By regretting her actions of throwing rocks at Miss Lottie’s marigolds. She is ashamed of herself, she didn’t notice her father’s silence. Being a child in Lizabeth thought that it was fun, but the woman in her flinched and thought about the malicious attack. After that, Lizabeth felt so ashamed that it lasted until afternoon.
Marigolds In the short story “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier, the main character, Lizabeth, loses her innocence as she nears the age of 15. Meanwhile, this story takes place during the Great Depression, a time where Americans were conflicted while being completely unaware of how inadequate life really is. The start of Lizbeth losing her innocence begins when she hears her father crying out in frustration. As a result of him being unemployed, he is unable to support his family.
Regardless of the truth or legitimacy of the argument, the societal expectations played into Janie’s considerations regarding Tea Cake. Though she wanted to inquire about him, she was concerned her questions may be misinterpreted as interest which, as people later assured her, “he looked too young for her. Must be around twenty-five and here she was around forty” (Hurston 100). This age gap drove much of the gossip and some legitimate fears in the town, as well, that the reputable Mrs. Starks would end up deceived and penniless by a no-good, common man.
Lizabeth’s rite of passage begins when she and the other neighbor kids go to Miss Lottie’s house and throw rocks at her marigolds. Afterward, Lizabeth is ashamed of what she had done, “The woman in [Lizabeth] flinched at the thought of the malicious attack the [she] had led” (Collier 113). Lizabeth realizes that what she did was wrong. The climax of the story is also a rite of passage for Lizabeth. After Lizabeth destroyed Miss Lottie’s marigolds, she was embarrassed and felt guilty.
In “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier the coming of age short story where a now grown up Lizabeth reminisce her childhood especially going into Ms.Lottie’s garden. Ms. Lottie, who did not like children but treated her precious marigolds gets them destroyed by Lizabeth. After destroying them, Lizabeth realizes her errors believing she became a women in that moment. This short story has several literary device that are used in it to help deepen the meaning. The use of imagery, symbolism and metaphors in “Marigolds” helps the reader that it is important to not lose
“Miss Strangeworth is a familiar fixture in a small town where everyone knows everyone else. Little do the townsfolk suspect, though, that the dignified old woman leads another, secret life…”. A secret life can be evil or good, in Miss Strangeworth’s case it is suitable, but do others appreciate this secret life. In The Possibility of Evil Shirley Jackson illustrates inner thinking, revealing action, and symbolism to show how Miss Strangeworth tends the people like her roses, but truly state's them evil.
The marigolds symbolized her childhood and innocence, which were deeply treasured. Once Lizabeth destroyed the marigolds, she was no longer a child. In lines 134-137, she remarked, “For as I gazed at the immobile face with the sad, weary eyes, I gazed upon a kind of reality that is hidden to childhood. The witch was no longer a witch but only a broken old woman who had dared to create beauty in the midst of ugliness and sterility.” As a child, Lizabeth had childishly saw her as a witch who strangely wanted to grow beautiful marigolds during a terrible time, but she realized that Miss Lottie just wanted to create happiness for herself and anyone that happened to pass by and look at her marigolds.
It is a coming of age story that shows how Lizabeth evolves as a person and as a character. Like any other child, Lizabeth has a definite wild side. In the story, she and her friends circle around Miss Lottie, chanting taunts at her. Lizabeth tells the reader " Then I lost my head entirely, mad with the power of inciting such rage, and ran out of the bushes in the storm of pebbles, straight toward Miss Lottie, chanting madly, "Old witch fell in a ditch, picked up a penny and though she was rich," (3).
It reveals how people commit cruel acts out of selfish intentions. In this situation, the girls claim to “come to Heaven’s side” by pointing fingers at others for witchcraft, although they were only doing so to get themselves out of their own trouble. These acts of cruelty reflect upon the evil motives of the perpetrators that become more common after it is done once, as seen through the continuous trials and suspicions, which acts as one of the most major conflicts in the play. Without these cruel accusations, there would be neither plot nor ending. With this same situation, it can be concluded that accusations become more frequent during an interval of time when there are more people accusing.
In “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier, Lizabeth lost her innocence when she was almost 15. Not knowing how much her family was struggling was part of her innocence. She didn’t understand the beauty of Ms. Lottie’s marigolds. Actions she took helped her learn compassion and changed her a lot. Her first hint at deep understanding occurred late one night.
The world she lived in was so ugly and plain and she choose to “create beauty in the midst of [all that] ugliness" (62). This helps to create the theme because even though Miss Lottie had so little she still worked hard to care for the beautiful marigolds. In “Marigolds” the author uses diction, symbolism and point of view, to develop the theme that people can create beauty even in the poorest of situations. Through diction, Collier is able to show the reader the contrast between the beauty of the marigolds compared to the run-down town the story is set in.
Jacob Herrera Ms. Ahn English 1 Honors period 1 30/1/2023 Title of Your Essay Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another and feeling with the heart of another.” – Alfred Adler. This illustrated well In the story “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier, tells the story of Lizabeth, a 14 year old girl who attacks an old lady named Miss Lottie with a group of kids which causes an inner conflict which leads to her gaining empathy for Miss Lottie. To make us feel empathy, Eugenia Collier uses many forms of figurative language like similes, metaphors and most importantly, many symbols that give the story much more meaning. Miss Lottie is a great example of this.
There is beauty in life for those who choose to see it. The Marigold is a story that is about the time of the Great Depression and how people were growing up in poverty with no shoes, little to no clothing, and barely a roof over their heads literally. The theme is see the good in little things for those that do see it. The marigolds were a symbol of beauty in all of the ugliness that was around them but at the time Elizabeth could not see it until it was too late. The title of the book is Marigolds short story by Eugenia Collier and is historical fiction.
Miss Brill is lonely, has a completely messed up mind, and tries to hide her true self by trying to live other people’s lives. Miss Brill views each person at the garden differently. The people who are mostly like her are the ones she judges the most, “Miss Brill had often noticed-there was something funny about nearly all of them. They were odd, silent, nearly all old, and from the way they stared they looked as though they’d just come from dark little rooms or even-even cupboards!” (Mansfield 185).
The theme of “The Witch” is that children judge people off of their actions rather than adults judging people based off of their outer appearance. The short story shows this by starting off in a train with a mother and her two children. The mothers four year old son, Johnny, was looking out the window and announced that he saw a “big old ugly witch.” The mother ignores the boy and keeps giving him the lollipops to keep him quiet. A man comes into the train car and notices the boys wild imagination.
