In “Marigolds” and “The Jacket” both protagonists show appreciation, but in “Marigolds” Lizabeth lets the marigolds bother her, while the protagonist in “The Jacket” lets his green ugly jacket define him. In the end these stories both show appreciation for the marigolds and the jackets. Lizabeth plants her own marigolds and the narrator in “The Jacket” decides his jacket keeps him warm so we wears it. They also show a difference, Lizabeth lets the marigolds bother her, so she tries to destroy them, while the narrator in “The Jacket” lets it define and control his whole life. “Marigolds” and “The Jacket” both show appreciation as a common theme, but in “Marigolds” Lizabeth is annoyed with the marigolds while in “The Jacket” the protagonist lets his …show more content…
ugly jacket define him. Lizabeth in “Marigolds” and The narrator in “The Jacket” both show appreciation in the end of the stories, Lizabeth remembers her marigolds, being bright in the depressed town, and The narrator in “The Jacket”, knowing he will always have his jacket to help him throughout his whole life, when he needs it. In “Marigolds”, Lizabeth the protagonist is remembering her home town during the Great Depression. When Lizabeth is thinking of her town, she thinks of dirt, but one thing always stood out to her was a “brilliant splash of sunny yellow against the dirt- Miss Lottie's Marigolds”(Collier 1) The marigolds where a significant and very memorable part of Lizabeth’s childhood because she is now looking back on it she realizes the flowers were able brighten her town during a difficult time. She did not think that it would make everyone, including herself feel happy, so she thought it would be better to destroy them, so the whole town would be the same. Later in Lizabeths life she realized that the marigolds were a beautiful part of her town and appreciates them brightening her town during the terrible times she was going through during the Great Depression.
Lizabeth has now planted her own marigold and says “For one does not have to be ignorant and poor to find his life is as barren as the dusty yards of the town. And I too have planted marigolds” (Collier 5) Lizabeth is thinking about her old town and is remembering how bright the marigolds were and how happy they made Miss Lottie, so she decided to plant her own because of the joy and happiness it brought Miss Lottie during a difficult time. Lizabeth wanted to feel the happiness of the marigolds that Miss Lottie felt throughout her life during the Great Depression. Lizabeth realizes she appreciates the marigolds, similarly the narrator in the jacket realizes he appreciates his jacket as well. The narrator in“The Jacket” the theme appreciation is also shown throughout the short story. In “The Jacket” the protagonist does not appreciate his jacket in the beginning of the story, so he lets it ruin his life. The protagonist “wanted to cry. Because it was so ugly and so big and [he] knew [he’d] have to wear it for a long time” (Soto 3). When the protagonist receives his jacket he decides that he hates it so much it will begin to ruin his
life. If he decided to embrace and appreciate his jacket, he would not run into these problems that occur throughout the story. In the end of “The Jacket” the protagonist realizes he needs his jacket when he is out in the cold, he “started up the alley and soon slipped into [his] jacket, that green ugly brother who breathed over my shoulder ever since”(Soto 13). The protagonist decides that even though his jacket may be “ugly and so big” but when he needs his jacket it was always there for him when he was in the alley and felt cold. He also knows that it will always be there for him, when he needs it. In both stories, “The Jacket” and “Marigolds” the theme of appreciation is shown between the two protagonist and their objects, the jacket and the marigolds in Miss Lottie's garden. In “Marigolds” Lizabeth lets the Miss Lottie's marigolds annoy and bother her, on the other hand the protagonist in “The Jacket” lets his green ugly jacket define hmself and control his life, this demonstrates the theme, don't let something small ruin his or her life. In “Marigolds” Lizabeth is constantly bothered by the marigolds planted in Miss Lottie’s Garden, so she decided that she should destroy them so the whole town would be covered with dirt and nothing else. Lizabeth had “an expertly cut stone cut the head of one of the blossoms” (Collier 3). Lizabeth was annoyed with the marigolds because her town was sad and depressed during the Great Depression, and Miss Lottie planted the marigolds which stood out too much in the town full of dirt. Lizabeth decided to destroy Miss Lottie's marigolds because they were bright in the dark and depressed town. Lizabeth got a group of kids together and they began to “let loose with their pebble's, storming the flowers and laughing wildly” (Collier 3). Lizabeth continues to destroy the flowers. She is showing her anger of her situation, living in the Great Depression in a town of dirt on Miss Lottie's flowers. Lizabeth is showing her anger by destroying the marigolds, she is so upset about her living situation that she would rather have her whole town be dark and dusty, than having something now realized that the marigolds helped Miss Lottie get through a difficult time, so it may be a good idea for her to plant some for herself. During the moment, Lizabeth did not like the idea of the marigolds in her upset town, When Lizabeth is have some bright colors lightening the town. This shows the difficulty that Lizabeth is having, coping with her difficult situation in the Great Depression. By destroying the marigolds, she is letting them bother