Marigolds By Eugenia Collier : A Story Of A Young African American Girl

“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’m sure all teens have thrown a fit. Consequently, we all wish we wouldn’t have. In the story “Marigolds” Lizabeth throws a temper tantrum and then immediately regrets it. Lizabeth’s childish acting resulted in her noticing she should've handled the situation better. The theme of “Marigolds” is maturation leads to a deeper understanding of life. This theme of “Marigolds” demonstrates Lizabeth’s change in attitude throughout the story just as maturation affects every modern teen.

There comes a point in one’s life when they must recognize the hardships placed upon them, and instead of being ignorant of those hardships, they must confront them head-on. In “Marigolds”, a short story by Eugenia Collier, the main protagonist, Lizabeth, encounters various struggles that come with living in a poor town in rural Maryland during the Depression, allowing her to learn more about growing up and accepting reality with all its flaws. Lizabeth is a 14-year-old girl who feels a conflict between her inner child and her inner woman, as she is unable to do anything that satisfies both sides of her. She feels too old to be a child, yet too young to be a

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

Two characters, Elisa Allen and Mary Teller, struggle with the idea of being accepted into the society of the 1930s. Women’s rights were not fully accepted in the 1930s, and these two characters were set in the common day view of men and women. In the 1930s, “[Society has] assigned to white women such roles as housewife, secretary, PTA chairman, and schoolteacher. Black women can now be schoolteachers, too, but they are most prominently assigned to such domestic roles as maid, cook, waitress, and babysitter” (Chisholm 123). These assigned roles have impacted women around the world, including the two characters in these short stories - “The Chrysanthemums” and “The White Quail”. Not being activists in women’s rights, these women conformed to society and lived their lives as any typical housewife in the 1930s. Their passions and choices during this time affected their way of living and relationships. The two stories reflect similarities of the women’s love for gardening and lonely marriages, but also reflect their different viewpoints on the world they live in.

“But, I 'm already resigned to this fate / Looking over my life, I recall / If it hadn 't been / for the loneliness / I 'd have no companion at all. ” This stanza from “Loneliness”, by Lora Colon evokes the negative impact a lonely fate has on a person. Words like “resigned” and “loneliness” establish a sense of depression and resignation. During the times of the Great Depression, many people felt similar feelings of melancholy and stoicism. Jobs were hard to come by, and realistic dreams of success were scarce. John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, allows readers to see the life of the Great Depression. The two main characters, George and Lennie, search for jobs, like many other migrant workers. They dream of owning their own land, however, Lennie’s habit of getting in trouble prevents their dream from being reality. After he accidentally causes more trouble at their new job, George is forced to kill him out of mercy. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck shows that even if one meticulously plans out the road to their American Dream, fate will inevitably intervene and lead one to desolation and loneliness.

She is forever associated with a man that she hates. Even Lulu, Candy’s dog, has a name. With the inclusion of Suzy, a woman who owns a brothel, Steinbeck allows readers to understand the hypocrisy of society during the Great Depression. Curley’s wife is lonely. She is condemned to marry a man she despises, is forced to abandon her dreams and forbidden to talk to anyone. She is desperate. Desperate for companionship. She tries talking to the men on the ranch but is isolated on the assumption that she is a temptress. Despite her never acting on any sexual endeavours due to society’s restricting motifs that women could only be a housewife or a temptress, the men suppose she is trying to seduce them. Due to these unfair assumptions, she is seen to be nothing but trouble and this diminishes her worth to men. Suzy on the other hand, although a woman, is celebrated because she provides prostitutes for the men. This shows that, if women during the Great Depression were of use to men, they would be commemorated, but if they weren’t, they would be marginalised, seen as inferior and forced to be property of their husbands.

