Loss Of Innocence In The Flowers By Alice Walker

“Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier is a personal narrative of the challenges that adolescents face with coming of age. The author is able to accurately capture the voice of her younger self-using literary devices such as imagery, juxtaposition, and diction. The author uses these literary devices to give the reader a precise representation of the struggles she surpassed, which pushed her towards adulthood.

Young adults are losing their childhood innocence; replacing it with the world of adulthood. The most reoccurring theme throughout the book, Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill is the loss of innocence. The protagonist named Baby, lives with her father, Jules who is a heroin addict. Jules and Baby are constantly moving to different apartments in Montreal, where Baby is exposed to drugs, juvenile detention and forced into prostitution by her pimp. Baby experiences many obstacles in her life at the age of thirteen because she doesn’t have a father that loves her enough to guide her into the right path of life. Therefore it did not take long for Baby to lose her innocence.

A child holds innocence from a young age and does not understand the importance of having compassion. As a child's innocence gradually fade away due to maturity, he or she transforms into a compassionate person. In a coming of age short story, “Marigolds,” Eugenia Collier writes about a series of events where a young girl, named Lizabeth, develops into a compassionate person. Lizabeth narrates these events in a flashback that involve the marigolds of her neighbor, Miss Lottie. Miss Lottie's marigolds were the essence of hope in the midst of the town filled with dust and dirt. The effect of economic struggles that the townspeople go through causes Lizabeth to destroy Miss Lottie's marigolds. Throughout the short story, “Marigolds,” the characterization

As the literal meaning of the story, “The Flowers” is about the lynching of African Americans at that time. Even though this story is fiction, it definitely represents what could have happened in that day in age. It is historically accurate in that it very well could have happened and most probably did happen based on the time period it was written. The lynching of African Americans was a huge problem at that time in the south. Black men were being blamed for crimes they did not commit and were hanged for it without proof. Racism and segregation were ramped in the United States. Thus, inducing the civil rights movement that would fight for the end of segregation and racism. In the story itself, there were signs of how common it was for a black man to be lynched at the time. When Myop stumbles across the body of a recently lynched black man, she immediately realizes what had happened to him and does not really freak out. As expressed in the book, the moment she realized what she had stepped on she let out a little yelp of surprise but then took interest in her discovery. This reaction insinuates that it was almost normal to see such a thing. In the end, she laid down her flowers next to the man and continued on her way home. On the other hand, this story can be taken for more than its literal meaning.

Myop is a happy young innocent girl as the story begins. “It seemed to Myop as she skipped lightly from hen house to pigpen to smoke house that the days had never beam as beautiful as there.” (498). And she was just going by her song, happy and as nothing else existed. And matured as she left into the woods alone to discover the decayed body. “Myop gazed around the spot with interest. Very near where she’d stepped into the head with a wild pink rose…Myop laid down her flower” (499) Myop laid the flower on the decayed body. The setting provides a pleasant environment for Myop with the beautiful air and crop harvesting made for a golden surprise at a young age. “The air held a keenness that made her nose twitch. The harvesting of the corn and cotton, peanuts and squash, made each day as a golden surprise that caused excited little tremors to run up her jaws.” (498). Myop lived on what seemed to be a farm, with warm peaceful days and she played as a young girl. But, as she matured it was nothing but peaceful. “It seemed gloomy in the little cove in which she found herself. The air was damp, the silence close and deep.” (499). Walker changes the setting to help show the transformation beginning to occur, as Myop is beginning to have to see all the hardship of the world that her mother cannot protect her from anymore. She is

One of the most important techniques employed by walker to reflect childhood innocence and the loss of it is symbolism. Walker has enriched her piece with symbolism to highlight the innocent days then the sudden maturation of the protagonist. Even the title of the story is symbolic “The Flowers” stands for the childhood purity and its loss. Throughout the story, Walker uses flowers to depict both innocence and the loss of it. Moreover, she specifically has named the little girl Myop – short for Myopia. That is because Myopia stands for the inability to see things deeply so it shows her childhood innocence. The story beings showing the setting of it which is the harvesting of corn, cotton, peanuts and squash; therefore, it illustrates that she is on a farm. It is also post-civil war days because “sheer cropper cabin” are a new development during this time-her family are sheer croppers.

