Maturity In Euginia W. Collier's Marigolds Essay

“Marigolds”, written by Eugenia Collier in 1969, is a coming-of-age story about a girl who makes the development from an immature and innocent child to that of a compassionate and mature woman. Taking place during the Great Depression in rural Maryland, the story shows both external and internal conflicts of Lizabeth, a 14-going-on-15 year-old girl. She was stuck not only in a nation ransacked by an economic crisis, but also in the confusion and fear that comes along with growing up. With all the changes happening (both inside and outside of herself), she finds that “the world had lost its boundary lines” and that she also had to cross a line herself: the line which marks the end of childhood and all its innocence. Lizabeth’s internal turmoil

The text “Marigolds” states, “That violent, crazy act was the lack of childhood. For as I gazed at the immobile face with sad, weary eyes, I gazed upon a kind of reality that is hidden to childhood.” This suggests that Lizabeth notices her attitude and that she was

In the story "Marigolds", a story by Eugenia Collier, the author uses the literary techniques of juxtaposition and symbolism to show the overall message that during the coming of age and maturity in a world full of poverty and darkness, people always look for a light of happiness. The author uses juxtaposition of the conversation of the mother and father to show how the darkness, which is represented by the father, is trying to destroy the lightness, which is represented by the mother. In rage and pain of his poverty bent life, Lizabeth’s father is clouded with darkness and fear, but Lizabeth’s mother a still hopeful and looking for something to bring joy to the family. Lizabeth's dad explains to Lizabeth’s mother, “Twenty-two years, Maybelle, twenty-two years, and I

The short story “Marigolds” relates to teens in many ways. It shows how teens can go through a blindness of happiness, be influenced by rebellion, and can find at least a bit of happiness along the way. It relates to many teens, as the story was not only aimed for a teenage audience, but was put in the view as a

The transformations in people are caused by a variety of circumstances. Within the variety of these circumstances, stress is the most influential one. In Eugenia Collier’s short story Marigolds, it tells the narrative of a young African-American girl living in rural Maryland. Due to her frustration with life, she destroys Miss Lottie’s marigolds. In the story Marigolds, the author uses the narrator’s transformation and characterization to convey that identity is only found in times of crisis.

The idea of maturity is presented through the main character, Connie. Maturity is one of the themes presented, and even though Connie tries so hard to be an adult, she still shows childlike ways. When Connie is shopping, Joyce portrays Connie as having a “walk that could be childlike and bobbing, or languid enough to make anyone think she was hearing music in her head” (324). She also portrays an inner child conscious when it comes to her mother. Connie believes that her mother was simple and it was cruel to be able to trick her so easily. Even though her childlike ways show in the story, she also shows moments where her maturity is real. While Connie and her friends are going shopping, a boy in their high school invites them over to his car. Through the girls’ point of

Maturity and Innocence Maturity does not necessarily come with age. It comes with consideration, manners, and one’s reactions. Although completely opposite, maturity and innocence go hand in hand. In the short story, “Marigolds”, by Eugenia Collier, the main character, Lizabeth, realizes that only through her loss of innocence can she gain compassion and maturity to her path of womanhood.

Children see the world as beautiful and wondrous and live without care. Little voices shriek with joy at falling leaves without worrying about the coming cold winter months, and babble delightedly to any stranger without stopping to think about skin color or worry about criminal records. Carefree days do not last forever; however, when childhood ends, the young adult faces the inevitable hardships of life. Some people choose to return to a life of innocence, while others soldier on and brave the turmoil ahead. Even so, a greater reward awaits those who overcome life’s numerous quandaries. Each adversity carves out more depth to a person’s character, and like a potter shapes his clay, so too do adversities shape people into more compassionate,

After finishing the selection titled “Eighteen” by Maria Banus, I was completed surprised on how genuine the authors feelings were. Normally when I read poetry it is difficult to understand the meaning of numerous amount of it, if not all of the lines but this one was different as if it pertained to me. This poem made me feel rather sad and miserable because there are a lot of grievances that one may bring up about growing into an adult. Everyone always says how enjoyable your teenage years are, how invigorating the experience is to live life to the fullest and to enjoy it before it comes to end, but a lot of people may disagree. This analogy is incorrect to

