Coming of age: it’s a topic commonly front and center in modern media. Movies, novels, TV shows, and any other form of consumable entertainment are popular selections for growing up. Why is this a problem? It’s a topic that strikes a chord within any human being, a conflicting and confounding one, like a bittersweet minor seventh. In the texts “Marigolds” (Collier), “American History” (Ortiz Cofer), and “Blackberry Picking” (Heany), each author delves beautifully into the theme that coming of age is a bitter, often confusing experience, but it prepares you for life beyond the comfort of childlike naivety. In “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier, fourteen-year-old Lizabeth simultaneously deals with the difficulty of the dull, dusty, impoverished life …show more content…
Suddenly I was ashamed, and I did not like being ashamed. The child in me sulked and said it was all in fun, but the woman in me flinched at the thought of the malicious attack that I had led” (22). These feelings that Lizabeth feels are uncomfortable, ugly emotions. Ironically, the destruction of her neighbor’s marigolds was also the destruction of her childhood, solidifying the death of her innocence. But the pain was necessary, for a wise Lizabeth reflects, “One does not have to be ignorant and poor to find that his life is as barren as the dusty yards of our town. And I too have planted marigolds” (Collier 30). In another tale about a growing young woman, “American History” by Judith Ortiz Cofer tackles the story of young Elena and the prejudice that launches her into a complicated adult world. The story takes place as her largely Puerto Rican apartment is grieving the loss of President John F. Kennedy. However, despite the grievings of her family for the late President, Elena cannot stop thinking about Eugene, the young white boy from Georgia who has captured her …show more content…
The gray snow is her life, the differences between her and others that she never thought to be significant, her dying naivety, and her grieving family; the weight of all of these adult problems is unbearable for a young girl, so she does not look at the snow and the truth it contains. Just as bitter experiences can make one wiser, so too can bitter fruit. “Blackberry Picking,” a poem by Seamus Heaney, follows a speaker who grapples with spoiling, once-sweet blackberries. A sad metaphor for the loss of childlike innocence and the beginning of adult-ish complexity, the poem displays the intense longing and desire to stay happy and youthful, traits depicted in the ripe blackberries. However, as they sour, disappointment and cruel wisdom are instilled upon the speaker for the first time while the mold slowly infects every berry. The speaker learns from this tragedy, stating, “Each year I hoped they’d keep, knew they would not,” expressing the desire for the illusion of innocence to reappear, yet the knowledge that their inner child was not
others, it comes through a ‘humbling’ experience. Every day, humans across the world encounter humiliating moments that eventually build up to make them the person they are today. We see this experience occur in protagonist Lizabeth in Marigolds by Eugenia Collier. When Lizabeth faces trials, she expresses her wounded emotions violently but turns out to find the learning lessons in difficult situations, which is why I can relate to her. Lizabeth is a small-town teenage girl, living with her family
Childhood. The period of time between ages three to eleven .The times where you learn lessons by simply living your life. Adolescence, by the age of 12 we almost know how to completely take care of ourselves. Lizabeth from Eugenia Collier’s “Marigolds” is at a point in her life where her adolescence is fading into the long path of adulthood. He twisted and conflicted emotions and thoughts crowd her judgment. The adult in Lizabeth begins to shine through her twisted teen emotions and develop her sense
“Marigolds”, a short story written by Eugenia Collier, illustrates a very complex struggle,but one almost all of us can relate to. It was set in the Great Depression, yet it has relevance today. It is a struggle all of us must go through, though it may hidden unlike the struggle Collier describes. “Marigolds” conveys the struggle between an aimless and innocent adolescent, and a mature and compassionate adult. The clash of two minds and two consciences. Looking through eyes of a 14 year old girl
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
