Flowered Memories: an Analysis of Ted Hughes' Daffodils

Robin Jenkins effectively conveys loss of innocence and ant war through sophisticated symbolism in the short story “Flowers”. It tells the story of a young girl, Margaret, who was evacuated from the city of Glasgow to the highlands of Scotland in an attempt to avoid the inhumanity of war, but it is in the highlands where she truly witnessed the brutality of war.

Eugenia Collier, the author of Marigolds evokes empathy in the audience to inspire action and bring about a deeper understanding of the world by using first person point of view in her text, so she used Lizabeth an imaginary person to tell a story from her point of view. She uses Lizabeth as the narrator of the story, so Lizabeth tells a story about her life experience in dusty depression-era town. In the text where it mentions “whatever verve, there was left in her, whatever was of love and beauty and joy that had…. Awkward and ashamed”(Lizabeth 62-63) and “She never planted marigolds again….. And I too have planted marigolds”(Lizabeth 64), she is trying to describe something. She is trying to describe that the marigolds brought happiness

Lizabeth does not care about Miss Lottie’s feelings until after she destroyed the flowers. In effect, having Lizabeth destroy the marigolds gives Lizabeth a lesson that would turn her into a compassionate person. The night that the flowers became destroyed, Lizabeth had heard an argument between her parents. Significantly, she did not like how her father was being weak while her mother was being strong. Then, to let all her emotions out, she went to Miss Lottie’s house to destroy the marigolds. After her deed, Lizabeth calms down and realizes Miss Lottie saw the mess. This moment was when Lizabeth realizes her destruction on the marigolds. The moment she saw Miss Lottie and her expression of the mess, Lizabeth comes to a realization of why Miss Lottie planted marigolds. Thinking back on her past, Lizabeth said “Yet, there are times when the image of those passionate yellow mounds return with a painful poignancy. For one does not have to be ignorant and poor to find that one’s life is barrens the dusty yards of one’s town. And I too have planted marigolds” (30). Every time she remembers the marigolds and how they look she describes them as, “the images of those passionate yellow mounds return with a painful poignancy.” The “passionate yellow mounds” is the description of marigolds and every time she remembers them, she has a “painful poignancy” which can be indicated that the marigolds represent the lesson she has learned and her experience to becoming a compassionate person. The end sentence of the quote “And I too have planted marigolds” is the overall lesson that Lizabeth learns from her experience that made her a compassionate person. Lizabeth learns why Miss Lottie had planted her marigolds, but as a lesson, she realizes the meaning behind this. As a result of destroying the marigolds, Lizabeth changes

In the story "Marigolds", a story by Eugenia Collier, the author uses the literary techniques of juxtaposition and symbolism to show the overall message that during the coming of age and maturity in a world full of poverty and darkness, people always look for a light of happiness. The author uses juxtaposition of the conversation of the mother and father to show how the darkness, which is represented by the father, is trying to destroy the lightness, which is represented by the mother. In rage and pain of his poverty bent life, Lizabeth’s father is clouded with darkness and fear, but Lizabeth’s mother a still hopeful and looking for something to bring joy to the family. Lizabeth's dad explains to Lizabeth’s mother, “Twenty-two years, Maybelle, twenty-two years, and I

Novelist and critic Carl Van Vetchen helped Hughes to get his first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, published by Knopf. As shown in The Weary Blues, Hughes addresses the life of urban blacks. In this book, he becomes among one of the first poets to use jazz rhythm. In 1927, Hughes published his second volume of poetry, Fine Clothes to the Jew. Also in 1927, Hughes graduated form Lincoln and earned his Bachelor of the Arts (B.A.) degree. In 1940, Hughes published his autobiography of his life so far, twenty-eight years, The Big Sea. He focuses on his role in the Harlem Renaissance, and his life in

Langston hughes is an american poet who was born in 1902 to a country that segregated him and a county he loved, such love comes from his amazing poem I Too.

John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums”, is a story about a woman struggling with strong inner feelings of loneliness and isolation. Elisa Allen is initially portrayed as a woman who overcompensates and whose tasks are far exceeded by her abilities. She appears content with her life and adores tending to her garden. However, a tinker briefly enters her life and through his power of persuasion and manipulation provides Elisa with hopes of change and excitement. He gives her the much needed attention she is so desperately looking for. As the story continues we learn that these hopes are crushed as we unravel the betrayal the tinker has bestowed upon Elisa. He exploits her and takes advantage of her hunger for company, aspirations, and

John Steinbeck’s short story, “The Chrysanthemums” features many themes: themes of gender suppression, love, passion, and betrayal. This short story revolves around the character Elisa Allen who has a strong love and a great passion for her flowers, for her beloved chrysanthemums. However, when a mysterious man arrives towards the end of the text Elisa’s love and passion for the chrysanthemums weakens and she feels betrayed by one of the things she loves most. Steinbeck uses the unlikely encounter between the Tinker and Elisa, as well as, the encounter between Elisa and her husband as a way to express the theme of love and betrayal.

