How Is Destruction Created In Marigolds By Eugenia Collier

In “Marigolds” by Eugenia W. Collier, Lizabeth and the children view Miss Lottie as an ugly and unpleasant woman prior to the ultimate destruction of the marigolds, and Lizabeth’s understanding of Miss Lottie changes when she realizes the struggle and hard times, Miss Lottie has live through. In order to pass their time during summer, Lizabeth and the children hide in the bushes near Miss Lottie’s house to annoy her and have some fun, and when Miss Lottie spots them and tells them to go away, Lizabeth comes out of the bushes and chants (later joined by children), “Old witch, fell in a ditch, picked up a penny and thought she was rich!” (35). Calling Miss

“Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier is a personal narrative of the challenges that adolescents face with coming of age. The author is able to accurately capture the voice of her younger self-using literary devices such as imagery, juxtaposition, and diction. The author uses these literary devices to give the reader a precise representation of the struggles she surpassed, which pushed her towards adulthood.

I really liked it when someone connected “Marigolds” with “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”. They said that the simile with the old, inedible biscuit also referred to Miss Lottie. I had never realized how similar Miss Lottie and Marguerite were. Miss Lottie really was unwanted and unappreciated like an old biscuit. But, the difference between her and Marguerite was that Miss Lottie actually tried to make something out of her unwanted and unappreciated life. She made her marigolds in hopes that she could stop being unwanted and unappreciated, and become a happy, wanted person, but the theme of this story was to look beneath the surface in people, so, of course, Elizabeth saw that she looked the same, and so did her house, so she still treated

The use of repetition of certain words is used throughout the story and its use in this passage emphasizes the opposing feelings of the parents.

Through her use of diction, imagery, and syntax in her story, "Marigolds" Eugenia Collier captures the voice of an adult looking back on a significant event from her childhood. When the narrator thinks about her past she remembers, "I opened my swollen eyes and saw in front of me a pair of large, calloused feet; My gaze lifted to the swollen legs, then the shadowed Indian face surrounded by stubby white hair" (Collier 22). These words are examples of imagery because it captures the narrator's voice as a sacred child looking up at the old woman. Another example of diction is when Eugenia Collier writes 'I leaped furiously into the mounds of marigold and pulled madly, trampling and pulling and destroying perfect yellow blooms" (Collier 21). This

Especially when he hears latest part, “There is so much sadness in the faces of my people. I have called on their gods, now I call on our gods. I call on our young. I call on our old. I call on our mighty and the weak. I call on everyone and anyone so that we shall all let out one piercing cry that we may either live freely or we should die.”(Danticat 150) The guy wiped his tear after he hears it and heading outside. When the little guy asks his mother what is wrong with his father, Lili answers “His heart hurts,”(155) Because of the guy feels pity on himself, he considers his own life as if it is meant for nothing. He does not want to continue with his boring life but, he desires some excitement or magnificent changes to get involved in his life. To put this simply, he wants to live freely, the guy has too much burdens on his shoulders, such as he is the one who need to sacrifice his life to maintain the ordinary life of the family. “It was now easier for him to imagine their son’s lips around those breasts than to imagine his anywhere near them.”(90) This phrase implies that the Guy does not feel Lili as a woman but more like little guy’s mother. It also foreshadows that there is not much things that would hold the Guy to stay in the ordinary life.

As the story quotes, " 'Mother, what are you doing?' he asked. 'Do not worry, my son,' she answered gently. 'I am just marking the was so you will not get lost returning to the village.' " This quote generally means that the mother and son are very close and they both share a very detailed relationship. The feelings the story bring to the characters is showing how much the characters love and care for each other. But some others characters show different emotions like the young lord, he was very mean and treated most people with no respect. An example would be when the story quotes, " 'Fools!' the lord cried angrily. 'What good is your wisdom if you cannot help me now?' ". This quote shows how the young lord did not have confidence in his wise

