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Literary Response In the short story “Marigolds” by Eugenia W. Collier, Lizabeth struggles internally and externally with the transition from childhood to adulthood. She also ends up destroying the only hope of a poor old woman trying to create beauty in poverty. In this story, the author uses conflict, symbolism, and perspective to prove the theme of hope is just as important as the the theme of coming of age. Initially, Lizabeth is shown to have many internal and external conflicts, most of which intertwine with Miss Lottie’s idea of hope and develop Lizabeth as a character. For example, the climax of the story is when Lizabeth overhears her parents talking when her father suddenly bursts out in tears. Collier states…show more content… For example, Collier states after Lizabeth destroyed the marigolds that “I know that that moment marked the end of innocence. Innonence involves an unseeing acceptance of things at face value, an ignorance of the area below the surface. In that humiliating moment I looked beyond myself and into the depths of another person“(148). Having this first person narrative shows more prominently how Lizabeth felt ashamed and guilty, and how the narrator describes this as the end of innocence and the introduction to adulthood. Because of how Miss Lottie looked after seeing her precious marigolds destroyed, Lizabeth felt regret, guilt, and sympathy for the first time in her life. The narrative also details how Miss Lottie reacted when she saw Lizabeth and her marigolds. “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”(Collier 148). With the only symbol of hope broken, Miss Lottie had nothing else to live for.The destruction of Miss Lottie’s marigolds did help Lizabeth progress from a girl to a woman, but at the cost of another person’s hope. As shown, the use of a first person narrative helps to define the themes of hope and coming of
