The theme of "Marigolds" is maturity. In it, the main character loses her innocence in exchange for compassion. The author conveys this by showing Lizabeth ruining Miss Lottie's garden, only to caught by Miss Lottie, "... I gazed upon a kind of reality which 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." Once Lizabeth understood the intent behind Miss Lottie's marigolds, she immediately regrets it and finally understands how wrong and childish she was.
In "First Love", the theme is unrequited love, that "if love was easy, life would be too simple." It is about a teenage girl experiencing her first love, but the boy does not feel the same. She says, "It would be long weeks of confusion and pain before I realized that the kiss was nothing but a little trophy for his ego." Forntunately, she overcomes her heartbreak and learns from her experience by stating "... I learned to make myself visible and to relish the little battles required to win the greatest prize of all." Although both stories are different situations, the theme is the same - coming of age and developing maturity.