Language and imagery plays a dramatic role in portraying relationships and feelings/thoughts of the persona. Whilst in ‘Burning Sappho,’ the mother’s attitude towards tasks is portrayed as emotionless (“the child is fed, the dishes are washed, the clothes are ironed and aired,”), language is utilised within ‘Suburban Sonnet’ to construct the mother’s mental state and situation as dire. “Zest and Love drain out with soapy water.” The use of two personal, passionate adjectives and the depiction of them being physically overcome by soapy water directly link the mother’s loss of feelings and fiery emotion to the household chores and duties. For example, she “scours crusted milk,” as a part of her role as mother and housewife as the reader is positioned to reject this requirement as a result of the huge impact to her quality of life (“Veins ache”). The literal image of a dead mouse symbolises the mother’s situation as the ‘soft corpse’ directly represents the mother, that is, emotionally dead as a result of the entrapment by society. The reader is positioned to fully

In stanza six, we see the end of visiting hour, and the persona’s loss of control as he is overran with emotion. The phrase, “black figure in her white cave” creates an image of an intruder in her sanctuary. The black and white contrast suggests he is a shadow of his former self and also that he is trying to detach himself. The phrase, “clumsily rises” gives connotations of his state as he is physically affected by his feeling of loss. Furthermore, “swimming waves of a bell” is a metaphor which has connotations of water. This is used to illustrate that he is drowning in the realisation that she is dying. Finally, “fruitless fruits” is an oxymoron used to reinforce that there is no hope or going back, for her.

The transformations in people are caused by a variety of circumstances. Within the variety of these circumstances, stress is the most influential one. In Eugenia Collier’s short story Marigolds, it tells the narrative of a young African-American girl living in rural Maryland. Due to her frustration with life, she destroys Miss Lottie’s marigolds. In the story Marigolds, the author uses the narrator’s transformation and characterization to convey that identity is only found in times of crisis.

Writers are able to leave their personal fingertips on their pieces, which is why writing is such a beautiful hobby. Whether one is writing poetry, short stories, novels, scripts, articles, etc., the diversity and uniqueness is absolutely amazing. In order for writers to keep their pieces original, they use literary devices such as imagery, juxtaposition, and diction. These devices help create something called voice, which is essentially the special way an author writes, including word choice and the way the author communicates his or hers ideas. These three literary devices are used frequently in the short story “Marigolds,” and each of them contribute to the author’s voice.

Figurative language is a main component in showcasing the emotions the characters reveal. An example being when the author writes “ The children huddled up to her and breathed like little calves waiting at the bars in the twilight.” This portrays the children's emotions with more emphasis and really shows how they watched everything Granny Weatherall did with precision. This type of writing really helps the reader understand what is going on within the characters and their actions. The author also displays figurative language in the way she describes how John would be in the situation of them still being together. She describes him as being more of a child, rather than taking a parent role.

A street meeting is held outside the narrator’s apartment and some religious musicians are participating when Sonny comes along. “they sang... her hair like a cuckoo’s nest, her face scarred and swollen from many beatings”. Like Sonny, the sisters have experienced suffering in their life, thus leading to the creation of beautiful music with raw emotion. The simile in this quote illustrates the disorderliness of the sisters’ lives and the pain that the sisters may have went through in the past, since one of them had a “face scarred and swollen from many beatings”(Baldwin 140). The reader can infer that the suffering that they have experienced in the past, whether that be abuse, discrimination, harassment, etc. leads to the wonderful creation of music which serves as a way of expressing themselves and inner emotions.

“His eyes would suddenly go blank leaving two gaping wounds, two wells of terror” (Wiesel 75), is a rousing example of the horror Elie Wiesel portrays in Night by using imagery. Elie uses layers of figurative language to help facilitate the meaning of the text beyond its literal interpretation and enhances the reader's experience. Not only does his use of figurative language produce vivid imagery to draw in readers it also accurately portrays his primary account of the dismay he experienced during the holocaust. Night is filled with wonderfully descriptive figurative language to elevate the effect and take the reader on Wiesel’s painfully haunting and incomprehensible journey. Likewise, in the novel Night Elie portrays his firsthand account

The poet creates these emotions for the reader when he talks about how the narrator’s mother cannot protect herself anymore. The narrator talks about how he has to protect her: “So I protect her from knives, / stairs, from the street that calls / as rivers do, a summons to walk away, to follow” (12-15). The tone for this poem is downhearted, gloomy, and distressed. The author displays his feelings toward the subject of the poem when he shows that the narrator knows she will never remember his name, even though he is helping her so much. The narrator shows these feelings after he helps his mother get dressed: “when she sometimes looks up / and says my name, the sound arriving / like the thrill of a bird so rare / it’s rumored no longer to exist”