"Marigolds" Paragraph
Marigolds Paragraph
Most of the time, there’s a moment in life where one realizes that they have lost their innocence and gained compassion in the absence. “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier shows how one young girl changed from a child to a young adult through her life experiences. Lizabeth is a 14 year old girl living in poverty with her parents, her 11 year old brother Joey, Miss Lottie and her son, and the neighborhood kids. As the leader of her group of friends, Lizabeth takes part in throwing stones at Miss Lottie's flowerbed of Marigolds. Miss Lottie is the town outcast and the children think of her as a witch. Annoying her is a common pastime for the children of the town. The children of the town hate Miss Lottie’s Marigolds because “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.”(pg.3) The Marigolds reminded the children that they were in poverty, even when they tried so hard to shield that fact to themselves. They did not want to be reminded that the place they called home was what others often thought of as trash and they did not understand why something with such beauty could have grown in such a terrible place. One night, Lizabeth overheard her parents fighting and she witnessed her father, who was once the rock of the family, break down. She had to witness her world crumbling and in a rage, she went to Miss Lottie’s home and then started to destroy the Marigolds, but when Miss Lottie came out and seen what she had done, she as well, broke down. Lizabeth thought Miss Lottie would be furious but surprisingly she did not show anger because she felt that her life already ended because the marigolds represented her hope and she didn't have a reason to protect them anymore. It is the moment right after Miss Lottie caught her ruining the garden that Lizabeth suddenly understands a simple truth, “This was the beginning of compassion, and one cannot
Most of the time, there’s a moment in life where one realizes that they have lost their innocence and gained compassion in the absence. “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier shows how one young girl changed from a child to a young adult through her life experiences. Lizabeth is a 14 year old girl living in poverty with her parents, her 11 year old brother Joey, Miss Lottie and her son, and the neighborhood kids. As the leader of her group of friends, Lizabeth takes part in throwing stones at Miss Lottie's flowerbed of Marigolds. Miss Lottie is the town outcast and the children think of her as a witch. Annoying her is a common pastime for the children of the town. The children of the town hate Miss Lottie’s Marigolds because “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.”(pg.3) The Marigolds reminded the children that they were in poverty, even when they tried so hard to shield that fact to themselves. They did not want to be reminded that the place they called home was what others often thought of as trash and they did not understand why something with such beauty could have grown in such a terrible place. One night, Lizabeth overheard her parents fighting and she witnessed her father, who was once the rock of the family, break down. She had to witness her world crumbling and in a rage, she went to Miss Lottie’s home and then started to destroy the Marigolds, but when Miss Lottie came out and seen what she had done, she as well, broke down. Lizabeth thought Miss Lottie would be furious but surprisingly she did not show anger because she felt that her life already ended because the marigolds represented her hope and she didn't have a reason to protect them anymore. It is the moment right after Miss Lottie caught her ruining the garden that Lizabeth suddenly understands a simple truth, “This was the beginning of compassion, and one cannot