Passage 10: When she heard him splashing in the tub, Elisa laid his dark suit on the bed, and shirt and socks and tie beside it. She stood his polished shoes on the floor beside the bed. Then she went to the porch and sat primly and stiffly down. She looked toward the river road where the willow-line was still yellow with frosted leaves so that under the high grey fog they seemed a thin band of sunshine.
This was the only color in the grey afternoon. She sat unmoving for a long time. Her eyes blinked rarely.
Oppression and being dominated in a relationship can feel like it’s dragging you down. In Steinbeck’s short story "The Chrysanthemums" the author demonstrates the polarizing sides of a relationship through the setting. Specifically, by interpreting the colour and liveliness of the setting, as well as the use of pathetic fallacy and imagery. It is clear that the outside valley reflects the strenuous effect of an oppressive relationship on to Elisa’s emotions.
The theme of oppression can be seen in the relationship of the two, as the male in the relationship disregards any responsibilities and drops them onto his partner. The bases of a relationship, are most commonly divided evenly among them as each person does their own self-care and routines. but, in the time period of the book the women did all the work in a relationship so that the man has to do nothing when he comes home from work. This can be seen in early on in the passage when, “ Elisa laid his dark suit on the bed, and shirt and socks and tie beside it. She stood his polished shoes on the floor beside the bed.” even though she has worked all day in the garden she still has to lay the clothes out for her husband. This is the start of a troublesome relationship, oppressed relationships can prevent the affected person to not be involved in living a productive and healthy life. Elisa is being drained emotionally to please the man in her life, this is the problem in oppres...