Benji Hammond “Marigolds” Essay In the short story, “Marigolds”, by Eugenia Collier a 14 year old girl, named Lizabeth, lives in a shanty-town in rural Maryland during the Great Depression. Because she lives in such poverty, she doesn’t have much to look forward to. Although it may seem a little early, Lizabeth is forced to grow up because she can’t afford to act like a child. Eugenia Collier shows that Lizabeth is forced to grow up because of poverty and racism. Poverty was a major factor in the
also called the “Bowl Dust”. There were a few opportunities to have a job. Eugenia Collier, who is an author that wrote the short story “Marigolds” which related during the Great Depression time. The summary of this story is Lizabeth and her family. They lived in the poor town with inconvenient life. Lizabeth and her brother, Joey, and other kids had a bad childhood. They destroyed Miss Lottie’s garden with beautiful marigolds. Lizabeth also heard a conversation between her parent, so she knew how hard
Marigolds “Marigolds,” written by the author Eugenia W. Collier, begins with the main character, Elizabeth. The story is told in first person, being told by Elizabeth when she gets older. “Marigolds” takes place in Maryland during the Depression. The reader can tell it is the time of the Depression because in the story it says, “The Depression that gripped the nation was no new thing to us, for the black workers of rural Maryland had always been depressed.” Both the setting and time in this short
a fiction story, “Marigolds” By Eugenia Collier, and the excerpt from the informational portrait, “Migrant Mother” taken by Dorothea Lange, both notify the theme of poverty. Illustrate the story of a young girl who lived in a countryside Maryland during the Great Depression, that introduces the theme of poverty and empathy, and the photographs artist of Dorothea Lange and artist like her provide the main insights into the terrible living conditions of the migrant workers.
story the Marigolds, by Eugenia W. Collier, Lizabeth has a younger brother named Joey.the story takes place in the Great Depression era. Lizabeth and her brother were the only people left in their household. They had a neighbor that was an old mean lady named Mrs. Lottie that was always working on her Marigolds in her garden. Elizabeth and joey always threw pebbles at Mrs.Lottie garden just to make her mad. Years later Mrs. Lottie died from old age. In the short story, Marigolds by Eugenia W. Collier
Eugenia Collier uses the setting of a shantytown and Miss Lottie’s house in her story, “Marigolds” to create her theme of poverty. The setting of this short story is a shantytown in Maryland in late summer during the Great Depression. People who were poor lived in crude dwellings called shantytowns. The Great Depression was a time when many people, white and black, were out of work and poor, so it is apparent that the author, selecting this time and location, wanted to show poverty.
Loisel and Lizabeth: Both Alike In Perspective Guy de Maupassant’s Mathilde Loisel and Eugenia Collier’s Lizabeth are two characters enduring what they perceive to be an abject state of existence. In Maupassant’s narrative, “The Necklace,” Loisel longs for material things she cannot have. In a similar way, Lizabeth, the protagonist of Eugenia Collier’s “Marigolds,” perceives her own life in the shantytowns of Maryland as dreary and dull. Despite their different character traits and backgrounds,
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. “Marigolds” is about change. Collier chose a “fourteen-going-on-fifteen” (1) year old girl because the transition from childhood
frequently apply characterization to their stories to develop a theme or moral to the stories. Practically every novel that was made in the history of literature has a theme.This means any kind of short story like The Whistle by Anne Estevis and Marigold by Eugenia Collier has characterization. In the
Freudian Analysis of Marigolds Most of the time there is a moment in life where one realizes they have lost all innocence and gained some compassion. “Marigolds” shows how one young girl transferred from a child to young adult through her life experiences. Throughout this story another young, but at the same time old in her prime, lady’s experiences are revealed: the author’s. In this short story, “Marigolds,” Eugenia Collier’s subconscious is unmasked through symbolism, diction, and Lizabeth’s
Short stories and poems—such as Marigolds by Eugenia Collier, and Hanging Fire by Audre Lorde—are among literary tools utilised to reflect the reality of mankind. In the stages of life humans must pass through, there will be events that pose a threat to their living conditions, or act as a catalyst that motivates one to grow stronger. Within modern society, there are a plethora of factors influencing the process in which a person comes of age. Financial hardship is one of the most impactful factors