"The Crysanthemums"

In the stort and minimalistic story "The Crysanthemums" by John Steinbeck the issue of husband and wife conflict comes up yet again. The wife being a quite and meek woman, and the husband being more stern and abrupt. They seemed to get along throughout the story but near the end it began to change. The husband and wife had trouble with communication and this rose minor conflicts between them. The conflicts to me didnt seem to be very severe because the wife was very quite and the husband just alomost in a way bossed her around. He "wore the pants in the relationship" it seemed. He was controlling and she wanted to break free. When the Tinker came along she had a different look in her eyes. She felt stronger and felt a need to be more womanly. He brought out a different side to her. She was a strong woman to begin with but the Tinker changed her. I just wished that she maybe had stayed more loyal to her husband. There was nothing wrong with him. He was a traditional husband from the 1930's and had a wife who was confusing his thoughts.