1. Independence
1.1. Independence is something people want
1.1.1. “Damn Mr. Ellis’s coat! And damn his money! You think I want white folks’ leavings?"
1.2. Sometimes It is very hard to depend on other people.
1.2.1. “It ain’t right. Ain’t no man ought to eat his woman’s food year in and year out, and see his children running wild. Ain’t nothing right about that.”
2. Memory
2.1. Memory remember our feelings, not reality.
2.1.1. "When I think of the hometown of my youth, all that I seem to remember is dust—the brown, crumbly dust of late summer—arid, sterile dust that gets into the eyes and makes them water, gets into the throat and between the toes of bare brown feet. I don’t know why I should remember only the dust."
2.2. Guilt sticks for a long time.
2.2.1. "And one other thing I remember, another incongruency of memory—a brilliant splash of sunny yellow against the dust—Miss Lottie’s marigolds."
3. Childhood
3.1. Once you can see past yourself, childhood is over.
3.1.1. "I scrambled to my feet and just stood there and stared at her, and that was the moment when childhood faded and womanhood began...The witch was no longer a witch but only a broken old woman"
3.2. You are destructive in childhood because you can only see yourself.
3.2.1. "We had to annoy her by whizzing a pebble into her flowers or by yelling a dirty word, then dancing away from her rage, reveling in our youth and mocking her age."
4. Coping
4.1. Coping strategies are important.
4.1.1. "Whatever verve there was left in her, whatever was of love and beauty and joy that had not been squeezed out by life, had been there in the marigolds she had so tenderly cared for."
4.2. Everyone has their own "marigolds" that keep them going.
4.2.1. "And I too have planted marigolds."