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Symbolism In Marigold By Eugenia Collier

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Symbolism is portrayed by the author's use of characters, plots, situations, actions, and events. Authors use these instances as tools to provide clues of the underlying truth. In the novel "Marigold", this concept is portrayed effectively with multiple examples of symbolism. Eugenia Collier uses marigolds as a tool in her short story. The main character, Lizabeth, expresses actions that also helps us to spot the symbolism in the story. As the marigold flowers grew in Lizabeth's childhood, so did her jealousy towards them. The house and town that Lizabeth grew up in were described as ugly. Her emotions of jealousy represent her hating the fact that she was poor. The character claims that all she remembers was dust in her childhood. The two
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Have you ever been so mad that you did something stupid? Lizabeth in “Marigolds” acts out often. In the story “Marigolds” Lizabeth throws a tantrum and stomps on the marigolds. The theme of “Marigolds” is maturation leads to a deeper understanding of life. The theme of “marigolds” demonstrates Lizabeth’s change of attitude throughout the story just as maturation affects every modern teens.

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In Eugenia W. Collier’s “Marigolds,” Lizabeth’s transition into adulthood is evident through her abrupt change in attitude and apologetic behavior. Lizabeth constantly appears to navigate life in her own world and rarely cares about other people in her life; for example, when she narrates, “but the room was too crowded with fear to allow me to sleep, and finally, feeling the terrible aloneness of 4 AM, I decided to awaken Joey” (Collier 87). She reacts to the commotion around her that disrupts her internal emotions and stability. Her frustration causes her to get up out of bed and destroy someone else’s beauty, Miss Lottie’s marigolds. After she destroys the garden, Lizabeth realizes her actions, “and that was the moment when childhood

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When the author says, “I suppose that futile waiting was the sorrowful background music of our impoverished little community when I was young,” she means that the poor, mostly African American community she grew up in was always waiting for a change that would never come. Lizabeth explains about the perpetual wait, “I don't know what it was that we were waiting for; certainly not for the prosperity that was ‘right around the corner’ [...]” Lizabeth did not know what she was desperate for, but she understood that it was something very different than what white people were waiting for. Additionally, Lizabeth realizes that she and her community were waiting for more of an idea than a physical object. She states, “Perhaps we waited for a miracle,

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In “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier the coming of age short story where a now grown up Lizabeth reminisce her childhood especially going into Ms.Lottie’s garden. Ms. Lottie, who did not like children but treated her precious marigolds gets them destroyed by Lizabeth. After destroying them, Lizabeth realizes her errors believing she became a women in that moment. This short story has several literary device that are used in it to help deepen the meaning. The use of imagery, symbolism and metaphors in “Marigolds” helps the reader that it is important to not lose

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Symbolism is one of the most important properties a story can have. It's often used to develop a character or a theme throughout the story that is being told. Symbolism in literature is best described by as the use of symbols and objects to signify ideas and qualities by giving them a symbolic meanings that are very different from their literal sense. The short stories "Where are you going, Where have you been?" and "The Yellow Wallpaper" have very obvious examples of symbolism.

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Throughout the story Lizabeth describes Miss Lottie’s marigolds as a “brilliant splash of

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It is a coming of age story that shows how Lizabeth evolves as a person and as a character. Like any other child, Lizabeth has a definite wild side. In the story, she and her friends circle around Miss Lottie, chanting taunts at her. Lizabeth tells the reader " Then I lost my head entirely, mad with the power of inciting such rage, and ran out of the bushes in the storm of pebbles, straight toward Miss Lottie, chanting madly, "Old witch fell in a ditch, picked up a penny and though she was rich," (3).

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