Imagery and Symbolism in Steinbeck and Hemingway's Female Characters
This paper examines how John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway employ imagery and symbolism to portray their female protagonists as embodiments of nature's strength and vitality. Through close reading of Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums" and Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants," the paper argues that both Elisa Allen and Jig reflect the traditional "mother earth" motif found in literature and cultural myth. The analysis traces how each woman draws power from her connection to nature — whether through gardening or the fertile landscape — and how the men in their lives represent mankind's historically adversarial relationship with the natural world, ultimately repressing the vitality these women embody.
- Introduction: Nature, Women, and the Mother Earth Motif: Thesis introducing nature symbolism and female protagonists
- Elisa Allen as a Symbol of Strength and Nature: Elisa's strength drawn from gardening and earth
- The Physical and Sensory Dimensions of Elisa's Connection to Nature: Sensory imagery deepens Elisa's bond with nature
- Hemingway's Fertile Landscape and Jig's Power: Fertile imagery links Jig to natural power
- Man's Repressive Effect on Nature and Womanhood: Male characters suppress female and natural vitality
- Conclusion: Both authors align women with nature against men
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What makes this paper effective
- Grounds every interpretive claim in direct textual quotation, then unpacks specific word choices and images rather than making assertions unsupported by evidence.
- Sustains a clear comparative framework throughout, moving logically between Steinbeck and Hemingway while tying both back to a single unifying motif — the "mother earth" archetype.
- Balances close reading with broader literary context, situating both stories within a tradition of nature symbolism rather than treating them as isolated texts.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates parallel close reading across two texts. Rather than analyzing each story in isolation, the writer identifies a shared symbolic framework — female characters as embodiments of nature — and uses evidence from both works simultaneously to build a cumulative argument. This technique strengthens comparative claims and shows how a literary motif operates across authors and contexts.
Structure breakdown
The essay opens with a literature-review-style introduction that situates its thesis against existing criticism. It then devotes two substantial sections to Steinbeck's story, moving from external symbolism (strength imagery) to internal sensory experience (Elisa's relationship with the earth). Hemingway's story is introduced midway as a parallel case, with analysis of fertility imagery and male repression applied to both texts in the final body sections. A brief conclusion synthesizes the comparative argument.
Introduction: Nature, Women, and the Mother Earth Motif
A fairly extensive body of academic and literary criticism has been directed toward the character of Elisa Allen in John Steinbeck's short story "The Chrysanthemums" (Hunt). Interestingly, virtually all of the analysis of her characterization focuses on her sexual repression and status as a woman, as a glance at most serious academic sources regarding this tale would demonstrate (Budnichuk). However, the most compelling aspect of Allen is her relationship to nature, primarily expressed through the earth and its several manifestations — flowers and other creatures sustained by it. In this respect, Steinbeck employs both symbolism and imagery to reflect the concept that Allen actually represents the strength and vitality found in the earth itself.
Furthermore, it may be argued that this representation of a female character empowered by nature or the earth is merely a continuation of the "mother earth" motif traditionally found in works of literature as well as in various cultural myths. There is evidence that Ernest Hemingway employed a similar motif in "Hills Like White Elephants." Both authors use various facets of imagery and symbolism to reinforce the notion that their female protagonists reflect many of the characteristics of nature, only to be repressed at the hands of man.
Elisa Allen as a Symbol of Strength and Nature
Steinbeck alludes quite early and often to the fact that Allen is the symbol of strength throughout "The Chrysanthemums" (Renner 305). None of the other characters — Allen's husband Henry, who evinces considerable difficulty even talking to, let alone understanding, his wife (Renner 305), nor the wandering repairman who is simply trying to scrape together enough money for a meal — can be considered particularly strong. Yet Steinbeck uses the words "powerful" and "strong" to describe Allen and her work with nature no fewer than seven times in the initial descriptive paragraphs about her.
The following quotation, in which Elisa speaks with her husband, demonstrates that Elisa symbolizes strength in the story — a strength that stems from nature:
"At it again," he said. "You've got a strong new crop coming." Elisa straightened her back and pulled on the gardening glove again. "Yes. They'll be strong this coming year." In her tone and on her face there was smugness. (Steinbeck)
This quotation demonstrates that the source of Elisa's strength is nature, in the form of the crop — described by both husband and wife as "strong" — that Elisa is tending. The imagery of her standing with her back straightened, reinserting her "gardening glove," accords with the sense of fortitude and empowerment she feels while closely connected with nature. The "smugness" of her tone further underscores this point.
Works Cited
Budnichuk, Monica. "The Chrysanthemums: Exposing Sexual Tension Through Setting and Character." Universal Journal. No date. Web.
Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills Like White Elephants." Men Without Women. New York: Scribner's Sons, 1927. Online reprint. Scribd.com, 2011. Web.
Hashmi, Nilofer. "'Hills Like White Elephants': The Jilting of Jig." The Hemingway Review (2003): 72–83. Print.
Hunt, D. "Steinbeck's Allegory of the Cave: Deconstructing Elisa Allen in 'The Chrysanthemums.'" Universal Journal. No date. Web.
Renner, S. "Moving to the Girl's Side of 'Hills Like White Elephants.'" Hemingway Review, Fall 1995. Vol. 15 No. 1. Web.
Renner, Stanley. "The Real Woman Inside the Fence in 'The Chrysanthemums.'" Modern Fiction Studies. Volume 31, Number 2. 1985. Print.
Stanwood, Les. "Flowers for Carol: John Steinbeck, Joseph Campbell and 'The Chrysanthemums.'" Steinbeck Review. Volume 5, Issue 2. 2008. Print.
Steinbeck, John. "The Chrysanthemums." 1937. Web.
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