Theme Of Marigolds
Adolescence is a bumpy and unknown section of the road known as life. Both the short story
"Marigolds" by Eugenia Collier and the poem "Hard on the Gas," by Janet S. Wong relate to the
theme that "the road to growing up and maturing isn't always smooth". "Marigolds is the story of an
adolescent who is growing up in the Great Depression. Through hard experiences and tumultuous
emotions, the narrator learns that growing up is full of ups and downs. "Hard on the Gas" is a
poem about a grandchild driving with his or her grandfather. The grandchild realizes that the road
isn't always perfect and that there will be bumps along the way. The theme "the road growing up and
maturing isn't always smooth" is conveyed in both of these selection.
In "Marigolds" a young girl is growing up during the Great Depression. For Lizabeth, the narrator,
everyday is a challenge. As she transitions from an innocent, naive child to an aware, yet unsure
young woman, the smooth road she's been traveling on suddenly becomes bumpy and unfamiliar
when a fit of anger taken out on her neighbor marks Lizabeth's growing up. "All the smoldering
emotions of that summer swelled in me and burst– the great need for my mother who was never
there, the hopelessness of our poverty and degradation, the bewilderment of being neither child nor
woman and yet both at once...", (Collier, "Marigolds"). All of the emotions that Lizabeth has been
holding in spill out of her in an audacious, violent action that will exile her childhood; the destroying
of Miss Lottie's prized marigolds.When Lizabeth realizes with remorse what she's done, she gains
the heavy burden of adulthood. "In that humiliating moment I looked beyond myself and into the
depths of another person. This was the beginning of compassion, and one cannot have both
compassion and innocence", (Collier, "Marigolds"). When Lizabeth conveys that Miss Lottie had
planted marigolds as a show of passion and hope, she becomes compassionate towards Miss Lottie,
ridding her of her childish innocence. While "Hard on the Gas" is minimally worded, the meaning of
the poem speaks volumes. The poem conveys growing up, and the fact that the road to adulthood is
not, in fact, smooth. "Rush, rest, rush, rest",
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