Marigolds
MARIGOLDS:
SHORT STORY ANALYSIS SUMMARY:
The crisis of Marigolds, by Eugenia Collier, is that Lizabeth, a 14 year old African American girl, doesn’t know who she is. The conflict of the story involves Lizabeth trying to find out who she is while growing up in a poor Maryland society during the Great Depression. Not yet a woman, but more than just a child, Lizabeth spends time with the neighborhood children, causing innocent trouble and acting in childish ways. One hot summer day, the children decide to taunt poor, elderly Miss Lottie and her precious marigolds. However, the children at the time do not realize how much the flowers truly mean to Miss Lottie. That night, Lizabeth overhears a conversation involving her parents and their financial and emotional problems.
She lets her emotions which include sadness for never having her mother around; growing up in a poor town, being both a child and a woman, and seeing her father’s tears of sadness get the best of her. She then sneaks out of the house and goes to Miss Lottie’s house where she destroys the marigolds. When Lizabeth looks up from her destruction, she sees Miss Lottie standing there, with disappointment and sadness in her eyes. In that moment the conflict is resolved when Lizabeth finds out that she is no longer a child, but a woman with feelings of compassion. The story is told from a first person point of view as told by Lizabeth. The story shows the thoughts and feelings of the main character. The conflicts of Marigolds are internal and external. The internal conflict is Lizabeth versus herself emotionally with innocence, compassion, growing up, and accepting responsibility.
The external conflict involves Lizabeth and the poverty and rough times while growing up.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:
Lizabeth’s character developed and changed in several ways. In the beginning of the story,
Lizabeth was a young girl that spent time with the young neighborhood
SHORT STORY ANALYSIS SUMMARY:
The crisis of Marigolds, by Eugenia Collier, is that Lizabeth, a 14 year old African American girl, doesn’t know who she is. The conflict of the story involves Lizabeth trying to find out who she is while growing up in a poor Maryland society during the Great Depression. Not yet a woman, but more than just a child, Lizabeth spends time with the neighborhood children, causing innocent trouble and acting in childish ways. One hot summer day, the children decide to taunt poor, elderly Miss Lottie and her precious marigolds. However, the children at the time do not realize how much the flowers truly mean to Miss Lottie. That night, Lizabeth overhears a conversation involving her parents and their financial and emotional problems.
She lets her emotions which include sadness for never having her mother around; growing up in a poor town, being both a child and a woman, and seeing her father’s tears of sadness get the best of her. She then sneaks out of the house and goes to Miss Lottie’s house where she destroys the marigolds. When Lizabeth looks up from her destruction, she sees Miss Lottie standing there, with disappointment and sadness in her eyes. In that moment the conflict is resolved when Lizabeth finds out that she is no longer a child, but a woman with feelings of compassion. The story is told from a first person point of view as told by Lizabeth. The story shows the thoughts and feelings of the main character. The conflicts of Marigolds are internal and external. The internal conflict is Lizabeth versus herself emotionally with innocence, compassion, growing up, and accepting responsibility.
The external conflict involves Lizabeth and the poverty and rough times while growing up.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:
Lizabeth’s character developed and changed in several ways. In the beginning of the story,
Lizabeth was a young girl that spent time with the young neighborhood