Lizabeth's Change In The Short Story Marigolds

This shows how Lizabeth’s past was during a depressing time, and she never realized that anything could provide happiness during that time. In addition, the theme of “Marigolds” shows how a little girl transitions from childhood into womanhood after a major event in her

“Marigolds”, a short story written by Eugenia W. Collier, describes the events leading up to Lizabeth’s loss of innocence. In the beginning of the story, we are introduced to Lizabeth, a girl who is living in a poor, barren, sad, shanty town during the Great Depression. When we first meet her, she acts very childish as she and some of the other children begin to destroy Miss Lottie’s sunflowers. These sunflowers are very special to Miss Lottie, because they bring hope to the sad times and also bring positivity and color to the poor town. Further in the story, Lizabeth is very frustrated and emotional about the state her family is in. First of all, she is upset that her Mom is never home because she has to work. Next, her father is frustrated that he has no work, which also upsets Lizabeth. Finally, she is confused on whether she is a young lady or still a child. All of these lead up to her letting out her frustrations, destroying all of Miss Lottie’s marigolds. In the story, the marigolds represent different things for different people. For Miss Lottie, they are the one thing giving her joy and keeping her

At the end of paragraph two of “Marigolds” written by Eugenia Collier Lizabeth “remembers [the marigold] quite vividly now as [she] desperately pass away the time waiting for you, who will not come” (1) this is more than likely Lizabeth talking about how she is waiting for Ms. Lottie’s forgiveness for her destructive actions as a child. For example, when Lizabeth is an adult, she begins to remember her time as a child during the great depression and primarily her days spent terrorizing Ms. Lottie. When Lizabeth “was suddenly more women than child” (1) she began thinking of Ms. Lottie’s yard years ago and the time that she had destroyed her [Ms. Lottie’s.] marigolds. This shows that more than likely Lizabeth felt remorseful about her actions

If you have gone through puberty you might think of it as growing taller and getting deeper voices. Although that is true, puberty also comes with changes of your feelings. In Marigolds, the Great Depression shows how a teen in puberty feels. For example, in Marigolds, it shows that the Great Depression was emotionally hard, changed your feelings, and makes you sad just like puberty would.

Collier provides an ample amount of evidence that shows Lizabeth is full of resilience. Lizabeth grew up in a life full of poverty and had conflicts arising in almost each moment, one problem after another. Lizabeth remembers her childhood as being “ Sorrowful background music of our impoverished little community,”... “ The Depression that gripped the nation was no new thing to us, for the black workers of rural Maryland had always been depressed,” ( Applebee 76). Lizabeth is saying that she didn’t have many resources growing up, daily procedures became a conflict and they had to find a way to survive, one day at a time. Incidentally, Lizabeth and the rest of her small community had to find a way to overcome all the conflicts that they found themselves in by being resilient and not giving up. To overcome all these hardships, Lizabeth gained a grand quality, resilience. Lizabeth states, “ Poverty was the cage in which we all were trapped, and our hatred of it was still vague, undirected restlessness of the zoo-bred flamingo who knows that nature created him to

The author uses a seemingly endless cycle of poverty to emphasize the cage in which the characters are trapped. As Lizabeth muses over her childhood, she recalls the daily cycle of how “each morning our mother and father trudged wearily down the dirt road and around the bend, she to her domestic job, he to his daily unsuccessful quest for work.” (1). Every morning began the same way, passed the same way, and ended the same way. Lizabeth feels trapped, forced to go through the same series of events for what seems to be the rest of her life, with the same people, in the same place. When the author pairs this with the “dusty” setting of the town and the time placement of the Great Depression, it creates an effect of hopelessness for the first part of the story. This is only furthered by Lizabeth continually returning to the idea that “Poverty was the cage in which we were all trapped.” (1). Lizabeth opens the story by first giving a description of her hometown as “dusty”, remembering the poverty and hopelessness. She then continues by referring to the cage of not having enough money, and the cycle that it put them through, and ends by alluding to her future being limited to her poverty.