Throughout every individual life, a time for coming of age must always occur. The coming of age is a difficult process, normally going unnoticed. Although it is rather unwanted or avoided, the process happens all the same for every person. For some, the process is gradual. For others, they are thrown into adulthood and are forced to leave behind the joyous memories of being a child. In the three works by Edna St. Vincent Millay, Elizabeth Bishop, and Terrence Malick, children explore the various paths of growing up and in a way, are tossed into the lives of adults. In Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem “Childhood is the Kingdom Where Nobody Dies,” painful descriptions of being pitched into adulthood are continued throughout the work. In Elizabeth

Growing up will always be a greatly discussed topic for writers, regardless of genre, time period or their own personal experiences. Stories about growing up have been a part of fiction throughout history, with great authors such as J.M Barrie, CS Lewis and even Stephen King adding their own contributions. The pieces discussed in this essay have very different views on growing up and are told from very different perspectives. One from an elderly man wishing his granddaughter would stay young forever and one from a young boy trying to be much older then his respective years.

Maturity is achieved with the death of naivety. The usual theme in most coming of age stories is that the protagonists are enlightened. Once they understand a concept that their former selves could not, they discard their naïve notions. Often, these concepts are hard truths of reality, which in turn shatter romanticized goals. Regardless, this understanding usually betters the individuals undergoing the process. It often leads the individuals to either understand their own convictions with clarity, or achieve the independence of their thoughts. However, such is not the case with the protagonist in Alice Munro’s Boys and Girls. For the protagonist in this story, her enlightenment brings forth the acceptance of her dark, inevitable and bleak future rather than provide any benefit. As her naivety dies, her individual strong spirit dies.

Maturity can be defined in different ways and aspects by different people, and people somehow will become mature at some point in their lives. Some experience they can reach maturity when becoming parents, while others experience maturity is when they can handle, manage lives and take responsibilities for things they do or when they have commitments for their lives. In the novel “The Bean Trees,” Barbara Kingsolver successful creates a protagonist, Taylor, who goes through a “coming of age” to become a mature woman. Taylor decides for a better life by leaving her hometown Kentucky and heading west. During Taylor’s journey, she adopts and takes care of little girl, Turtle, who changes her entire life. Arizona is not only a home with adopted Turtle, but also a place she makes friends with people have different destinies, personalities such as Mattie, Lou Ann, Estevan and Esperanza, Mrs. Parsons and Edna. By interacting with different types of people, Taylor changes in many ways: she becomes more mature, experiences and accepts motherhood better and broadens the worldview. She joins an established community, learns, understands and appreciates the priceless of nature, friendship and community relationship. Throughout her journey, Kingsolver describes how Turtle helps Taylor’s acceptance of motherhood which changes in terms of more responsibilities and cares about someone’s life rather than her own. Moreover, Taylor’s relationship with Turtle helps connect with Mattie and Lou

Life is full of paradoxes. Children wish they could become adults, and adults wish they were children. However, Peter Pan and his Netherland are dreamlike. As Gail Sheehy- a famous American author, lecturer, and journalist- once states, “ If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” Maturity is complicated. Maturity is inevitable. Maturity means a lot of troubles. However, maturity is also a colorful picture of life that contains a lot of wonderful things for the individual to discover . That wonderful, colorful picture is described vividly by Robin Benway, a young writer, throughout her novel “ Emily and Oliver.” It has been ten years since Oliver was kidnapped by his dad. Right now, Oliver is home, but there is something different. Something has changed, and that’s maturity. By using the protagonist- Emmy- and antagonists- Emmy’s dad and Caro- Robin Benway shows the theme that maturity is unavoidable and essential for every person, for it is a part of life.

One awakening stage in a person’s life is the stage between being a child and being an adult. When an author writes about this stage it can be referred to as coming of age literature: literature that follows the life of a person as he or she shifts from adolescence to young adulthood and discovers who he or she is while seeing the world around him or her differently. These coming of age narratives look back at the time of a youth when he or she is influenced by his or her family, mentors, friends, peers, relationships, and community, all of which help shape the youth into the person they will one day become. And, coming of age literature are narratives which contain similar characteristics; such as, innocence of the world’s expectations, life that seems simple as a child but more complex the older one becomes, the disappointment of discovering life is not as black and white as one has perceived, tension between family members or peers, conflicts within oneself as understanding of the world changes, wisdom as one ages, and acceptance and realization that the adult world is complex and difficult. In the short story “Boys and Girls,” Alice Munro successfully explores the protagonist innocence of the world’s stereotypes, conflict between who she