The story is set in a mining village and industry dominates the landscape. This is evident in Lawrence’s description of the pit-bank which “loomed up beyond the pond”, suggesting a threatening gloomy presence. Mining is not an easy job. After one long day’s work, the miners drag themselves home, “like shadows”, suggesting that they are silent, lifeless and exhausted. The word “shadow” is used to describe the miners, who have just been working in the mines, because they are covered in black coal dust, which suggests that mining is not a very clean job.
Nature is slowly fading with the presence of industry. This is shown in the description of the gorse, which “flickered indistinctly”, suggesting that the shimmer of the plant that it normally has, becomes hard to see. Industry is so noisy that it covers the beautiful sounds of nature, as Lawrence said, “withered oak leaves dropped noiselessly”. This line is used when the train just passed, so it suggests that the train is so noisy that the sound of the dropping leaves becomes hard to hear. Nature is not at her best and with the threat of industry she struggles to grow. For example, “twiggy apple tree”, “winter-crack trees” and “ragged cabbages” all gives us a sense of lifelessness. Red and black is used throughout the passage, like “scarlet hips”, “red sores”, “black wagon” and “black headstocks”. These two colours are used here symbolically. Red is a symbol of pain and black is a symbol of darkness and evil. The colours of the plants are not always mentioned because nature is struggling for life and that red and black dominates the scene.
Another woman, who we later find out is called Elizabeth, walks out from the fowl-house. The house that Elizabeth lives in is aggressive and threatening. “A large bony vine clutched at the house” makes people feel horror. She tries to bring nature back into her garden but she has not totally succeeded. We know this because there is very little life in the garden. Only “a few winter primroses” and as mentioned before, “winter-crack trees”, “twiggy apple trees”, “ragged cabbages” and “dishevelled pink chrysanthemums”. By these descriptions, we can tell that nature is fighting a losing battle against the cold of winter.
The woman stands out in the lifeless garden. These phrases, “tall woman of imperious mien”, “handsome” with hair “parted exactly” are all positive, suggesting that she takes care of her appearance, is disciplined and hardworking. This also tells us that she might be expecting something, so even though the surroundings around her are dull and lifeless, she maintains standards for herself, as if she is waiting for someone to come back, although we do not know this yet. As she watches the miners pass, Lawrence says, “her mouth was closed with disillusionment”, which might suggest that the person she is expecting is not there and that her hopes have been dashed and she has given up on them. Perhaps she has lost someone before, who was once a miner. She hopes to see him in the crowd of miners, but is disappointed when she sees no sign of him.
Because of that, her son, John is very precious to her and we can see that when she was looking for him “piercingly through the dusk” suggesting that she is powerful and has control of him. She speaks to him “sternly” which suggests that she cannot stand being disobeyed because she is frightened of losing her son. When she tells John she thought he was at the brook, she reminds him, “remember what I told you”, which suggests that she does not want him near it. It might be dangerous and she does not want her son to be in danger. She has probably mentioned this many times to John and he is annoyed with his controlled life as he spoke to Elizabeth with a “sulky voice” suggesting that he is having a temper tantrum. His clothing is “too thick and hard for the size of the garments”, which suggests that they are poor and has a harsh life, and he is probably resentful because of this. His anger is shown when “he tore at the ragged wisps of chrysanthemums”, which is an aggressive and destructive act. Elizabeth takes the flower and holds them “against her face” suggesting that chrysanthemums are a remembrance of someone very close to her. This once again relates to the title, “Odour of Chrysanthemums”. “Odour” suggesting death, tell us that the person who she is trying to remember is dead. This person could be the person she was expecting earlier, when she was watching the miners pass by.
The opening of the story begins and ends with the engine, which represents industry dominating people’s lives. Nature and industry are contrasting antitheses, suggesting that there will be conflict between them. By talking about them, suggests the story will be tragic. The title suggests something dying and there is a lot of tension in the mother and child relationship. The story will be sad because of the negative words used for the house, the nature, the people and the industry.