Literary Symbolism of Flowers in Willa Cather and John Steinbeck

A flower's life is relatively short and simple, but its growth is one of nature's visual treats and a symbol of blossoming in life. As clichéd as it may seem, in literature a flower can symbolize a character's urge to blossom in life. Such classic examples exist in Willa Cather's (1873 - 1947) short story, Paul's Case and John Steinbeck's (1902 - 1968), The Chrysanthemums.

John Steinbeck's, The Chrysanthemums

Elisa Allen, from Steinbeck's The Chrysanthemums, had "planter's hands," and could make anything grow in soil. Although her greenthumb could tend the richest soil, she had an urge to blossom beyond her own garden. Just as the flowers, she only blossomed in her garden, as it was the only place a woman was safe to explore. When a traveling handyman tries to sell his services to Elisa one day, it becomes apparent that she wants more out of life than digging in the dirt. Admiring the Handyman's free living, roaming day by day, she is inspired by this lifestyle and says, "It must be very nice. I wish women could do such things."

When Elisa gives the Handyman some Chrysanthemum seedlings along with gardening instructions for them, it is as if she passes on her urge to blossom beyond the garden, offering her seed to the open road. The Handyman only uses the flowers to gain a connection and sympathy from Elisa, as later she sees the flowers lying on the side of the road. The flowers are a symbol to Elisa for how her one talent of gardening is taken for granted and tossed aside. Perhaps a comment on the limits of being a woman in those times, or just the foresaken personality of a person trapped by her own limitations, the symbolism of a flower here can sway in either direction.

Willa Cather's, Paul's Case

For the literary character Paul, from Willa Cather's Paul's Case, the flowers "blossomed thus unnaturally in the snow." He realizes this of the flowers blooming in glass cases in a snow covered New York City. Paul, like the flowers, is a being that blossomed unnaturally from his surroundings. He became a flamboyant character desiring the extravagance of New York as opposed to the low expectations and simple working life he lived amongst in Pittsburgh. The flowers blossoming under the snow in New York symbolized the triumph of his defiance when he ran away from Pittsburgh to New York. "The red carnation in his buttonhole," also symbolized the defiance through which he blossomed. He used the carnation to boast his happiness and indifference when he was under interrogation by the school board. Ultimately, he realized how short-lived his sojourn to New York was and just as the fate of flowers, "it was only one splendid breath they had, in spite of their brave mockery at the winter outside."

In the work of both Cather and Steinbeck, flowers symbolized a chance to blossom for their characters Elisa and Paul. Elisa needed to grow beyond her garden and she tried to send her Chrysanthemums out into the world. Paul needed to grow beyond his life in Pittsburgh and going to New York was his escape, but like Elisa it was difficult for him to escape boundaries and limits. The symbolism is enhanced in that a flower's life is short lived, just as the chance of escape for each character. They were both like budding flowers reaching for the light and air of freedom, but hindered from blossoming by glass cages and fenced in by gardens.