The Marigolds

In the 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 the theme is that Lizbeth need to learn how to grow up. This theme is developed through the characters, the writing style, and the plot elements.

One way the theme is developed is through character. Lizabeth has many different memories

In Maragold, Lizabeth uses the symbolism of the maragold to help show the feeling and meaning behind the marigold. According to Maragold, “ 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.” (10) At this point, Lizbeth finally realizes the terrible consequences of allowing her pride to take over her emotions and thoughts because she realizes how much the marigold has meaning in it and beauty and how long it took for her to grow it. Another way Lizbeth uses language to develop the theme is through mood . The mood of this story is clearly revealed when Lizbeth says, “ 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. The mood lasted all afternoon. (7)” This shows that Lizbeth is feeling ashamed and taking all her emotions and anger out on the marigold, she does this because she had all her emotions built up into one ball and she took it out on the marigolds instead of talking about it . And she just felt like her whole family wasn't listening to her and didn’t care what she was feeling. The symbolism of the Marigolds and the language that creates the regretful, guilty and loneliness tone of the story help the author

One element that clearly develops the theme is the inner conflict in this story.
The narrator’s inner conflict can be seen when 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 being neither child nor woman and yet both at once, the fear unleashed by my father’s tears. (9) Through this quote, we can see how Lizbeth struggled greatly with what has happened in her life and all the things she had to go through. The unfortunate, sad resolution to this conflict further develops the theme that growing up can be hard and things will happen that you may not like or have control of what happens. When Lizbeth says, “ ‘M-miss Lottie!’ I scrambled to my feet and just stood there and stared at her, and that was the moment when childhood faded and womanhood began. (10) This resolution shows that we can allow guilt and shame to show us that their are not always a happy ending in every story. Therefore, the plot elements of conflict and resolution further develop the