Eugenia Collier is an amazing author who writes with absolute accuracy. Although some of the events are fictional, the truth is that they all share the same history; hunger, emotional pressures, the dust bowl and poverty. The Great Depression had real-life consequences. The Great Depression was a serious problem for thousands of people. No one had a job and there were many who went hungry. Florence, who was a single mother with five children, had no husband. The picture and the story both show the Great Depression’s scarring effects in a way that is exaggerated. The short story “Marigolds” shows the Great Depression’s positive and negative side from the author’s perspective. In the story, the author places a great deal of emphasis on her youth and the emotions and feelings she experienced. For example, she uses metaphors and similes to express the confusion, sadness and joy that she felt when she was young. I feel again chaotic emotions from adolescence. They are as real and as illusive to me as the potted rose before me.
Florence Thompson’s picture is saddening, meaningful, and even enraging. It’s because she was alone in a terrible situation with her children. This picture depicts a mother worried about her two children. Florence looks very thin, dirty, with dirt all over her. She also has dirt marks on the lower part of her right lip. She may have clung to her children because she didn’t want to leave for work. Or, perhaps they missed their mother after a day of hard work. Look closely at the conditions of the house and children. They are all dirty and dressed badly. They both share some similarities. Eugenia states, “We kids, of course, weren’t aware of how poor we were.” Florence’s two sons don’t have anything to do in their home. There is no entertainment technology, no magazine to read, no newspapers to read. Eugenia adds, “In the days before television and radio, we all had to be as poor-dressed and hungry as each other.” In poverty, we all felt trapped …”. Florence as well her children look like they are hungry. Eugenia is able to accurately portray depression in a historical context. It is interesting that Eugenia said that she had “come reluctantly” from her private life. This expression reminds me of Florence’s photo with her sons. Florence is looking directly into the camera, but you can tell that there are other thoughts running through her head. She has other worries and concerns that torment and bother her. You can tell that she is not paying attention to the camera in front her, but is still allowing her photographer to take photos of herself and her children. They are all in bad conditions.
