For one does not have to be ignorant and poor to find that one’s life is barren as the dusty yards of one's town. And I too have planted marigolds” (Collier 116) What the author means in these few sentences is that when Lizabeth looks back on her childhood, she remembers the love of marigolds with pain because that is all she had growing up. The last sentence means that she still is fond of marigolds and holds on to those memories. This piece of evidence supports the theme because she developed this love for planting marigolds when she was a child and had…
The combination of diction and imagery used in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier weave a mood of downtrodden hopelessness. Throughout both passages, the authors describe a setting of desolate towns during difficult times, with townsfolk who have forgotten optimism. Such is utilized in To Kill a Mockingbird, as Maycomb is “a tired old town” where “grass gr[ows] on the sidewalks, [and] the courthouse sag[s]”; reading the description evokes an image of a town on the brink of bankruptcy, conveying the despair the inhabitants must feel (Lee). As the diction in the passage is usually equated with the elderly, Lee adds to the picture of a town on its last legs. In contrast, “Marigolds” focuses on the “arid, sterile…
In the short story Marigolds by Eugenia Collier, the narrator, Lizabeth, has chosen to retell a story as an adult reflecting on a significant incident from her childhood. Her voice is that of confused and trying to find her place in life as a young woman. After she overheard her parents conversation, she says, “I had never seen a man cry before” (paragraph 41). This explains how the times are rough as if “depression […] griped the nation” (paragraph 3) and this cannot be easy in addition to her growing up and trying to find her place in the world as a young woman. She knows her mother is the only one providing the income for her family and she knows her father wants so badly to contribute. She witnessed first-hand what her father is going…
The theme of Marigolds by Eugenia W. Collier is that beauty is really how you see it since everything is beautiful in its own way. Lizabeth the main character in Marigolds realizes the beauty the marigolds represented like Miss.Lottie because toward the end of the story she says “And I too have planted marigolds”(Collier 148). Lizabeth view changed after she destroyed the garden because she become aware of what she has done to the flowers and the beauty she destroyed when she said “Then I was sitting in the ruined little garden among the uprooted and ruin flowers, crying and crying and it was too late to undo what I had done”(Collier 148). She finally understands Miss.Lottie view of the marigolds and how they represented a little bit of happiness…
On a spring day in West Florida, Janie spent the afternoon lying under a pear tree. The delicate serenity of nature filled her with sheer contentment and delight. In a dream like state, “through the pollinated air she saw a glorious being coming up the road” that in “her former blindness she had known as shiftless Johnny Taylor” (11). Janie’s romantic visions are reflected by springtime. At sixteen years old, Janie, herself, was blooming into a woman. In a trance, Johnny Taylor became the target of her infatuation. Nature’s power of suggestion was able to “[beglamore] his rags and her eyes” (12). Just as Johnny Taylor kisses her, Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, wakes from her nap and catches the two under the pear tree. In desperation, Nanny has Janie married off to a wealthy farmer, Logan Killicks, and in an instant Janie’s carefree fantasies come to an end.…
Throughout Steve Abees’s book Great Balls of Flowers the reoccurring themes that arise are sex, love, family and life. Within each poem he threads in a minimum of two themes, interweaving them so all the themes eventually overlap. The themes of sex, love and family are each representative of a major component of his life. His book gives readers insight as to what Abee is thinking and feeling within each poem, making them extremely personal for the reader.…
John Steinbeck's short story "The Chrysanthemums" is centered on the protagonist named Elisa Allen. The vivid portrayal of her character in different parts of the story makes the reader wonder who she really is. Steinbeck started by portraying her as a strong and knowledgeable gardener, with a sense of masculinity, following which she is portrayed as someone who yearns for sexual attention in her sensual encounter with the tinker, and concluded with her being described as a beautiful, feminine lady, and then back to her masculine self all within a span of a few hours. The evolution in the expressions, emotions, and the portrayal of Elisa Allen is an important element of Steinbeck’s “The Chyrsanthemums.”…
