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Marigolds Essay

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In the story "Marigolds", Lizbeth's actions are influenced by several setting issues including poverty, The Great Depression, and Miss Lottie’s Marigolds. Lizbeth's family is poor and struggling to make ends meet, which causes her to feel frustrated and powerless. "Poverty was the cage in which we all were trapped, and our hatred of it was still the vague, undirected restlessness of the zoo-bred flamingo who knows instinctively that nature created it to be free." The setting of Miss Lottie's garden, with its beautiful marigolds, represents a contrast to the poverty and ugliness of Lizbeth's surroundings, which makes her feel envious and resentful. "Miss Lottie's marigolds were perhaps the strangest part of the picture. How could such a lovely thing exist in such …show more content…

The Great Depression is also an important setting issue in the story. The economic hardship of the time is reflected in the poverty and despair of Lizbeth's family and the other families in the town. The Depression has an effect on Lizbeth's father, who is unable to find work and becomes increasingly despondent. This affects Lizbeth's view of her father and her family. Lizbeth became even more frustrated with the life she had, and took her anger out on Miss Lottie’s marigolds. Finally, the setting of Miss Lottie's garden, with its beautiful marigolds, represents a contrast to the poverty and ugliness of Lizbeth's surroundings. "For some perverse reason, we children hated those marigolds. They interfered with the perfect ugliness of the place; they were too beautiful; they said too much that we could not understand; they did not make sense. Perhaps we had some dim notion of what we were and how little chance we had of being anything else. Otherwise, why would we have been so preoccupied with destruction?" Lizbeth is envious of Miss Lottie's garden and the beauty and hope it represents.

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