Empathy And Compassion in Marigolds By Eugenia Collier

In the Dust bowl of nineteen thirty to nineteen thirty-six seven thousand people died and more than a billion dollars was lost in farmers crops. Many felt bad for the people in this area because there homes were destroyed as well as land and whatever land was still good was taken. Mrs. Lottie and Lizabeth both had the same feelings of being down because the marigolds were destroyed. In the time of tragic moments many people will help you out and in return if something like this happens to them they may help you.

While some people were also vicious in these times, empathy and compassion are shown in times of hardship because Lizabeth feels bad after destroying Ms. Lotties flowers and during the dust bowl people worked together. Both Mrs. Lottie and Tom Joad both show empathy of sorrow towards their communities. “

For as I gazed at the immobile face with the sad, weary eyes, I gazed upon a kind of reality which is hidden to childhood.

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The witch was no longer a witch but only a broke old woman who had dared to create beauty in the midst of ugliness and sterility( Collier 12). ” Mrs. Lottie feels bad for this community that is full of poverty and has a bunch of beautiful flowers then that one beautiful thing in the community was stomped by a teenage girl full of rage. Mrs. Lottie already feels bad enough for the kids calling her a witch, messing with her and constantly taunting her whenever they get the chance to do so.

“ He was about to drop the penny back into the pouch when his eye fell on the boys frozen before the candy counter. He moved slowly down to them. He pointed in the case at big long sticks of striped peppermint. . . Well, gimme two then, ma’am. He placed the copper cent carefully on the counter (Steinbeck 52 & 53)”. Tom feels bad for these children because they aren’t really getting a childhood experience with working and being poor and not being able to do anything fun. The community was extremely poor so everyone tried to help out each other out with whatever scraps they could get but the stomping of the flowers made the community go down and brought down the happiness of an old lady to an all time low. Empathy is shown by both Ms. Lottie and Tom Joad in different ways in times of depression.

The deli people (A. K. A Al) and Lizabeth both show compassion to their communities but in two very different yet similar ways. “ Old witch, fell in a ditch, picked up a penny and thought she was rich. I did not join the merriment when the kids gathered again under the oak in our bare yard (Collier 10). ” Lizabeth knows she did something wrong and she feels extremely ashamed at the riot she had just led, the poor old lady couldn’t even defend herself and they gathered around her anyway. I could relate to Lizabeth in the fact that when I feel ashamed of myself I don't want to talk to anybody “ May soun’ funny to be so tight,” he apologized. “We got a thousan’ miles to go, an’ we don’ know if we’ll make it. ” Tom Joad felt bad for having to get a deal but the people at this deli showed compassion by letting the Joad family slide by with paying less money.

The Woman at the deli wanted to give them a deal on there good but the Man did not even though she didn't listen to him. Both of these people knew that if compassion was not shown in these sudden moments then things could have flipped upside down really quickly. Empathy and compassion both had major effects on Lizabeth and Tom Joad in two very very opposite ways. “Whenever the memory of those marigolds flashes across my mind, a strange nostalgia comes with it and remains long after the picture has faded( Collier 5). ” Lizabeth has this emotion because she remembers how bad of a child she was and what she did was so wrong and at that moment she was no longer a child but was growing into Womanhood. Remembering the Marigolds is not a good flashback for Lizabeth because thatś when she was not a good person. “ Won’t you—can’t you see your way to cut off ten cents’ worth( Steinbeck 52)?” Tom Joad was just trying to save his family money by getting 5 cents off because his family has a long way to go and they need every last penny they can get to survive through a rough time like this one. Tom Joad and Lizabeth were both learning new things through empathy and compassion.

In conclusion Tom Joad, Lizabeth, Ms. Lottie and the deli workers all showed empathy or compassion towards their communities and others. Both Mrs. Lottie and Tom Joad both show empathy of sorrow towards their communities.

The deli people (A. K. A Al) and Lizabeth both show compassion to their communities but in two very different yet similar ways. Empathy and compassion both had major effects on Lizabeth and Tom Joad in two very very opposite ways. While some people were also vicious in these times, empathy and compassion are shown in times of hardship because the Joad family was helped out by giving a deal to the family for bread and Ms. Lottie was able to relate to Lizabeth stomping her flowers even though she was extremely sad about it.

Works cited

1. Collier, E. (1969). Marigolds. The Norton Introduction to Literature. W. W. Norton & Company.
2. Steinbeck, J. (1939). The Grapes of Wrath. Penguin Classics.
3. Gregory, J. (2005). Dust Bowl. Infobase Publishing.
4. Hurt, R. D. (1981). The Dust Bowl: An Agricultural and Social History. Nelson-Hall.
5. Worster, D. (1979). Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s. Oxford University Press.
6. Ganzel, B. (2006). The Dust Bowl. The Living History Farm.
7. National Geographic Society. (2019). Dust Bowl.
8. PBS. (n.d.). The Dust Bowl.
9. Library of Congress. (n.d.). Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives.
10. The New Deal Network. (n.d.). The Dust Bowl.