Lizabeth is the story's narrator and protagonist. As a fourteen-year-old, she is moving from the carelessness of childhood to the conscientiousness of adulthood. Miss Lottie is an elderly neighbor who tends to her beloved marigolds, which represent the possibility of beauty amid deprivation.

What do marigolds symbolize to Lizabeth?

What do marigolds symbolize to Lizabeth? The symbol in the short story is Miss Lottie's marigolds. They represent things that people put in their lives to make it more beautiful and bearable.

How did Lizabeth change in marigolds?

Lizabeth's change begins to occur after the children behead the marigolds. She charges at Miss Lottie, chanting a song, but later regrets her actions. She feels the duality of the situation: the child enjoyed mocking, but the woman was ashamed of herself. Lizabeth later hears her father crying because he...

What does Lizabeth mean at the end of the story?

Educator since 2018. 1,740 answers. As an adult, Lizabeth in "Marigolds" realizes that the moment she destroyed those marigolds marked the end of her childhood and of her innocence. She did not need, as an adult, to recognize her wrongdoing, or why her actions had been so cruel.

What makes Lizabeth a complex character?

Lizabeth is a complex character because she is a young girl on the verge of becomoing a young woman. She still enjoys child's games, but she's learning that the games of children aren't always fun, and that there are consequences for our actions.... lessons that we will never forget.

Marigolds by Eugenia Collier-Reenactment

19 related questions found

How is Lizabeth rude in marigolds?

At the beginning of the story, she is very childish and does not stop to think about her actions. With their friends, Lizabeth and her brother go to the yard of an elderly woman named Ms. Lottie and harass her while she tends to her garden of marigolds by throwing stones at the marigolds and yelling rude things at her.

How old was Lizabeth in marigolds?

SUMMARY: The crisis of Marigolds, by Eugenia Collier, is that Lizabeth, a 14 year old African American girl, doesn't know who she is. The conflict of the story involves Lizabeth trying to find out who she is while growing up in a poor Maryland society during the Great Depression.

What did Lizabeth discover her parents?

What does Lizabeth discover about her parents when she overhears their conversation? She sneaked out of her house, ran to Miss Lottie's house, and started destroying her flowers and was sobbing. She took out her sadness and anger on the flowers.

What effect does the sound of her father's crying have on Lizabeth?

The sound of her father's crying makes Lizabeth feel that everything is “suddenly out of tune” and that the world has “lost its boundary lines.” Her usually strong father seems weak, and her mother becomes the “strength of the family.” It makes her feel confused about things she had previously taken as truths.

What are Lizabeth's parents arguing about?

Lizabeth's parents are arguing about her father's inability to provide for his family. Her mother insists that she makes enough to keep them from starving, while her father expresses his distress at their poverty and his feelings of pain at his unemployment.

What does Lizabeth realize as an adult?

As an adult, Lizabeth in “Marigolds” realizes that the moment she destroyed those marigolds marked the end of her childhood and of her innocence. This tells us that as an adult, she has realized the importance of creating beauty wherever possible.

Why does Lizabeth's father break down and cry?

Lizabeth's father begins crying because he believes that he has failed his family. His sobs are deep and loud, and this shocks Lizabeth. To see her father cry is a further disruption of the innocence of her childhood.

How does Lizabeth change from the beginning of the story to the end?

At the beginning of the story, Lizabeth is only thinking of herself, her town, her boredom, and her own rage. By the end of the story, Lizabeth has empathy not only for Miss Lottie, but also for her parents, who cannot seem to attain a comfortable life even while trying their best.

Did Lizabeth actually plant marigolds?

Lizabeth, however, does plant marigolds when she grows up: to remind herself of the lessons she learned when she destroyed Miss Lottie's marigolds.

Why does Lizabeth destroy marigolds?

Lizabeth was so upset by her own life and her father's tears that she became angry and confused. In her confusion, she chooses to let out her own anger by destroying something, the marogolds, because they were precious to Miss Lottie.

What event leads Lizabeth to destroy the marigolds?

The flowers do not fit in their cheerless lives. Which event leads Lizabeth to destroy Miss Lottie's marigolds? She hears her father cry over his lack of a job.

What do you think Lizabeth means when she says that she has since planted marigolds in her life?

What does Lizabeth mean when she says, "And I too have planted marigolds."? She's found a way to establish beauty and happiness from Miss Lottie. She regrets ever being jealous over the happiness being created from the marigolds and instead takes it into her own hands and create happiness as Miss Lottie did.

Why do you think Lizabeth decided to destroy the marigolds after feeling scared about her family's poverty?

Lottie's Marigolds in a fit of rage. Why did Lizabeth destroy the marigolds? She overheard her parents arguing and she had the feeling of anger building up inside of her that she just had to get out. ... Traditionally, the man's role in the family is to provide and when they cannot do this, it makes them feel ashamed.

What does Lizabeth say about the flowers?

According to the story, a person cannot be both compassionate and innocent. At the moment Elizabeth feels compassion after destroying the flowers, therefore, she can no longer be innocent. With the loss of innocence comes the end of childhood.

What kind of character is Lizabeth?

Lizabeth is the story's narrator and protagonist. As a fourteen-year-old, she is moving from the carelessness of childhood to the conscientiousness of adulthood. Miss Lottie is an elderly neighbor who tends to her beloved marigolds, which represent the possibility of beauty amid deprivation.

Where does Elizabeth live in marigolds?

In the short story Marigolds by Eugenia Collier, a girl named Elizabeth and her family struggle through living in the time of the Great Depression. Elizabeth is an African American girl that is on the threshold of womanhood. Elizabeth's family is very poor and is forced to live in a shantytown.

Why does Miss Lottie work so hard in her garden?

Miss Lottie works hard in her garden because the flowers.... the new life and the beauty of their presence provide her with a sense of hope.

Why did Lizabeth return to Lottie?

Lizabeth is experiencing guilt, instead of the pleasure that the other children got. ... Lizabeth is feeling guilty and upset so she returns to Miss Lottie's. These feelings provoke her actions because she was feeling upset, confused, and hurt so she can't control her rage.

What does Lizabeth's parents interaction in the middle of the night?

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What does lizabeth's parents interaction in the middle of the night reveal about her father? He is a proud man who doesn't want to accept help from other people. Why does Lizabeth become upset in the middle of the night?

How does Lizabeth interact with Miss Lottie in marigolds?

How does Lizabeth interact with Miss Lottie in "Marigolds"? Lizabeth is afraid of Miss Lottie because she thinks the old woman is a witch, so she avoids her house. Lizabeth thinks Miss Lottie and her marigolds are strange, and her frustration with her own life drives Lizabeth to destroy the woman's flowers.