Ahmed Ahmed Deb Branson Language arts March 3/10 2023 Marigolds analysis The story illustrates the main character's thoughts and feelings. conflicts are also internal and external. In the story of Marigold by author Eugenia Collier, she communicates the themes of poverty, maturity, innocence, and compassion through literary analysis. In the story Marigold, the narrator talks about her life living in poverty. The author says in lines 29–31, "The Depression that gripped the nation was no new thing for us, for the black workers of rural Maryland." I think what the author was telling us is that the great depression had a huge toll on people living …show more content…
Poverty was the cage in which we were all caged. The author also tells us that everyone she knew was just as hungry as she was and how they were all trapped in a cycle of poverty that they couldn't get out of. Continue from lines 50–52: "And our hatred for it was still the vague, undirected restlessness of the zoo-bred Flamingo, who knows that nature created him to fly free." The author uses the term two bread flamingos." Why would the author use that term for a zoo? Flamingos had their wings trimmed off so they couldn´t fly away. The author is using this as an example. She feels like her wings are trimmed off too, and she can't fly away from this cage, which is poverty. The author discusses maturity in lines 239–241: I felt humiliated, and I didn't enjoy feeling ashamed. The kid in me sulked and claimed it was all in good fun, but the woman in me shuddered at the notion of the malevolent attack I had organized. The narrator has complex thoughts; she doesn´t know what to think anymore; she knows what she did was wrong, but she doesn´t want to admit it. In another line, she says this in lines 291-293. Everything went out of tune like an accordion that had broken. What role did I play in this bizarre picture? I have no
Sienna Follenvaider Ms. Leibowitz English/Humanities February 8th “Marigolds” Literary Analysis Essay “Marigolds”, a short story by Eugenia W. Collier takes place in the 1960’s during the great depression. Poverty has struck the town in rural Maryland, where fourteen year old Lizabeth struggles to find out who she is. One day out of pure boredom, children begin to throw stones at Miss Lottie's precious marigolds. The theme of Marigolds by Eugenia W. Collier is coming of age, which is developed through symbolism, characterization, and conflict.
With the Great Depression and its generation an entire nation suffered during the great depression, and still managed to hold their lives together. This is a harsh reality and amongst the people suffering were young children in the ages between 10-18 all trying to find jobs in order to support their family. It is sad and heartbreaking to hear the stories of people who lived through this dark, grim period of time. Rural and all kinds of places in America were all suffering the same way. Everyone was facing great challenges in the daily American life and hope wasn’t coming any clearer.
During the Great Depression, people and families were struggling to get by. Unemployment was at an all time high and poverty struck many Americans. Martha Gellhorn traveled to North Carolina and documented the effect the Great Depression was having on families. She wrote, “it seems like people were degenerating before your eyes” and “ The price of food has risen, it’s getting cold and they have no clothes”(Gellhorn 166). The American people needed help and the New Deal was like a helping hand guiding them back on track.
The setting takes place in rural Maryland during the 1929 Great Depression. The main character we here from in the short story is Lizabeth. She takes us through life during that time and how she became a woman during childhood. Lizabeth being the narrator explains to the audience how bland the area looks, she does this by saying “Surely there must have there must have been lush green lawns and paved streets under leafy shade trees somewhere in town; but memory is an abstract painting – it does not present things as they are, but rather as they feel”. She gives the audience a glimpse of what her area really looks like and from the sound of it, it’s glassless, dull, and dry.
She overhears her parents talking about the hardships that they have to deal with. According to the author, the text states, “The world had lost its boundary lines. My mother, who was small and soft, was now the strength of the family; my father, who was the rock on which the family had been built, was sobbing like the tiniest child. Everything was suddenly out of tune, like a broken accordion. Where did I fit into this crazy picture?
