Odour of Chrysanthemums

Walter Bates is Elizabeth’s husband, a collier in the mine, and he is a crucial secondary character in the story although he does not appear alive. His absence, the news of his death, and the bringing in of his body are the three main narrative events around which the story is structured.

His absence is the source of the tension in the first part of the story and the motivating factor behind Elizabeth’s actions and thoughts. These early passages reveal details of his relationship with alcohol and his wife; his drinking is a regular occurrence that has driven a wedge between them. He often sneaks past the house to go to the pub and uses his wages to buy alcohol, leaving less for the family to live on. Walter embodies a process of decay: that of his relationship with his wife and his own vitality. Walter’s mother describes how, as a child, he was “a happy lad at home, only full of spirits” (14), but now, he is distant from his wife and children.

The news of his death is the ultimate culmination of this decay. The last major narrative event—the bringing of his body—is the inciting incident for the dramatic conclusion: Elizabeth’s inner turmoil as she realizes that it is not just death that has parted them but an older estrangement: “[I]t had become hopeless between them long before he died” (22).

Walter’s mother is a secondary character who is never referred to by name. She is referred to by her age and gender and her familial relationships to Elizabeth, Walter, or their children; for example, she is called “old woman,” “his mother,” and “the grandmother” (13). This shows how these factors have defined her existence. It also depersonalizes her, adding to the reader’s impression of the distance between her and Elizabeth.

However, it is implied that she has some care for Elizabeth—she calls her “Lizzie” throughout, an informal shortening typifying their familial relationship, and is concerned about her and her unborn baby. Although she displays possessiveness over her son when Elizabeth starts to clean his body, the tableau of the two of them silently working together in this task, their heads brushing together, is one of the story’s moments of poignant intimacy, adding nuance to the theme of social alienation. She also waits with Elizabeth so she won’t be alone when they receive more news, though this may be because of her own concern over what has happened, as her son is her primary focus throughout the story.

She speaks of Walter almost constantly from her arrival at the household. She describes his goodness as a young man, bringing his wages home to her, and once his body is brought in, she eulogizes his beautiful appearance and the hearty laugh he used to have (21). This contrasts with Elizabeth’s relationship with Walter, as he gives only a small part of his wages to their family home, spending the rest on drink. They see him through very different lenses, raising the question of who has the more objective view of him.

As well as using heightened language to describe Walter, his mother’s own emotions are heightened and demonstrative, from her fear about his fate to her grief at his death. This juxtaposes Elizabeth’s stoical, practical responses: Where family ties are emotional to Walter’s mother, to Elizabeth they are more a matter of duty.

Elizabeth’s father is another secondary character whose name, like Walter’s mother’s, remains unknown, reinforcing the detached tone of the narrative voice. He is a relatively flat and static character, though not one-dimensional, introducing themes and shedding light on Elizabeth through their relationship. He works at the colliery too, driving the engine in the opening scene, which shows the generational nature of this community—often, children of colliers would remain in the area, going on to work in mines themselves and marrying within the community.

His interaction with Elizabeth introduces the themes of death and Elizabeth’s alienation, as there is a rift between them because Elizabeth disapproves of how soon he is remarrying after her mother’s death. He winces when Elizabeth says she did not expect him to visit, just as Elizabeth winces in the final line of the story, suggesting he is uncomfortably aware of their distance. However, they are still bound by their familial tie—he visits regularly (based on his acknowledgment of failing to recently), and he stops outside the house to talk with his daughter, who brings him tea and bread, a gesture of care. The fact that he does not come in but stays by the engine suggests that the world of labor they inhabit both bonds them in their shared environment and separates them. This relationship, though secondary in the story, is nonetheless complex and multidimensional.

He also serves a key narrative purpose, ushering in the first major source of tension when he tells Elizabeth that Walter is probably drinking in the pub and has been bragging about his plans to continue spending there, bleeding the household finances. This sets up the driving conflict through the bulk of the story—Elizabeth’s unfulfilled wish for Walter to return home soon.

Elizabeth’s children, Annie and John, are the vehicle through which Elizabeth’s domestic labor and sense of familial duty are explored. She cares for them but struggles to connect with them. They also have contrasting characteristics from each other, serving the major themes of decay and alienation.

John is sullen, often dissatisfied with his situation, and frustrated with his mother—he resents her for calling him in and grumbles that it is too dark when she is tending the fire. He has already inherited her bitterness, and their relationship is distant—his face is often physically hidden from her in shadow as a visual metaphor for this. Annie, on the other hand, is emotionally open and communicative, expressing her distress about her father’s absence and engaging in conversation with her mother about where he is. She is an active agent in the world, proactively suggesting to have tea and asking questions about where her father is. She contrasts with her brother as she is not yet socially alienated or disillusioned by the world, representing the optimism and energy of youth, summarized by her entrance: “[D]irectly, gratefully, came quick young steps” (5).

They also have contrasting interactions with the chrysanthemums of the title. John tears off the petals from the bush, throwing them to the ground, demonstrating a destructive impulse projected outward. This parallels Walter’s self-destructive behavior in turning to drink. John no longer sees the beauty in the world, a sharp juxtaposition to Annie, who admires the fire’s beauty and is delighted by the smell and sight of the chrysanthemums tucked in Elizabeth’s apron. She begs her not to throw them away—a plea that suggests a longing to hold on to the hope and vitality of youth. When Walter’s body is brought in and Annie wakes, Elizabeth goes upstairs to soothe her and tells her that he is just drunk, suggesting that she also wants Annie to cling to this optimism. However, this is laden with dramatic irony—the reader knows that Annie’s life is about to change dramatically, through the death of her father and the resulting change in economic and social security for the family. This enhances the pessimistic tone of the story’s ending, leaving this dreadful realization still to come for Annie.

The Rigleys are a married couple who also live in the Brinsley Colliery community in a settlement with other houses close to the mine. This contrasts with Elizabeth’s house, which is set apart by the railway tracks, again enhancing her isolation. This is even more apparent when Mrs. Rigley runs to her neighbor to gossip about Elizabeth’s visit to them—Elizabeth is the outsider in this scenario.

They represent normal working colliers of the period, and it is implied that they are of a lower socioeconomic status than Elizabeth as they treat her deferentially—Mr. Rigley even seems nervous, stammering as he speaks to her. They address Elizabeth formally, as she does them. Their chaotic, messy kitchen and 12 children indicate the constant domestic work Mrs. Rigley must perform. They both embody the toll that a hard life of labor takes on a person; their faces are haggard, and Mr. Rigley has a scar on his head from a mining accident, planting the seed that a similar fate may have befallen Walter. His nervousness as he describes leaving Walter alone in the mine creates a sense of foreboding.

Mr. Rigley contrasts with Walter in his habits—he comes home for dinner and to see his wife before heading out again, so she knows where he is and is not waiting fearfully or angrily. Through Mr. Rigley, the widespread English pub culture is embodied less negatively—he knows the pubs and probably goes regularly in the evening as many working men do, but he has not abandoned his family in the same way Walter has.