Flower Garden: A Tale of Friendship

                                                       Flower Garden: A Tale of Friendship
            The story Flower Garden by Shirley Jackson was a very thought-provoking piece to read. In the story, the main character, Mrs. Winning, dreams of owning the little cottage a few places down from where her family lives. When a family of two moves into the cottage, her hopes of owning it are ruined. Mrs. Winning and her son Howard quickly befriend the new family which includes Mrs. MacLane and her son Davey. Through many stereotypical and other conflicts, Mrs. Winning begins to feel that she and her son shouldn’t be associated with the MacLanes. She fears that since they are not respected in the community, that she and her family wouldn’t be either. After a thunderstorm, the townspeople all examine the damage to their property. A neighboring tree had fallen across the MacLanes flower bed. Mrs. Winning walks down to see what happened to their property. When Mrs. MacLane sees her, she waves and says hello. Mrs. Winning turns around and completely ignores them.
            In this story, I see the flower garden symbolizes the friendship between Mrs. MacLane and Mrs. Winning. When Mrs. Winning is friendly with Mrs. MacLane, the flower garden thrives. When Mrs. Winning starts to give Mrs. MacLane the cold shoulder, the flower garden starts to wilt and die. I think this really brings the story together. In the text, it states “The flowers wilted under the morning sun, and no longer stood up fresh and bright; the grass was browning slightly and the rose bushes Mrs. MacLane had put in so optimistically were noticeably dying.” This is written at the same time that Mrs. Winning is questioning her association with the MacLanes. This part is definitely a significant part of the story.
            I also think this story identifies people’s true colors and peer pressure. Mrs. Winning is at first friendly with Mrs. MacLane. After hearing other people in the town talk about how they don’t approve of her, she questions their friendship just because of that. In the text, it also states “’Good morning, Mrs. Winning,’ Mrs. MacLane said, and moved on past the aisle of shelves, and Mrs. Burton caught Mrs. Winning’s arm and made a desperate gesture of hiding her face and, unable to help themselves, both she and Mrs. Winning began to laugh.” Unfortunately this type of situation is common no matter what town you live in, but I wished by the end of his story this absurdity of peer pressure did not win.