“The Flowers” by Alice Walker is a short story written in the 1970’s. The story focuses on Myop, a ten year old African American girl who loves to explore the land in which she lives. Carefree and naïve, Myop decides to travel further away from her ‘Sharecropper cabin’ and travels deep inside the woods to unfamiliar land where she discovers the decomposed body of an African American man. It is then Myop quickly grows up and suddenly becomes aware of the world in which she lives. The story relies on setting and symbolism to convey the theme of departing innocence.

Walker continues to use negative imagery and ideas to reveal her hesitation towards the arrangement. The author uses these literary devices because she wants to illustrate Roselily’s reasons for marrying the man. Roselily does this because it is what's best for her and her children. In a way, Roselily is being forced because she does not have a better alternative to her current life. By marrying the man, Roselily will have a renewed lifestyle and reputation. Roselily imagines the flowers in her hand as kids. When she does this, her head fills with murderous thoughts. “A squeeze around the flowers in her hands chokes off three and four and five years of breath” (Walker 4). As guilty as Roselily feels, this shows how Roselily wishes she never had given birth to any of her kids. When she tightens her grip on the bouquet of flowers, she thinks of her children. Roselily dreams she did not give birth to these kids. Roselily’s ideas of murder could possibly be associated with her obsession with the idea of her personal spirit being robbed from her. Weddings usually give off positive connotations, however in Roselily’s mind she disturbs the happy wedding with dark thoughts such as the idea of murder. Deviating from the topic of “personal spirit”, Brent studies the ferocious thoughts swarming Roselily’s mind. “Roselily’s rebellious thoughts during the wedding ceremony go so far as to enter the realms of murder and blasphemy. She expresses a wish that she could be free of her three

The Flowers By Alice Walker Written in the 1970's The Flowers is set in the deep south of America and is about Myop, a small 10-year old African American girl who explores the grounds in which she lives. Walker explores how Myop reacts in different situations. She writes from a third person perspective of Myop's exploration. In the first two paragraph Walker clearly emphasises Myop's purity and young innocence.

As the poem goes on, the second emotion from the speaker occurs in the last stanza: the state of “solitude.” “For oft, when on my couch I lie, in vacant or in pensive mood, they flash upon that inward eye, which is the bliss of solitude,” the first emotion of isolation and loneliness seems to reappear here. But his mood is no longer just “vacant” as a “lonely cloud,” but “pensive.” His mind is now thoughtful and meditative because the existence of the daffodils. If he is “vacant,” he cannot remember anything; then his memory would be involuntary. Unlike the first emotion that took the speaker out of his loneliness, the second emotion repeats and recurs to the speaker, as William Wordsworth uses the word “oft”—often. The speaker is looking forward to his time of being alone, because the daffodils will be there to dance for him, to keep him company; as the poet writes, “which is the bliss of solitude; and then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils.”

John Steinbeck’s, The Chrysanthemums, was published in 1938 in a book of short stories, entitled The Long Valley. The Chrysanthemums has been a rather powerful draw for scholars because of its wide gap for interpretations and analysis of its main protagonist character, Elisa Allen and also the unique descriptions used to portray the deeper meaning behind the setting of the story. Themes of sexuality, oppression of women, as well as other numerous types of conflict portrayed in this rather somber short story have made it a popular study among scholars and students alike. Steinbeck also uses literary elements including a dramatic tone, rich symbolism, and personification which increase the stories feeling and value exponentially. Steinbeck

Through nature, these colors bring emotions, Death brings emotions of sadness and sympathy, but beauty brings happiness and joy. Firstly, the neighbors notice that in the garden belonging to Rappaccini, on a shrub lay a cornucopia of purple flowers “Enough to illuminate the garden, even if there had been no sunshine”(Rappaccini’s Daughter, 669). The beauty in these flowers attract a flood of sunlight, because the sun (nature) sees them as beautiful. The flowers bring happiness to whomever may view them because the sun directed its own energy on them to make them more beautiful. Similarly, in the garden’s fountain water ”continued to gush and sparkle into sunbeams as cheerfully as ever”(Rappaccini’s Daughter, 669). The sun shines on the free flowing water like how Romantics view nature as free. The waters beauty becomes intensified by the beams of the sun which can bring happiness to those who view them. Thirdly, when Rappaccini’s daughter decides to visit the garden she becomes illuminated by the sun like a flower. A suitor spots her in the sunlight and much like a flower in nature would bring one happiness, she brings him happiness.

Plath met her lover, fellow poet, Ted Hughes, in 1965 in Cambridge while she was attending the university. As shown in the film adaptation of her life, their relationship can be described as love at first site. From the moment they locked eyes at the party they both attended, they felt the intense connection. Only moments later in the night, while Plath and Hughes were dancing together, Sylvia had already declared her love for Ted. The couple married in 1956 but their love wasn’t always in the highest place as it was the night they met; their relationship with a turbulent one. Two children later, the couple still hadn’t met a common ground and their relationship was falling apart. After the birth of their second child in 1962, Hughes left Plath for another woman, which led her to fall deeper into depression. Soon after, she committed suicide by inhaling gas from a kitchen oven. Plath’s tragic death at just 30 years old, led to Hughes releasing her collection of poems, Ariel, which is one of her greatest works to this day.