For example, Lizabeth explains that “poverty was the cage” that everyone was “trapped” in (Collier 6). Poverty caged many during the Great Depression, still those of color had always been trapped with no possible escape. Families were forced to survive with minimal resources they could acquire and they weren’t able to live and enjoy the beauty of life. Being stuck in the cage led to the financial and mental downfall of many individuals though empathy radiates as the readers understand what it’s as to live in
The short story ‘Marigolds’ by Eugenia W. Collier is a coming-of-age narrative that focuses on the differences between innocence and compassion and focuses on themes of poverty and maturity as well. This story was written in 1969 and was set in a rural area of Maryland. Marigolds has fictional characters but derives from Collier’s life as a child during the Great Depression. This story is told from the perspective of a fourteen-year-old girl named Lizabeth. She was a bright young girl, however, she was sheltered and had the misconception that everyone lived in the same type of poverty as her, because that was all that she had been exposed to.
Have you ever done something that you regretted later? Something that changed your life forever? That is what happened to Lizabeth, the protagonist of Marigolds, a short story that explores the theme of innocence and its loss through the eyes of a young African American girl growing up during the Great Depression. The story revolves around Lizabeth's encounter with Miss Lottie's marigolds, the only bright spot in their otherwise bland neighborhood. In this essay, I will argue that Lizabeth's destruction of the marigolds symbolizes her loss of innocence and her transition to maturity.
The Great Depression was an unexpected event that happened suddenly and lasted for a decade. During this time, Americans had felt as if there was no hope, since money was a struggle to both keep and earn. In text 2, the author expresses how her mother would hope for events that would help their family during this time, such as raining, since her father was a farmer. Raining would help their family produce food for themselves and not have to worry about spending money on food. Another example is in text 1, where the author explains how “we weren’t hungry, but we were penniless.”
"Cherie Dimaline's captivating tale, "The Bead Fairy," illuminates the challenges faced by children who, in the eyes of their peers, may be perceived as "different" or "strange," highlighting the hardships of childhood for those who stand out. In this story, the voice of the quiet and observant protagonist takes center stage, shedding light on the experiences of an outcast and the profound hardships faced when one does not fit into the conventional mold. To begin, the narrator reveals her blossoming crush on Hugh McIvoy, a fellow classmate who stands out as one of the few white students in a racially diverse school. Captivated by his presence, she places him on a pedestal, holding him to an almost unattainable standard of perfection, stating
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.
The story "Marigolds" by Eugenia W. Collier is a short story that goes through the journey of Lizabeth. Lizabeth is a young girl that goes through an event that transitions her from a child to a woman. She shows many different sides to herself. She is wild, immature, and conflictual. Throughout the story, she comes to show that with maturity comes compassion.
During the formation of the United States of America, the values that were set into place for an American society shunned the recognition of anyone who was not of a certain race or gender. This continued with the fruition of the enlightenment ideals as these were also developed with a select few in mind, which were mainly privileged white males. These untold standards of being an “American” lead to the direct pre-meditated murders of hundreds of the Osage which is recounted in the book, “Killers of the Flower Moon” by David Grann. Since the Osage were benefiting from the needs of White people, in operating their land within a within a capitalist system, this fact was threatening to white society who were “supposed to” benefit from the enlightenment
In “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier, Miss Lottie’s old house, a symbol of poverty and sorrow, is surrounded with beautiful marigolds which she plants because the marigolds bring hope and happiness to a town that critically needs it. For example, the author describes Miss Lottie’s house as the most run down house in the town when she writes, “The sun and rain had long since faded its rickety frame siding from white to a sullen gray” (257). This shows that Miss Lottie’s house is old and falling apart and has not been repaired, which costs money that she does not have, like many others in the US during the Great Depression. This also shows that the house has gone from white, a new and bright color to gray, a gloomy and sad color, which symbolizes
In her short story “Marigolds”, Eugenia Collier, tells the story of a young woman named Lizabeth growing up in rural Maryland during the Depression. Lizabeth is on the verge of becoming an adult, but one moment suddenly makes her feel more woman than child and has an impact on the rest of her life. Through her use of diction, point of view, and symbolism, Eugenia Collier develops the theme that people can create beauty in their lives even in the poorest of situations. Through her use of the stylistic device diction, Eugenia Collier is able to describe to the reader the beauty of the marigolds compared to the drab and dusty town the story is set in.