that the New Year’s Eve he spent in the US “was the most boring” New Year’s Eve he experienced. When the clock struck midnight he went outside expecting the whole town to rush into the streets and celebrate together until the early morning like is done in Venezuela, but of course that isn’t what happened. While you can find community-wide celebrations like this in the large cities like New York, I think celebrations in America tend to be more exclusive and amongst family and close friends. My first thought when Jose told his story was that these differences in celebration customs reflected a difference in cultural mentality. Exclusive celebrations in the US seemed to indicate an individualistic society. The basic unit for an individualistic society is, obviously, the individual. Having celebrations that solely include ourselves and those that directly influence us individually, like friends and family, reflects this individualistic mentality perfectly. The Venezuelan form a celebrating seemed to reflect a more collectivist society concerned with the betterment and inclusion of all people. They see the town as one large family and want to celebrate with everyone.

When I asked Jose if he agreed with this assessment, his responded, “I think people in all countries think about themselves, but people in my country help one another.” Jose’s thought that it is human nature to think about one’s self reflects a more individualistic cultural view then I originally thought, but on the spectrum of individualism vs. collectivism, I still think Venezuela is closer to the collectivist view than the U.S.

When discussing our plans for the holidays I also asked Jose if he planned to return to Venezuela for the winter break. He told me that his father is not allowed to return because of some problem with the insecure government. I wonder what it would be like not to be able to return home. Being unwelcome in the one place I felt most comfortable would be so disconcerting. If you can’t find comfort at home, where can you find it? I now have a better appreciation for how difficult it must be for Jose to adjust to life in the US.

Cultural Conditioning: Third Meeting With My Conversation Partner

            In our last meeting, I helped Jose edit an essay he is writing for his EIP class. Upon my first reading, I noticed a lot of run-on sentences that I could cut into 3 or 4 separate ones. When I pointed this out, Jose told me that he often heard the same feedback from his teachers, but that it was a difficult habit to break because run-on sentences were perfectly acceptable in Venezuela. This was the first time I even considered that sentence structure would be different cross-culturally.  I guess I should have expected this difference because grammar varies from language to language, but for some reason I assumed punctuation usage and sentence structure was uniform.

            The essay topic was also interesting.  Jose’s class is currently reading a book about World War II, so their assignment is to pick a topic from World War II and write a five-paragraph essay. The moment he told me that his EIP class, which is comprised of people from all over the world, was covering World War II I instantly became interested. I wondered what it would be like to sit in a classroom full of people with drastically different national backgrounds and learn about World War II. History can be interpreted so subjectively that I was interested to see what sort of opinions about the War existed in Jose’s class.  Jose said his teachers were very careful to be neutral when covering the topic in class, so not much controversy existed there, but this led to an interesting conversation about Jose’s opinion of World War II.

            Jose said that World War II was never a prominent subject in his schooling. His teachers covered it briefly in World History, and mainly focused on the nuclear weapon facet. This makes sense because Venezuela was never a direct participant in World War II. The only direct effect the war had on Venezuela was the threat of nuclear weapons. This point of view had never occurred to me. I understood that the motivations and effects of the war were probably viewed contrastingly in different countries, but I never considered the war as merely a segue into learning about nuclear weapons.

This shows how strongly we are conditioned in school to agree with national opinions. In the U.S., the war is taught as a catastrophic life-changing event, because that’s exactly what it was here. I was so conditioned into this point of view in school that I didn’t even realize it was a point of view. I assumed it was truth. As always, Jose cast an interesting outsider’s outlook on my views.