“The Flowers” and “A Visit of Charity”

Both “The Flowers” and “A Visit of Charity” use flowers as a prop. In “The Flowers” they are representative of youth and innocence. The girl is picking flowers to make a bouquet. She is happily walking around trying to make something pretty and does not realize that there is something dark on the horizon. In “A Visit of Charity” the flowers have two very different meanings. To the old women in the nursing home they represent hope and beauty. They give them something pretty to look at. But to the girl they are just part of the assignment. A way to get extra credit. In both stories the girls experience something that changes them. The discovery of a body kills the innocence of the girl gathering flowers. The fear and overwhelming uncomfortableness the girl feels at the nursing home strips some of her innocence as well. She does not see the women in their best light. This may be, in part, because the adults did not prepare her enough for what she was about to do.