her, but in “The Jacket” the narrator lets it define him and control his life. The narrator is upset about his green ugly jacket, “The next day, [he] wore it to sixth grade and got a D on a math quiz” (Soto 6). When he receives his grade for the math quiz, he immediately blames his jacket. Throughout the story, the narrator lets the jacket define his life. He isn't able to complete any task when he is wearing his jacket. It affects everything he does. He “received Cs on math quizzes and forgot the state capitals and the rivers of south america” (Soto 8). This jacket is changing his entire life. When he began to do poorly in school, he began to think his jacket was causing the problem. When he continued to wear his jacket, and continued to fail his exams, it became very clear to the narrator that it was the jackets fault. In the story “Marigolds” Lizabeth lets Miss Lottie's marigolds bother her, on the other hand, in “The Jacket” the narrator lets his jacket define him. In “Marigolds” and “The Jacket”, the author is telling the reader to not worry about small things. Lizabeth was so bothered by the marigolds and the protagonist in “The Jacket” let his jacket define him, when they should have moved on with their lives and not small things bother them.
Both stories, Response to Executive Order 9066 and "Mericans", establish a common American Identity theme. The main idea of these two stories is how people may or may not relate to their cultures. Both are narrated by teenage girls, and both establish a common theme that your appearance does not define you.
After reading and annotating Marigolds by Eugenia W. Collier, I learned that there are some things we don’t know or realize when we are a child. When we become a woman, we have a different perspective on things. That is what Eugenia learned by the end of the story. Once she ruined all of Miss Lottie’s marigolds, she immediately felt guilty. Miss Lottie stood there with no anger on her face, just disappointment. Eugenia said that was when she saw her childhood fade and womanhood start to begin. Once she began womanhood, she learned that those flowers were precious to Miss Lottie and she was tying to make some beauty out of her shanty house. She viewed Miss Lottie as “… only a broken old woman who had dared to create beauty in the midst of ugliness
Both authors use figurative language to help develop sensory details. In the poem It states, “And I sunned it with my smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles.” As the author explains how the character is feeling, the reader can create a specific image in there head based on the details that is given throughout the poem. Specifically this piece of evidence shows the narrator growing more angry and having more rage. In the short story ” it states, “We are below the river's bed. The drops of moisture trickle among bones.” From this piece of text evidence the reader can sense the cold dark emotion that is trying to be formed. Also this excerpt shows the conflict that is about to become and the revenge that is about to take place. By the story and the poem using sensory details, they both share many comparisons.
Living in Maryland, the narrator and her little brother Joey lived a very simple life. There mother had job that required many hours, and her father was unemployed and still in the process of trying to find a job. They lived in a very run down house in a very small poor community. One summer day, the narrator , Joey, and a group of kids from the community were bored and wanted to do something different. So,the narrator and the kids went down to one of the elders home, Miss Lottie. Miss Lottie was the old woman that everyone made stories about and for the kids they knew her as the witch. In the summer time Miss Lottie would always be in her front yard planting marigolds, which were an easy target to destroy. The kids all took part in throwing rock at Miss Lottie's marigolds, and the narrator was the coordinator. After they sprinted back to the oak tree, the narrator started to feel guilt for what she
In the small, desolate town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, Ethan Frome lives a life of poverty. Not only does he live hopelessly, but “he was a prisoner for life” to the economy (Ammons 2). A young engineer from outside of town narrates the beginning of the story. He develops a curiosity towards Ethan Frome and the smash-up that he hears about in bits and pieces. Later, due to a terrible winter storm that caused the snow itself to seem like “a part of the thickening darkness, to be the winter night itself descending on us layer by layer” (Wharton 20), the narrator is forced to stay the night at Frome’s. As he enters the unfamiliar house, the story flashes back twenty-four years to Ethan Frome’s young life. Living out his life with Zenobia Frome, his hypochondriac of a wife whom he does not love, Ethan has nowhere to turn for a glance at happiness. But when Zenobia’s, or Zeena’s, young cousin, Mattie Silver, comes to care for her, Ethan falls in love with the young aid. Mattie is Ethan’s sole light in life and “she is in contrast to everything in Starkfield; her feelings bubble near the surface” (Bernard 2). All through the novella, the two young lovers hide their feelings towards each other. When they finally let out their true emotions to each other in the end, the consequence is an unforeseen one. Throughout Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton portrays a twisted fairy tale similar to the story of Snow White with the traditional characters, but without a happy ending to show that in a bleak and stark reality, the beautiful and enchanting maiden could become the witch.
