In this story "The Chrysanthemums" there are many things you can get out of it. The thing that I grasped the most was that the story had the gift of portraying foresight. The story started off stating that the "high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley1 from the sky and from all the rest of the world" (paragraph 1 line 1) I believe that this is giving the readers the setting. It is giving the readers the idea of how this place might feel to one. Reading this quote gives me the feeling that they are limited and/or trapped to exploring different things. If the reader can get this feeling one can only imagine why Elisa, the main character, feels so frustrated. .
Elisa is portrayed as a very aloof and emotional character. Considering she lives on a farm with her husband and she does not have many visitors explains how she is so vulnerable and gullible. To top this off she is extremely passionate about the chrysanthemums. Readers can tell how enthralled she is with the chrysanthemums because how easily gullible she had become. Towards the beginning of the con man's arrival, Elisa's attitude towards him was irritation. When he had asked her did she have any work, she replied no. As soon as the topic became the chrysanthemums "the irritation and resistance melted from Elisa's face" (paragraph 51). Her eyes lit up when she talked about them to the con-man. Her excitement is so strong that it is almost portrayed as a sexual encounter towards this stranger. In the story it says that "her eyes shone", "her face was tight with eagerness", "her breast swelled passionately", and that her "voice grew husky" (paragraphs 63, 68, 72, and 74). These quotes illustrates how excited she was and how most readers would get the idea of her being sexually attracted to the con man confused with her passion for planting. .
Frther throughout the conversation with the con man, while talking about the chrysanthemums, Elisa did not only show gullibility but she also showed vulnerability.