Marigolds By Eugenia Collier Character Analysis

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At some point in their lives, all human beings lose their innocence. Some may say that if you lose your innocence, you also lose your compassion. But this not a valid argument - only when somebody loses their innocence can they start to feel compassionate. Lizabeth, the protagonist, suffers through an unfortunate life during Great Depression. She loses her innocence by completely destroying Miss Lottie's marigold patch. After this event she then began to feel compassionate and cared for people. In “Marigolds” by Eugenia W. Collier, the experiences of Lizabeth support the theme that one cannot have both compassion and innocence.
In many instances in the story Lizabeth would be disrespectful to different characters in during her innocence. Lizabeth had gotten incredibly angry and filled with rage that she
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Lizabeth runs out of her house after overhearing a traumatizing conversation between her parents. “I leaped furiously into the mounds of marigolds and pulled madly, trampling and pulling and destroying the perfect yellow blooms”(Collier 5). Lizabeth had completely destroyed Miss Lottie’s hard work and dedication without a single thought of sympathy. The choice that Lizabeth has made had marked the end of her innocence but the beginning of compassion. “I know that that moment marked the end of innocence 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. This was the beginning of compassion, and one cannot have both compassion and innocence”(Collier 5). This shows that Lizabeth started to discover that she had made mistakes and fell into pressure which finally led to her losing her innocence. Although Lizabeth had lost her innocence, she had realized that she must change and become compassionate towards

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