Added to this, the writer’s use of symbolism strengthens this idea of attractiveness and inexperience, Myop’s name being the main symbol. Myop is short for Myopia. The name given to short-sightedness. This is used as a metaphor as Myop’s naivety, then as the story goes on Myop opens her eyes to see what the real world is like and the author mentions her name less. Another symbol used in paragraph 2 is the “warm sun”. This symbolises the light and life of the world. It is a time when people are supposed to be awake and no body should be sleeping but this is later contrasted further on in the story. All the setting and scenery described gives an image of the Garden of Eden- paradise – a place everyone wants to be, where nothing bad can happen up until one critical moment when Eve eats the apple and everything forever changes. This gives the reader an insight in to the rest of the story but still leaves them wondering what could happen next.

Walker continues to use negative imagery and ideas to reveal her hesitation towards the arrangement. The author uses these literary devices because she wants to illustrate Roselily’s reasons for marrying the man. Roselily does this because it is what's best for her and her children. In a way, Roselily is being forced because she does not have a better alternative to her current life. By marrying the man, Roselily will have a renewed lifestyle and reputation. Roselily imagines the flowers in her hand as kids. When she does this, her head fills with murderous thoughts. “A squeeze around the flowers in her hands chokes off three and four and five years of breath” (Walker 4). As guilty as Roselily feels, this shows how Roselily wishes she never had given birth to any of her kids. When she tightens her grip on the bouquet of flowers, she thinks of her children. Roselily dreams she did not give birth to these kids. Roselily’s ideas of murder could possibly be associated with her obsession with the idea of her personal spirit being robbed from her. Weddings usually give off positive connotations, however in Roselily’s mind she disturbs the happy wedding with dark thoughts such as the idea of murder. Deviating from the topic of “personal spirit”, Brent studies the ferocious thoughts swarming Roselily’s mind. “Roselily’s rebellious thoughts during the wedding ceremony go so far as to enter the realms of murder and blasphemy. She expresses a wish that she could be free of her three

The story informs the readers that Myop, the little girl, is skipping around in the beginning of the story. This

"She skipped lightly from hen house to pigpen". This shows how happy Myop is in this setting, we know she feels safe here, "She felt light and good in the warm sun" Her innocence produces an excitement to the reader as it gives the character and the text somewhere to go. We learn that

In this “Autumn” chapter, Claudia MacTeer uses flower imagery to describe how she and Frieda respond to their environment. This metaphor calls attention to the importance of nurture and environment for these young children, especially during these formative years of childhood. Like flowers, we depend on our environment for sustenance, so in turn, Pecola Breedlove, Soaphead Church, and Louis, Jr., inherit the legacy of self-loathing and Claudia and Frieda MacTeer inherit the legacy of self-worth.

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 actions.

I believe that both the new blue flowers Myop finds and the fact that she is wandering off on her own, which is unusual, are symbols of her leaving the security of the childhood behind and going off into the unknown. The symbols are characterized by all relating to the themes growing up and loss on innocence.

This discovery is the end of Myop’s carefree existence; therefore, her innocence dies. Myop lays down her flowers, not only at the gravesite of the man but also at the gravesite of her childhood and her former self. The most obvious way that death is present as a theme is through the fact that Myop discovers an actual dead body in the forest. She comes to realize that all people die; some have harsh and cruel deaths. The details of the decomposing body: the eyes, teeth, and rotting clothes strengthen the theme. In the beginning from the description of Emily’s death-haunted life to the description of Emily herself, it is clear that death runs rampant for Emily. Emily is a fixture in her community, as a symbol of the south’s old dying ways. She tries to deny the fact of death at all. Her necrophilia first comes to light once her father dies. She is unable to admit that he has passed away and clings to his controlling love- the only love she knows. Reluctantly, she gives up his body. When Homer dies, she again refuses to accept it, even though she is the cause of his demise. In murdering Homer, she was able to ensure that he would never leave her. Homer and Emily’s repulsive marriage reveals Emily’s attempt to fuse life and death as one. Death ultimately conquers all.

Myop is far from home the character learns and matures. Myop learns that the world is not