Essay on Freudian Analysis of Marigolds

Eugenia Collier, the author of the short story Marigolds makes great use of literary devices such as imagery, diction, flashback, and juxtaposition in a way that creates a voice for the narrator that conveys both the regret over, and possibly the longing for her childhood. The diction, that is, the vocabulary choice is expertly combined with imagery, or the unique descriptions and sensory details, in order to allow the reader to formulate the experiences and the surroundings of the narrator's childhood in their imaginations. Flashback is used to allow the narrator to not only explain how she viewed the events of her past as a child, but to compare these views with her adult feelings of the same events. Juxtaposition aids in further explaining the connection between the setting and emotions of the main character, creating a better picture of the narrator’s life. These elements all combine to construct a narrative that effectively conveys the coming of age theme.

Set during the Great Depression, a young girl, caught up in the whirlwind of teenage emotions, learns the meaning of compassion and empathy when she destroys a neighbor’s marigolds. Lizabeth, the main character in “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier, has enough on her hands being an African-American in the Great Depression, and the constant struggle of trying to fit in with her younger friends while acting her age doesn’t help. One day, Lizabeth and some other children decide to go torment Miss Lottie, their neighbor, by throwing stones at her marigolds. Initially, Lizabeth hesitates to join in the fun of gathering stones; nevertheless, she wants the acceptance of her friends and still sees the fun in childish acts, so she succumbs to the peer

“The Flowers” uses the main point of racism in the south and the lynching of African Americans to create an internal message that can still be applied to today. It represents a coming of age story and the loss of childhood

As the story progresses, so does Lizabeth. Having entered a difficult stage of her identity, Lizabeth is unsure of whether to be an innocent, carefree child, or to be a knowledgeable, aware adult. She begins to sense a change in the coming, and a feeling of end

Through her use of diction, imagery, and syntax in her story, "Marigolds" Eugenia Collier captures the voice of an adult looking back on a significant event from her childhood. When the narrator thinks about her past she remembers, "I opened my swollen eyes and saw in front of me a pair of large, calloused feet; My gaze lifted to the swollen legs, then the shadowed Indian face surrounded by stubby white hair" (Collier 22). These words are examples of imagery because it captures the narrator's voice as a sacred child looking up at the old woman. Another example of diction is when Eugenia Collier writes 'I leaped furiously into the mounds of marigold and pulled madly, trampling and pulling and destroying perfect yellow blooms" (Collier 21). This

The symbol of marigolds represent the innocence that a child has, specifically how that innocence can be ripped apart and how empathy can replace innocence. The symbol of a potted geranium represents the complex emotions that replace innocence after a person becomes an adult. Collier shows the reader that this transition is tough and will come with many challenges, ultimately resulting in a loss of innocence that will shape the readers whole life. These ideas are very relatable to many teenagers, as they see old friends drift away because they “just aren’t the same person anymore” and depression in teenagers due to severe challenges is becoming increasingly common. For many, the loss of innocence is full of fear and confusion, but the resulting gain of empathy is

The theme of “Marigolds” holds true for many people in real life. It is human nature to need something to believe in. When people cannot find hope through children or a career, for example, they search for another belief as a replacement. Some find hope in material objects, like Miss Lottie and Lizabeth. Lizabeth realizes about Miss Lottie, “The witch was no longer a witch but only a broken old woman who had dared to create beauty in the midst of ugliness and sterility” (638). John Burke could not give Miss Lottie a chance of continuing her legacy because he was “queer-headed” and only rocked on the porch aimlessly. Her dilapidated house and empty town did not make Miss Lottie optimistic either. As a result, Miss Lottie found promise in the beauty of her marigolds. When people are hopeless

