The Mark of Maturity Is a Person’s Compassion for Others

Topic Sentence: The mark of maturity is a person’s compassion for others. “Marigolds,” a short story by by Eugenia Collier, uses characterization to show the mark of maturity is a person’s compassion for others. Eugenia Collier’s short story “Marigolds” uses characterization to reveal how…. Set-up and evidence At the end of the story, Lizabeth has grown up and sees Miss Lottie as a person worthy of compassion and sympathy. “For as I gazed at the immobile face with the sad, weary eyes, I gazed upon a kind of reality that is hidden to childhood. 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.” (page 126). Fix It: Period 5 Collier characterizes Lizabeth as grown up and sees Miss Lottie as a person worthy of compassion and sympathy after she destroys Miss Lottie’s marigolds in an angry fit and looks up to see Miss Lottie staring down at her with a look of shock: “For as I gazed at the immobile face with the sad, weary eyes, I gazed upon a kind of reality that is hidden to childhood. 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” (126). Analysis The phrase reality hidden to childhood characterizes Elizabeth as an immature child who recognizes her own behavior, but does not see its effect on others. Violently destroying Miss Lottie’s flowers forces a confrontation in which Lizabeth is forced to see Miss Lottie as a person just like Lizabeth, not “a broken old witch.” The harsh world Lizabeth is living in is the same one Miss Lottie has persevered through and found a way “to create beauty.” It is this realization that demonstrates that Lizabeth has matured and can see the need for compassion toward others. Fix It: Period 5 The phrase “reality hidden to childhood” characterizes Elizabeth as an immature child who recognizes her own behavior, but does not see its effect on others. Violently destroying Miss Lottie’s flowers forces a confrontation in which Lizabeth is forced to see Miss Lottie as a person just like Lizabeth, not “a broken old witch.” The harsh world Lizabeth is living in is the same one Miss Lottie has persevered through and found a way “to create beauty.” It is this realization that demonstrates that Lizabeth has matured and can see the need for compassion toward others. Fix It: Period 6 Lizaeth, furious with issues going on at home, destroys Miss Lottie’s marigolds in an agry tantrum, but it caught by Miss Lottie. Collier uses characterization to demonstrate that Lizabeth has grown up and sees Miss Lottie as a person worthy of compassion and sympathy: “For as I gazed at the immobile face with the sad, weary eyes, I gazed upon a kind of reality that is hidden to childhood. 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” (126). Fix It: Period 6 The phrase “reality hidden to childhood” characterizes Elizabeth as an immature child who recognizes her own behavior, but does not see its effect on others. Violently destroying Miss Lottie’s flowers forces a confrontation in which Lizabeth is forced to see Miss Lottie as a person just like Lizabeth, not “a broken old witch.” The harsh world Lizabeth is living in is the same one Miss Lottie has persevered through and found a way “to create beauty.” It is this realization that demonstrates that Lizabeth has matured and can see the need for compassion toward others. Fix It: Period 7 Fix It: Period 7 After destroying Miss Lottie’s marigolds in The phrase “reality hidden to childhood” the middle of the night and looking up to see characterizes Llizabeth as an immature child Miss Lottie, Lizabeth is characterized as who recognizes her own behavior, but does mature and capable of sympathy by stating, not see its effect on others. Violently “For as I gazed at the immobile face with the destroying Miss Lottie’s flowers forces a sad, weary eyes, I gazed upon a kind of reality confrontation in which Lizabeth is forced to that is hidden to childhood. The witch was no see Miss Lottie as a person just like Lizabeth, longer a witch, but only a broken old woman not “a broken old witch.” The harsh world who had dared to create beauty in the midst of Lizabeth is living in is the same one Miss ugliness and sterility” (126). Lottie has persevered through and found a way “to create beauty.” It is this realization that demonstrates that Lizabeth has matured and can see the need for compassion toward others.