Compare and Contrast Odour of Chrysanthemums and “flowering Judas”
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While D.H. Lawrences “Odour of Chrysanthemums” and Katherine Anne Porters “Flowering Judas” appear similar at first because of their similar titles about flowers, they are actually very different; yet they do have some similarities in them. There are actually several similarities and differences between “Odour of Chrysanthemums” and “Flowering Judas”. One takes place in a mining town where a woman waits for her husband to come home, fearing he is out drinking again. The other story takes place in Mexico City where a beautiful American girl fights for the revolution. Both of the stories involve women who love their husbands and feel hurt by their distant relationship with their spouse. There were flowers in both stories but each had a very unique meaning. One symbolized love and life changing events, the other symbolized purification and betrayal. Lawrence and Porter show us how our perceptions of people can change by expanding our minds to think beyond the words weve read.
In the first story, “Odour of Chrysanthemums”, the narrator transforms our opinion of the husband from a drunk to a loving husband. The story takes place in rural mining village where a woman is waiting for her husband to get home. She watches as several miners walk by, but does not see her husband. The story then introduced her son John, who five years old. She goes out and calls him in for supper and as she is coming back to the house, places some chrysanthemums in her apron pocket. Her daughter is late coming home from school, but arrives a bit later. The husband was late a couple of times last week due to drinking at a local pub, and she is upset that he has done it again. She ponders as to why a man would walk past his house and family, and not even stopping by for dinner before going out to drink. After all, the house is on his way. They then sit down to eat dinner without the presence of their father. While the mother was reaching up to make some light in the room, her daughter comes to her and reaches out the chrysanthemums in her apron pocket and talks about how wonderful they smell. The mother brushes her off and explains that it was chrysanthemums when she married him, when she had her, and when he brought them to her when he was drunk for the first time. They were in his button-hole.
More time goes by and she sends the children off to bed and goes out in search of her husband. She talks to the neighbors, and her husbands partner goes out in search of his missing partner. Soon after, her mother in-law arrives to sit with her while she waits to find the news of her husband, hoping he is only merely wounded. The mother recalls a lively boy and suggests his wife should be more forgiving and kinder to him. She wants the best for her children and hopes she can help rid him of drinking.
The men from the mine arrive with Walters body, and now they know for certain that he has died. He had gotten trapped in a mine shaft and suffered asphyxiation, but has no wounds on his body. She prepares the parlor and lays down a tablecloth on the floor and two vases containing chrysanthemums. After the men leave, the women begin to wash the body. After rinsing the dirt from the unmarked body, she comes to reevaluate their life together. She realizes that they never really knew each other and that she might have been part of the blame for the failure their marriage had become.
In the second story, “Flowering Judas”, the narrator also helps to reshape our opinion of the husband. A beautiful, young American woman has come to Mexico City after the Mexican Revolution in order to work for the cause. She is a go-between