John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums”, is a story about a woman struggling with strong inner feelings of loneliness and isolation. Elisa Allen is initially portrayed as a woman who overcompensates and whose tasks are far exceeded by her abilities. She appears content with her life and adores tending to her garden. However, a tinker briefly enters her life and through his power of persuasion and manipulation provides Elisa with hopes of change and excitement. He gives her the much needed attention she is so desperately looking for. As the story continues we learn that these hopes are crushed as we unravel the betrayal the tinker has bestowed upon Elisa. He exploits her and takes advantage of her hunger for company, aspirations, and

They are tired of scrimping for little amounts of money. Her dad, strong and courageous, starts to cry. Lizabeth hears her dad’s long and mournful sobs, and she cannot get to sleep. She is so upset, that she wakes up her brother, and they sneak out of the house. Lizabeth is so worked up over her family’s poverty, she goes to the only place she can think of, Miss Lottie’s front yard.

The female characters’ journey of empowerment has undergone different stages. In their quest for healing tools that can recover their maternal absence, the women have been looking for images that replace the mother’s face. In Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees, the readers are exposed to a new type of identity search; that is to say Kidd’s female characters are depicted as the orphans who lack both paternal and maternal love. In the case of Lily, this lack starts in her early stage of life as she has been left almost alone with an abusive father who devotes all his care to his dog.

The story “Marigolds”, written by Eugenia Collier, is a story about a young woman who is just becoming an adult. She goes through many internal conflicts about whether she should do the mature thing, the adult thing, or the immature thing, which is what kids would do. The whole story is conveying the idea of adolescence and how people change from a kid to an adult. “Marigolds” tells the reader that one cannot have compassion along with innocence. The story generates a fine line between the innocence of being a kid and the compassion that comes with adulthood. There are many examples of this theme in the story, the first one being when the group of kids attacked the marigolds, the second being when Lizabeth overheard the conversation between her parents, and the third is after she destroyed the marigolds.

In John Steinbeck’s “Chrysanthemums” multiple hidden meanings and messages are placed in the story. Steinbeck roots underlying themes and symbols throughout the story. The short story is about a day in the life of a young woman, Elisa, who grows chrysanthemums. Steinbeck shows how women are portrayed in society through Elisa and the way she is treated. The ranch where Elisa lives is an allegory for society’s view of women, on the ranch, Elisa is not included in business affairs and despite her being a strong, smart woman she is not considered. Elisa represents women and how they are not treated and looked at the same way as men are, they are deemed unsuited for numerous things despite being entirely capable of it.

“The Flowers” by Alice Walker is a short story that describes a young girl’s abrupt transition from childhood to adolescence when she discovers a lynched man’s dead body as she explores the areas surrounding her family’s sharecropper home. The story’s gradual change in tone, mood, and diction creates a suspense as the young girl realizes the unfamiliarity and strangeness in the far land. The narrator uses the symbolic meaning of flowers to show the protagonist, Myop’s transition from childhood naivety and innocence to adolescent awareness. She also uses this symbolism of flowers to emphasize the fragility of life. Walker uses flowers to symbolize Myop’s innocence.

Julie wasn't like the other girls in her school in Maysville. She wasn't rich and had fancy clothes and had big nice houses with bright green grass. Julie lived on a farm with not bright grass and not fancy clothes. Her father sells milk, eggs. He doesn't make much money off of it, but it's just enough to feed Julie and the dog and other animals. She didn't have really any friends the only friend she had was her dog named buddy. He's the only one who really understand her. Everybody picked on her cause of what she wore and were she lived they even picked on her father saying how he's only sells just a milk and eggs and how poor they were. But one day every thing changed when she turned 21 and moved to New York. Her daddy saved money for Julie when she got order so that

Everyone has been lost at one point in life. Walter Evans has been depicting many parts of the Great Depression era. Having been a time of disparity, families did not always have homes. Living on the street at the time meant many things from having a low income source to using their income to support her kids or even both. Seeing that the single mother who could not supply her children with clothing shows that being a single mother is not always so easy. She is just sitting there thinking about how this will affect her kids futures and how they will end up overcoming it. Considering the time frame, most children had to do a lot of labor work that could not only be a way of helping the family but a way of showing respect.