Nihal Paidipelly “ After our few chores around the tumbledown shanty, Joey and I were free to run wild in the sun” (pg.1). In the story “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier, Elizabeth is described as immature, carefree, and confused. Throughout the story Collier shows Elizabeth’s growth mentally from a girl to a woman while she matures. In “Marigolds” the narrator’s experiences illustrate the theme that one cannot have both compassion and innocence. The first experience that the narrator has that shows that she cannot have both compassion and innocence is when she is hurt by her own actions toward Miss Lottie.

The journey that Janie embarks on is to find herself. She learns that she can be happy with or without a man, and with or without riches and superficial items. It is also a quest for love and fulfillment. In her marriage to Joe, Janie has all of the worldly possessions one could dream of having, but she does not love Joe. She is not happy in that marriage because even though she has every tangible item she could want, she does not have love, and that is an essential part of life. With Tea Cake, however, she does not have expensive items galore, but she does have love. Her marriage to Tea Cake shows that you do not need what money can buy to make you happy, you need love. The contrast between the two places also shows that individual freedom is necessary to be happy. Living with limited expression is harmful to a person. No one desires to live a life, having their ideas suppressed by another. Janie’s need to be free and for expression is one that every person in the world can relate to. The contrast between Eatonville and the Everglades highlights the meaning of the

Then she sees Miss. Lottie’s garden and becomes jealous. She’s jealous because her town is a dull place, and the Marigolds bring brightness and color. Lizabeth and her friends then decided to take a trip up to Miss. Lottie’s house and throw pebbles at her marigolds.

In any ugly situation, you can find beauty in, only if you are willing to see it. In the story “ Marigolds” the author as a child did not understand why Miss Lottie’s marigolds were so important to Miss Lottie until she was older. The theme for the story is in any ugly situation you can find beauty in it , only if you are willing to see it . Another theme for the story is beauty is in the eye of the holder, in this literary analysis i will explain the theme of the story “ Marigolds” .

The American Dream has devolved from Gatsby’s ostentatious lifestyle to the Great Depression’s poverty of low expectations. In Steinback’s novella, Of Mice and Men, the story is shaped by the intense friendship between these disparate characters, Lennie Small and George Milton, and their legitimate aspirations to achieve a dignified livelihood by owning land.

Most women have a sense of freedom and independence from their male counterparts, but they will not reach out away from their sheltered lives with a male to a new challenge or a new life. Women whom breakout of the their molds made by their significant other take a chance with life and try to become the independent woman others dream about at night. On the Allen’s farm, chrysanthemums flourish, but does Elisa Allen flourish with them? With tender care, the flowers grow heartily and healthily, though the one who tends them is not so satisfied with her rooting in life. In “Chrysanthemums,” John Steinbeck portrays Elisa Allen as a stereotypical female, yearning to bloom like the flowers she harvests.

Word in the streets was that Miriam Moore was sick in that head. Once, when Miriam had passed by she had heard a plump looking woman, who was decked out in jewels and diamonds proclaim, “I simple do not understand what that girl has to be sad about! She’s got everything a girl could ever dream of!” Perhaps, Miriam thought to herself as she rushed away, perhaps that is the problem. Miriam was born on a wealthy plantation farm down in Alabama. Her mother and father gave into her every plea, no questions asked, and while that seemed like luxury to many, that was not the case for Miriam. She did not fancy pearls and diamonds, or big, puffy skirts that made it hard to walk around. Nor did she desire to marry a rich man, and play piano to entertain

In a small world, there is not much choice for a simple woman. Throughout history, women often are portrayed as the weaker sex. As a result of this assumption, women try to disassociate themselves from this custom and be more independent with their lives. One of John Steinbeck’s most accomplished short stories, “The Chrysanthemums,” a story which concerns a married couple and examines Elisa’s dissatisfaction with her life. The story takes place in the Salinas Valley of California in December at Henry Allen’s ranch in the foothills. Elisa is a woman whose life is narrow, unexciting and limited in what she can become by geography and opportunity. She is feeling trapped in a life of servitude and is suppressing a yearning for more. Therefore,