in the short story "the chrysanthemums" by john steinbeck the author describes the salinas valley as a "closed pot" how does the phrase best connect to elisas character

Lizabeth remembers her childhood, during the summer when she destroyed miss lottie's marigolds. the emotions that she experienced from the guilt of her destruction made her feel pain more than the joys and fun that she had, and this motivated her to taunt miss lottie.

The answer is a criminal then