Text About The Marigolds

In one’s everyday life, we are surrounded with environmental factors that could potentially shape the aspects of our lives. These types of factors range anywhere from negative to positive on a broad spectrum. For instance in Eugenia Collier’s short story “Marigolds”, The main character Lizabeth, is surrounded by an abundance of environmental factors, as she struggles with own internal conflict of coming to terms that her reign of innocence is slowly fading away. As the story continues, Lizabeth’s environmental factors are exposed, and as a result of these factors, she commits certain actions, in which she faces consequences for. The particular theme that is emitted from this short narrative, is “symbolic experiences that one may experience in life, have a probability of changing aspects in our lives”. This is tied in with main emphasize of exploring in the text how this particular theme is exposed by the characters, setting, and the plot of the story.

This story is about a fiction story about approaching adulthood , Marigolds. Marigolds are a type of flower. These flower are import to a lady and brings joy to her life during the great depression. Many americans ‘experience poverty and unemployment. Marigolds was written by Eugenia Collier.

“Marigolds”, written by Eugenia Collier in 1969, is a coming-of-age story about a girl who makes the development from an immature and innocent child to that of a compassionate and mature woman. Taking place during the Great Depression in rural Maryland, the story shows both external and internal conflicts of Lizabeth, a 14-going-on-15 year-old girl. She was stuck not only in a nation ransacked by an economic crisis, but also in the confusion and fear that comes along with growing up. With all the changes happening (both inside and outside of herself), she finds that “the world had lost its boundary lines” and that she also had to cross a line herself: the line which marks the end of childhood and all its innocence. Lizabeth’s internal turmoil

First, Lizabeth displays immaturity in her actions when she plays with the other children in the neighborhood. After getting bored of playing around, Joey suggests that they go over to Mrs. Lottie’s to disturb her. Since the marigolds disturbed the children, they revolted

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 beginning of the story, she has fun and mocks Miss Lottie, who simply is trying to find hope in this forsaken society by planting flowers. After Lizabeth overhears her parents arguing about finding work, her struggle climaxes. She starts to understand the vulnerability of her parents and neighbors. She finally runs to Miss Lottie’s house and destroys her marigolds. “[Ruining Miss Lottie’s marigolds] was the moment childhood faded and womanhood began” (61).

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

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

The transformation from an innocent girl to a grown woman could be extremely tremendous. In the short story, “Marigolds,” by Eugenia Collier, shows how much Lizabeth has mature. As she is maturing, she is starting to have the realization of the real world and the meaning of compassion. At the time, the Great Depression occur and the marketing crash. The Great Depression affected families and the world itself. Based on the short story, “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier, shows that one cannot have both compassion and innocence at once from the character development of Lizabeth.

In “Marigolds” a young girl is growing up during the Great Depression. For Lizabeth, the narrator, everyday is a challenge. As she transitions from an innocent, naive child to an aware, yet unsure young woman, the smooth road she’s been traveling on suddenly becomes bumpy and unfamiliar when a fit of anger taken out on her neighbor marks Lizabeth’s growing up. “All the smoldering emotions of that summer swelled in me and burst- the great need for my mother who was never there, the hopelessness of our poverty and degradation, the bewilderment of being neither child nor woman and yet both at once…”, (Collier, “Marigolds”). All of the emotions that Lizabeth has been holding in spill out of her in an audacious, violent action that will exile her childhood; the destroying of Miss Lottie’s prized marigolds.When Lizabeth realizes with remorse what she’s done, she gains the heavy burden of adulthood. “In that humiliating moment I looked beyond myself and into the depths of another person. This was the beginning of compassion, and one cannot have both compassion and innocence”, (Collier, “Marigolds”). When Lizabeth conveys that Miss Lottie had planted marigolds as a show of passion and hope, she becomes compassionate towards Miss Lottie, ridding her of her childish innocence. While “Hard on the Gas” is minimally worded, the meaning of the poem speaks volumes. The poem conveys growing up, and the fact that the road to adulthood is not, in fact, smooth. “Rush, rest, rush, rest”,

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.

In the beginning of the short story, a flashback of Lizabeth’s hometown is presented. However, “all that [she seems] to remember is dust- the brown, crumbly dust of late summer.” She later ponders the fact why she only remembers the dust. Clearly, her recollection of her hometown is rather lamentful and full of sorrow.

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 Chrysanthemums" introduces us to Elisa Allen, a woman who knows she has a gift for growing things, but it seems to be limited to her garden. Diligently working in her garden, Elisa watches as men come and go, living their lives unconfined, wondering what it must feel like to have that freedom. That emotion is revealed as Elisa gases at her husband and acquaintances talking, "she looked down toward the men by the tractor shed now and then." As she tills the soil for her chrysanthemums Elisa tills the thoughts in her head. The garden she so desperately maintained represents her world. A world that will only flourish if nourished. Emotional nourishment and stimulation is what Elisa lacked and longed for. The garden is limited in space to grow and so is her marriage. The garden is safe, non-threatening and so is her world. The garden contains many different elements that make it what it is, although unseen, and if the proper nourishment is not given it will die, as with Elisa.

In a cottage far far away there lived a girl named June. June lived with her mother and father. Every day, June and her mother would go out and find new flowers to look at and to see. June’s mother 's favorite flower was a petal flower and the only place that had the petal flower was by the Witch 's’ house. Once in awhile June and her mother would go out and try to see the flower without getting caught by the mean old Witch. While June and her mom went flower hunting her father would go out and try to sell the different types of flowers that they picked.