Have you ever thought about how one action could affect the whole community? Well, in Marigolds Lizabeth learned that her small mistake ruins the influence on planting Marigolds. The kids then realized that after their actions, they wrongfully accused her of being a witch. This tells us that the transition from being an adolescence to early adulthood affects how humans perceive information. Having the same guidelines in modern day society would show children the rights and wrongs of the world.

On a daily basis, everyone goes through rough times that they may or may not mention to anyone but they battle

Lizabeth does not care about Miss Lottie’s feelings until after she destroyed the flowers. In effect, having Lizabeth destroy the marigolds gives Lizabeth a lesson that would turn her into a compassionate person. The night that the flowers became destroyed, Lizabeth had heard an argument between her parents. Significantly, she did not like how her father was being weak while her mother was being strong. Then, to let all her emotions out, she went to Miss Lottie’s house to destroy the marigolds. After her deed, Lizabeth calms down and realizes Miss Lottie saw the mess. This moment was when Lizabeth realizes her destruction on the marigolds. The moment she saw Miss Lottie and her expression of the mess, Lizabeth comes to a realization of why Miss Lottie planted marigolds. Thinking back on her past, Lizabeth said “Yet, there are times when the image of those passionate yellow mounds return with a painful poignancy. For one does not have to be ignorant and poor to find that one’s life is barrens the dusty yards of one’s town. And I too have planted marigolds” (30). Every time she remembers the marigolds and how they look she describes them as, “the images of those passionate yellow mounds return with a painful poignancy.” The “passionate yellow mounds” is the description of marigolds and every time she remembers them, she has a “painful poignancy” which can be indicated that the marigolds represent the lesson she has learned and her experience to becoming a compassionate person. The end sentence of the quote “And I too have planted marigolds” is the overall lesson that Lizabeth learns from her experience that made her a compassionate person. Lizabeth learns why Miss Lottie had planted her marigolds, but as a lesson, she realizes the meaning behind this. As a result of destroying the marigolds, Lizabeth changes

Certain people are born with happiness in life and others make their lives happy by doing things they enjoy. Happiness is the way someone may show companionship towards another individual, it may even be towards an animal perhaps. The book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck tells a novel of the Salinas Valley during the Great Depression. Lennie and George are two best friends just barely making a living, but as long as they've got each other they can do anything. True happiness is not just shown but also given in many ways.

John Steinbeck’s 1937 novel Of Mice and Men, has characters who face the same problems American teenagers do today. Like George and Lenny, teenagers, today, have friendships in the book; people have that close relationships with other people who help them make it through in real life. Teens also feel the emptiness and loneliness that they experience in the book as well. Teenagers are always looking for something, just like the characters in the book were looking for a farm of their own.

Showing ideas about Eliza’s problems how she begins with limited freedom then shows her strong will and changes into a Cinderella like character. When meeting the people who will be in their future who they soon meet while still living in the society standards of poverty.

The main characters of both stories are similar because they are emotional. Similarly, in "Marigolds", When Lizabeth thinks of the marigolds she feels. "chaotic emotions of adolescence, illusive as smoke'' (Collier). She cannot explain the exact feeling she gets when thinking of the marigolds because she gets many feelings. Lizabeth's emotions flow and change like smoke. Similarly, The Indian boy is also emotional when getting his license. The same day a white man named Wally Jim killed himself by driving into a tree, and the Washington state trooper asked them why did he do it. "Don’t know but when we look in the mirror and see the history of our tribe in our eyes, taste failure in the tap water, and shake within old tears, we understand completely''

The theme of this book is that the human capacity to adapt to and find happiness in the most difficult circumstances. Each character in the novel shows this in their way. For instance, their family is randomly taken from their home and forced to

When people go through something difficult it can change them. Making them who they are, it can change them for the bad or good. Therefore, hardships can greatly influence a person’s life by making them appreciate all the things that make life enjoyable.