Short Story Of The Marigolds

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.

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

Eugenia Collier, the author of the short story Marigolds makes great use of literary devices such as imagery, diction, flashback, and juxtaposition in a way that creates a voice for the narrator that conveys both the regret over, and possibly the longing for her childhood. The diction, that is, the vocabulary choice is expertly combined with imagery, or the unique descriptions and sensory details, in order to allow the reader to formulate the experiences and the surroundings of the narrator's childhood in their imaginations. Flashback is used to allow the narrator to not only explain how she viewed the events of her past as a child, but to compare these views with her adult feelings of the same events. Juxtaposition aids in further explaining the connection between the setting and emotions of the main character, creating a better picture of the narrator’s life. These elements all combine to construct a narrative that effectively conveys the coming of age theme.

In the story “Marigolds”, by Eugenia Collier, the theme consists of accepting who you are- because if you put it off, you may do something you may regret. The main character, Lizabeth, is on a path to adulthood, which is greatly treacherous and is a journey full of many challenges. Lizabeth quotes in many parts of the story that she feels conflicted in whatever she does, making her very emotionally frustrated. “The child in me sulked and said it was all in fun but the woman in me flinched at the thought of the malicious attack we led.” (Collier 124). Lizabeth’s statement proves that she feels very split on what to do, because of the emotions interfering with her. Her statement proves that the path to adulthood is not as easy

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

“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.

The condition of Miss Lottie’s house represents how the Great Depression affects the nation because of the major downfalls of the economy. The Great Depression makes Miss Lottie’s house look like it is about to crumble, but even so Miss Lottie still at least has something to keep her and her house together--her marigolds. Moreover, though the Great Depression brings in negativity, the marigolds Miss Lottie plants are described as ”...strangest part of the picture... Beyond the dusty brown yard, in front of the sorry gray house, rose suddenly and shockingly a dazzling strip of bright blossoms, clumped together in enormous mounds, warm and passionate and sun-golden.” (258-259). Miss Lottie and the town lives in a world where hope is limited, but the marigolds are the things that are beautiful in the town and in Miss Lottie’s eyes because they were hope. The marigolds certainly don’t fit in with the ugliness of the town because they shine brightly and bring hope to the town. The marigolds brings hope to the people in town and to Miss Lottie because the marigolds were the only things in the town which were warm, beautiful, and bright, unlike their gloomy town’s

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.

In the short story “Marigolds”, the author, Eugenia Collier, uses several key events throughout the short story to represent the unseen cage that the main character, Lizabeth, is trapped in, and ultimately breaks. The story is set in a shanty town, likely taking place during the Great Depression. Throughout the story, Lizabeth goes through a difficult stage in life, a stage in which she is in conflict about whether she wants to be a carefree, innocent child, or an educated, compassionate adult. The climax of the story, when Lizabeth tears and rips up Miss Lottie’s marigolds, is such an emotional moment for Lizabeth that she finally completes her transition to adulthood, understands her endless cycle of poverty, and breaks the final bar of the cage.

Most of the time there is a moment in life where one realizes they have lost all innocence and gained some compassion.  “Marigolds” shows how one young girl transferred from a child to young adult through her life experiences.  Throughout this story another young, but at the same time old in her prime, lady’s experiences are revealed:  the author’s.  In this short story, “Marigolds,” Eugenia Collier’s subconscious is unmasked through symbolism, diction, and Lizabeth’s actions.

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.

A child holds innocence from a young age and does not understand the importance of having compassion. As a child's innocence gradually fade away due to maturity, he or she transforms into a compassionate person. In a coming of age short story, “Marigolds,” Eugenia Collier writes about a series of events where a young girl, named Lizabeth, develops into a compassionate person. Lizabeth narrates these events in a flashback that involve the marigolds of her neighbor, Miss Lottie. Miss Lottie's marigolds were the essence of hope in the midst of the town filled with dust and dirt. The effect of economic struggles that the townspeople go through causes Lizabeth to destroy Miss Lottie's marigolds. Throughout the short story, “Marigolds,” the characterization

“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.

Adolescence is a bumpy and unknown section of the road known as life. Both the short story “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier and the poem “Hard on the Gas,” by Janet S. Wong relate to the theme that “the road to growing up and maturing isn’t always smooth”. “Marigolds is the story of an adolescent who is growing up in the Great Depression. Through hard experiences and tumultuous emotions, the narrator learns that growing up is full of ups and downs. “Hard on the Gas” is a poem about a grandchild driving with his or her grandfather. The grandchild realizes that the road isn’t always perfect and that there will be bumps along the way. The theme “the road growing up and maturing isn’t always smooth” is conveyed in both of these selection.

She can’t fully comprehend why she detests these flowers, and so all she knows is that they “did not make sense to her.” The child in her only has insight into her own world, and not into the worlds of others around her. Despite the marigolds being too troublesome for her to understand, she remains ignorant and does not try to seek any further meaning behind them. With Lizabeth in this naïve state, she has not yet felt the conflict between the child and the woman in her; she’s too ignorant at this point to attempt to develop an understanding for Miss Lottie and her flowers. After Lizabeth and the other kids launch the first attack on the marigolds, invoking great rage in Miss Lottie, Lizabeth feels a sudden urge to antagonize the old woman even further. Chanting vicious phrases at her, Lizabeth feels that she, “lost [her] head entirely, mad with the power of inciting such rage [in Miss Lottie].” Lizabeth has been taken over by a childish sense of pride after provoking Miss Lottie, showing her selfishness and lack of compassion. Being the child that she is, Lizabeth decides to further irritate Miss Lottie, only thinking about herself and how to ease her boredom. She is only concerned about her own little world. This sudden act of cruelty to Miss Lottie reveals