Literature: The Chance Encounter

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, although John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums" and Tayama Katai's "The Girl Watcher" are written by authors from two different cultures, they share a literary device called the chance encounter. The author points out that the chance encounter enables the protagonists to reflect on their unfulfilled desires, allowing them a medium to channel their frustrations and to develop a greater awareness of their self-hoods. The paper relates that, in both stories, the chance encounter comes as a break from the routine nature of the protagonists' everyday lives, leading them to reflect on their unfulfilled desires. The author suggests that both characters not only feel unfulfilled in their roles in society, one as a housewife and the other a male magazine proof-reader, but also in their sexual relationships.

From the Paper:

"In Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums", the protagonist Eliza reaches a point in her life whereby she is left feeling unfulfilled, particularly in her relationship with her husband. The chance encounter she has, with a traveling male stranger, leads her to imagine an alternative life as she contemplates acting upon her desires. At the start of the text, we get the feeling that Eliza feels lonely and isolated in her country town. The author uses descriptive language to convey Eliza's sense of isolation in the Salina's Valley,..."

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