As he slouches in bed, a description of the bare trees and an old woman gathering coal are given to convey to the reader an idea of the times and the author's situation. "All groves are bare," and "unmarried women (are) sorting slate from arthracite." This image operates to tell the reader that it is a time of poverty, or a "yellow-bearded winter of depression." No one in the town has much to live for during this time. "Cold trees" along with deadness, through the image of "graves," help illustrate the author's impression of winter. Wright seems to be hibernating from this hard time of winter, "dreaming of green butterflies searching for diamonds in coal seams." This conveys a more colorful and happy image showing what he wishes was happening; however he knows that diamonds are not in coal seams and is brought back to the reality of winter. He talks of "hills of fresh graves" while dreaming, relating back to the reality of what is "beyond the streaked trees of (his) window," a dreary, povern-strucken, and cold winter.
It states that Lizabeth changed from a child to an adult in one instant, as she gazed on the sad, weary eyes of Miss. Lottie. Collier’s message is conveyed through the journey of Lizabeth. If Lizabeth undergoes the difficult journey to reach womanhood, Collier is trying to tell the reader that this is imperative for us to do so as well. One can only escape the blindness of ignorance that is accompanied by childhood best described as a “reality hidden to childhood.” on line 356, by undergoing the same journey that Lizabeth went through. Collier’s theme in “Marigolds” is that growing up is the only way in which to be able to comprehend someone other than yourself and feel compassion. Even though our situations are different the situation Lizabeth was placed in, we can still use what Lizabeth learned to help and improve our own lives.
In the short story “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier, the narrator Lizabeth realizes that she is no longer a child but a grown up woman who renounces her innocence and begins her adulthood by developing a sense of compassion. She learns that the world is more than just the dusty shantytown and a squad of kids she plays with; there are also the complex realities of depression, indifference and poverty. The reason behind this realization is that Lizabeth, at an age of 14, overhears her parents’ conversation about the harsh economic situation that their family is facing. She is filled with anger and detests the unfairness that is given to her family. All these feelings encourage her towards an explosive, malicious act of destruction. She is especially
Miss Lottie’s garden grows marigolds, which are often mentioned in the story. In the story these marigolds are like a symbol of Lizabeths innocence. In the end of the story Lizabeth destroys the flowers, and after acts very differently. As the story describes it, “… and as I look back upon it, I know that
Eugenia Collier’s “Marigolds” is a memoir of a colored girl living in the Great Depression. The story does not focus on the troubles society presents to the narrator (Elizabeth), but rather is focused on the conflict within her. Collier uses marigolds to show that the changes from childhood to adulthood cause fear in Elizabeth, which is the enemy of compassion and hope.
The biggest difference between the two texts is that one is about gangs and racism while the other is about the way a boy’s perception of his father changes as he grows up. However, both texts cleverly use techniques to convey messages that are relevant to our society.
In the beginning of both of the pieces of literature, the main character(s) have not had the experience that will shape their values yet. Rather, as time moves forward in the stories, the
The struggles both characters face demonstrate character development and contribute to the themes of the stories. Both short stories prove to be literally effective in that they disclose the main themes at the outset of each story. Although the themes may alter over the course of the stories, they are clearly defined in their respective introductions.
The two texts convey the theme of freedom over confinement by the use of symbols. In The Story of an Hour, after Mrs. Mallard rushes to her room she sits down in a comfortable chair and “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were aquiver with new spring and life.” The open window symbolizes freedom and opportunities that await her now that her husband is gone. Everything she is experiencing while looking out the window suggests feelings of joy and
“Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven”(Yiddish Proverb). These words apply to Katherine Mansfield’s short story, “Garden Party” as she touches on some very controversial points about the social inequality of the Sheridan family with its surrounding neighbors. A great internal and external quarrel over social class rises in the Sheridan family as Laura Sheridan, the daughter, sympathises with the less-fortunate neighbors while her mother, Mrs. Sheridan is the opposite. Mansfield illustrates to her readers the conflict within Laura in various ways, namely, using foil characters between Mrs. Sheridan and Laura, using multiple symbols and appealing to emotion to emphasize her main message of social equality.