Question

How does the author use juxtaposition to show how Elizabeth has changed through her experience

Answer 1

The motif of marigolds is juxtaposed to the grim, dusty, crumbling landscape from the very beginning of the story. They are an isolated symbol of beauty, as opposed to all the mischief and squalor the characters live in. The moment Lizabeth and the other children throw rocks at the marigolds, "beheading" a couple of them, is the beginning of Lizabeth's maturation. The culmination is the moment she hears her father sobbing, goes out into the night and destroys the perfect flowers in a moment of powerless despair. Then she sees the old woman, Miss Lottie, and doesn't perceive her as a witch anymore. Miss Lottie is just an old, broken woman, incredibly sad because the only beauty she had managed to create and nurture is now destroyed. This image of the real Miss Lottie is juxtaposed to the image of her as an old witch that the children were afraid of. Actually, it is the same person; but Lizabeth is not the same little girl anymore. She suddenly grows up, realizing how the woman really feels, and she is finally able to identify and sympathize with her.

In this story, author's use of juxtaposition portrays the main character in great detail through the countless acts of character's realisation and analysis of her life. Lizabeth reflects that she had, “…a strange restlessness of body and of spirit, a feeling that something old and familiar was ending and something unknown and therefore terrifying was beginning" as she grew up and it scared her more and more. She regretted all the bad things she did as a child and the author's use of character vs self  conflict created this suspense and showed how Lizabeth has changed through her experience.