A Fall of Marigolds

The phenomenon of love at first sight is one of the main themes of the text, particularly in Clara’s story. Clara is mourning the death of a young man she barely knew but nonetheless loved. Clara has a habit of loving quickly and intensely, though her other relationships differ from the one she had with Edward: The first is a crush, with the young man in question never even knowing of Clara’s feelings for him. The second relationship, with her father’s intern, is mutual, but the intern loses interest in Clara when he returns to school, a fact that Clara has trouble recognizing at first. These humiliations, as Clara sees them, lead her to hide her feelings for Edward from everyone and mourn him in secret. Clara connects with Andrew because he too fell in love with his late wife, Lily, very quickly, and she collects other stories of love at first sight as well, such as that of Ethan’s parents. By the end of the story, Clara has come to terms with her feelings for Edward, believing that no matter what Edward may have felt, she did love him, and she did need to grieve for him. Taryn’s story does not revolve around this concept as much, though there is a hint of it in Mick’s feelings for Taryn.