The story opens with a descriptive narration about the Salinas Valley, the setting for the story. Steinbeck focuses on Henry Allen’s property across the Salinas River after a few paragraphs discussing the topographical backdrop.
Steinbeck focuses on the story’s major heroine, Elisa Allen (Henry’s wife), in particular. In this section, we discover that the tale will take place mostly at the Allen ranch and that Elisa will be a major character. Elisa is thirty-five years old, slender, and strong, according to our information. She is chopping down the previous year’s chrysanthemum stems when the narrative begins. Steinbeck depicts Elisa as a skilled gardener.
Elisa works while observing Henry converse with two men wearing suits. Henry moves in the direction of Elisa as soon as the men have left. He starts off by praising Elisa for her amazing work with the chrysanthemums. Then, in response to Elisa’s question, he reveals that he recently sold the two men thirty-three-year-old steers for a price that was nearly equal to what he was seeking for them.
Henry, clearly overjoyed with his victory, offers that he and Elisa go into town for a celebratory meal and a movie. He also teases Elisa about going to the bouts, but she promptly dismisses his invitation.
As a result, Steinbeck’s novel opens with exposition, which introduces us to the environment and the primary characters.
The plot opens in the Salinas Valley, as it does in many of Steinbeck’s works. Elisa is planting her favorite chrysanthemums when her husband arrives to chat with her after making an agreement to sell some cattle to the Western Meat Company. His satisfaction at earning “nearly his price” for the cattle contrasts with Elisa’s love of chrysanthemums. They’re about 10 inches across and need a lot of attention to detail. They “seemed too small and easy for her energy,” according to the narrative, and it’s evident that Elisa has higher aspirations than merely planting chrysanthemums every year – but for now, the chrysanthemums are what she puts her heart into.
The reader may tell from this brief exchange between Elisa and Henry that Henry doesn’t entirely comprehend Elisa’s genuine aspirations in life; he doesn’t realize that keeping up the flower bed won’t make her happy. This encounter prepares Elisa for her discussion with the traveling salesperson and her need to talk to anybody about her love.
