摘 要

约翰·斯坦贝克作为20世纪蜚声美国文坛的著名作家，与福克纳和海明威一起被称为现代美国文坛三大杰出小说家，并曾经获得诺贝尔文学奖。由于约翰·斯坦贝克30年代创作的中长篇小说太过光彩夺目，以致他同样优秀的短篇小说如同深谷的野玫瑰般没有得到人们应有的重视。事实上，这些短篇小说的艺术魅力丝毫也不逊色于他最优秀的长篇小说，《菊花》就是这样的一篇佳作。小说讲述了生活在与世隔绝的萨利纳斯山谷一个农场的伊莉莎是一位能干的家庭主妇。她十分擅长种植菊花，和丈夫亨利一起过着平淡的生活。一天她遇见修补匠后激发了她对修补匠自由式生活的向往，但她的激情很快被该男人的歧视所浇灭，只留下理想幻灭的悲伤。本文将分析《菊花》中的象征主义以及象征意义之间的矛盾关系来揭露20世纪30年代美国的社会矛盾，从而探析现代社会矛盾解决办法。

关键词：《菊花》；象征主义；矛盾

Contents

1. Introduction...............................................................................................................1

2. Demonstration..................................................................................................2

2.1 A brief introduction to symbolism............................................................................2

2.2 Symbolism in The Chrysanthemum.........................................................................3

2.2.1 Symbolic significance of the chrysanthemum.......................................................3

2.2.2 Symbolic significance of characters......................................................................4

2.2.2.1 Symbolic significance of Elisa...........................................................................4

2.2.2.2 Symbolic significance of Henry.........................................................................5

2.2.2.3 Symbolic significance of the tinker....................................................................5

2.2.3 Symbolic significance of surroundings.................................................................5

2.3 Conflicts reflected by the symbolic significance.....................................................6

2.3.1 Conflicts between men and women.......................................................................6

2.3.2 Conflicts between material and spirit........................................ ...........................7

2.3.3 Conflicts between man and nature....................................................................8

3. Conclusion..............................................................................................................9

Works Cited........................................................................................10

Bibliography......................................................................................11

A Study of Symbolism in The Chrysanthemum

1. Introduction

John Steinbeck (1902-1968), the most representative writer of the Great Depression in the United States and the winner of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature, wrote extensively during his nearly forty-year career. His works mostly describe the people at the bottom, showing their kind and simple character. His masterpieces include Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath, and his short stories are also outstanding. One of the short stories, The Chrysanthemum, is hailed as “one of the greatest novels in the world” (Parini 146) and “Steinbeck’s most successful novel in art”(Marcus 54).

The novel tells about the story of Elisa, a 35-year-old woman living in a remote country, who is best at growing chrysanthemums. She is strong and powerful and is a good flower grower. She often looks forward to the outside world, eager to go out and appreciate the scenery elsewhere. One day, a tinker dropped in. In order to do business with Elisa, the tinker tried to get close to her. On observing the beautiful chrysanthemums Elisa planted, he pretended to show great interest in those flowers. And Elisa wrongly recognized the tinker as the man who had true love for her treasured chrysanthemums. The tinker lied to her that he knew a lady who owned a very large garden with many kinds of flowers, but there were no chrysanthemums in it, and said that if Elisa was kind enough to give that lady a chrysanthemum, she would be very grateful to her. On hearing this, Elisa suddenly became excited. She thought she met a man who could appreciate her flowers while her husband couldn’t. Elisa asked the tinker to help give a pot of chrysanthemum to the old woman. However, one day when Elisa and her husband went to the city, she saw her chrysanthemums were abandoned on the road, and realized the tinker was actually a liar. He discarded chrysanthemums she gave him and took away the pots.