The story is about aspirations. The story is a clash between reality and appearance. Elisa the protagonist in the story is desperate to come out of her frail and womanly appearance to live in a man's world. For instance she takes immense enthusiasm at the chance of helping in the orchard, but her husband undervalues her. The tinker also assumes that because of Elisa's appearance she would not be able to sharpen scissors or fix pots. But little did they know that she could grow apple orchards and could excel in pot-fixing.
The Chrysanthemums represents Elisa's feelings of sexuality, passion, her feminity. Chrysanthemums are unchanging, the same all year round, and it is not enough for Elisa anymore. The fence around Chrysanthemums protects Elisa from the outside world and even from her husband. It is ironic that it is open for the shabbily dressed tinker who brings in a fresh breeze of change. Elisa's hair is tied under a man's hat, and she wishes to be free; to sleep in the open air under the stars and the urge to touch the stranger. She finds a light at the end of the tunnel. But eventually she shudders at the thought of freedom and tries to scrub off these thoughts, she realizes her strength.
This story also tries to provoke a sense of frustration pent up in the author's mind, and a feeling of feminism. Both the time Elisa is rebuffed by her husband's lack of encouragement of her abilities and the tinker's misjudgment of her capabilities. She nurtures the Chrysanthemums as if it were her babies. This indicates her craving for motherhood. Chrysanthemums can also mean Elisa's creativity. The story is an exploration of pent-up creativity, of the frustrations of the writer. It is an outcry for freedom.
by swati singhania
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