To fully appreciate literature, we must look at it from every angle possible. There are many ways to criticize a piece of literature. Each way helps a reader to better understand the work in its own different way. I hope to outline and give examples of the many different ways that the short story The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck can be interpreted.…
“Marigolds” written by Eugenia Collier is a story about a girl who realizes the end of her innocent childhood after a childish action. In The Scream by Edvard Munch, we see a man who seems scared and confused, the world around him seems undefined and confusing as well. In Kiseg’s painting Scared Girl, we see that she looks trapped and scared. All 3 of these pieces there is a common element: scared and confused. In “Marigolds”, the narrator, Lizabeth, is scared on page 319 where she says, “The fear unleashed by my father’s tears.” This shows that she was feeling fear from how upset her father was. Also, in The Scream, we see the fear in the face of the man in the painting, he’s screaming from the terror of something. There are similar themes…
The poetry of Cathy Song is a flowing collection of soft spoken and colorful imagery. She gently weaves her thoughts into an imaginative yet graceful story that has an overall sensual tone to it. Cathy invites the reader into her personal sanctuary of memories. She allows the reader to share in some of her most personal and critical moments in life. Some may think these things mundane but, when reading her poetry you can feel how utterly important they are to her. This can be evidenced in her poem The White Porch. Cathy uses this poem to allow the reader to participate in that moment of a woman’s life when she realizes that she is no longer a child.…
In the text, “Marigolds”, Miss Lottie is the compassionate because she takes the best out of the horrible time she has to live in. Miss Lottie lives in the most dreadful house in the all the homes. The narrator describes Miss Lottie’s house being “the most ramshackle of all our ramshackle homes”. She also says, “... like a house that a child might have…
The narrator’s inner monologue reveals his misery despite his attempts to brush over it with drugs, alcohol, and sex. “[A]ny beautiful girl, especially one with a full head of hair, would help you stave off this creeping sense of mortality” (McInerney137). The narrator is using superficial pleasure to fill a void, but he admits that his methods only achieve a temporary end. The unusual narrative style allows the reader to understand this secret realization before the narrator himself does and to anticipate his struggle as the evening progresses: “Go home. Cut your losses.…
In the book The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton shows the struggles of a man to choose between the safety that following social rules provides, and the adventurous dangers of choosing what is regarded as "morally incorrect."…
John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums”, is a story about a woman struggling with strong inner feelings of loneliness and isolation. Elisa Allen is initially portrayed as a woman who overcompensates and whose tasks are far exceeded by her abilities. She appears content with her life and adores tending to her garden. However, a tinker briefly enters her life and through his power of persuasion and manipulation provides Elisa with hopes of change and excitement. He gives her the much needed attention she is so desperately looking for. As the story continues we learn that these hopes are crushed as we unravel the betrayal the tinker has bestowed upon Elisa. He exploits her and takes advantage of her hunger for company, aspirations, and vulnerabilities. We are left with sympathy for a woman who longs for another life, but will never possess it. Elisa’s inner feelings of loneliness are most apparent with the vivid descriptions of Elisa’s appearance, the portrayal of her working in her garden, the conversation she has with the tinker, and her dinner date with her husband.…
Between Cape jasmine bushes and chinaberry trees, Zora Neale Hurston's childhood, was a warm sweet memory illustrated in an extract of Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autobiography. In this excerpt, diction and point of view jump from the page to give the reader a lucid and realistic view of life "down there" in the farm, sheltered from society to protect the plentiful love, food and company of the Hurston home, compared to "way up north" where "rare" apples are abundant and gardenias are sold for a dollar, but where reality is a universal cry for equality and justice. Hurston's juxtaposition of these two environments compliments her parents' idealistic differences when it comes to raising their children. Metaphorical language, separation, position and repetition of words; flowers, fruit and struggle imagery create an atmosphere of home-like neighborhood versus the world outside the chinaberry trees.…