Literary Analysis: Marigolds By Eugenia Collier

Sienna Follenvaider

Ms. Leibowitz

English/Humanities

February 8th

“Marigolds” Literary Analysis Essay

“Marigolds”, a short story by Eugenia W. Collier takes place in the 1960’s during the great depression. Poverty has struck the town in rural Maryland, where fourteen year old Lizabeth struggles to find out who she is. One day out of pure boredom, children begin to throw stones at Miss Lottie's precious marigolds. The theme of Marigolds by Eugenia W. Collier is coming of age, which is developed through symbolism, characterization, and conflict. First, Eugenia Collier uses Miss Lottie’s marigolds to symbolize hope. When Lizabeth sees Miss Lottie's house, and the narrator describes the marigolds. “Beyond the dusty brown yard, in front of the

Lizabeth is a dynamic and round character. After overhearing her father cry for the first time, she says, “I had indeed lost my mind, for all the smoldering emotions of that summer swelled in me and burst-the great need for my mother who was never there, the hopelessness of our poverty and degradation, the bewilderment of neither a child nor woman, and yet both at once, the fear unleashed by my father’s tears.” Round characters are people who have many different characteristics and emotions. Through her emotions, she reveals her many conflicting personalities. As Lizabeth reflects on the summer, she distinctly remembers a moment when she was no longer a child, but a woman. “Whatever verve there was left in her, whatever was of love and beauty and joy that had not been squeezed out by life, had been there in the marigolds she had so tenderly cared for. '' Children see the world far more simplistic than adults. Lizabeth says she no longer saw Miss Lottie as a witch, but just an old woman who tried to cover up the ugliness of her life with the beauty of marigolds. This was the first time she felt compassion and remorse for her actions. Lizabeth then develops the ability to distinguish what is right from wrong, and is able to feel proud when she does the right thing, as well as ashamed when she does not. Now in adulthood, she no longer exists in her own world, but sees the world as in the eyes of