Odour Of Chrysanthemums Symbolism

A Balanced World in “Odour of Chrysanthemums”

In the literary world, writers often employ a multitude of clichés and maxims about inverses: opposites attract, yin and yang, the more diverse a thing, the more it compliments its other, and so on. Generally, together, this symbolizes a sort of balance that strikes only with both ends working together or at least alongside each other, actively or passively. While hardly a new idea, authors can still find original ways to portray the importance of equilibrium, or use it as a teaching supplement in the morals of their tales. A balanced relationship always works best, especially and probably most importantly, when considering the dramatic elements of marriage and the drastic inverses of life and …show more content…
The grand majority of the story takes place in complete darkness, with minimal usage of candles or even the fading sunlight to help guide the characters to their destinations. Even in their own home, Elizabeth purposefully douses lights “till the room was almost in total darkness” (2486). She relents only when her son John complains and only with lighting a single lamp. There is a dangerous, almost ominous feel to this darkness, particularly later when Elizabeth dares to dash to town, looking for her husband. Alone, with her children left behind at home, and starting to feel nervous, the “few yellow lamps at the pit-top” at the town or “the lights in the houses” (2488) finally alert her to her destination. Otherwise, the night leaves Elizabeth in complete darkness, and the author purposefully notes “the night was very dark” (2488). Darkness plays an important role in the story, setting its dreary, isolated atmosphere, contrasting brilliantly with the few guiding lights in the tale. It conceals many …show more content…
Early on, Elizabeth’s son John shows an interest in the flowers, tearing “at the ragged wisps of chrysanthemums and dropp[ing] the petals in handfuls along the path” (2484). Elizabeth chides him, and comments on the flower’s ugly appearance, but she, too, takes “a twig with three or four wan flowers” and tucks them in her apron. Later, when her daughter Annie notices the flowers and comments joyously on both their presence and their “beautiful smell” (2487), Elizabeth answers almost scathingly. For her, “it was chrysanthemums when I married him, and chrysanthemums when you were born, and the first time they ever brought him home drunk” (2487). These are all things for which Elizabeth seems somewhat regretful of—for marrying her husband Walter, and for starting a family with him, even though the couple’s heated resentment for one another starts to become evident at this point. Even so, one must note that Annie only noticed the flowers in the first place because her mother bothered to break off a twig and bring them home. Elizabeth also keeps “vase[s] of chrysanthemums” (2493) in her home, so despite her own words, she must continue to feel something sentimental about them. Though the chrysanthemum reminds Elizabeth greatly of death, both of her children also show a great interest in the flower. Though perhaps even she calls her

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