Previous
The Pink Rose
The skull and—more generally—the rotting corpse both represent the continued legacy of the United States’ racist and violent history. Myop accidentally puts her foot all the way into the skull, signaling that she can no longer avoid this history: it has literally engulfed her foot and has kept her from continuing her journey home. Unaware of the full impact of slavery (as well as the larger social history of lynching as a means of terrorizing and controlling Black Americans), Myop initially views the skull with mere curiosity. She notes its broken teeth, which leads her to observe the corpse more carefully. This observation then leads her to understand that the present—and her future—are shaped by forces of history she does not yet fully understand.
The Corpse and Skull Quotes in The Flowers
The The Flowers quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Corpse and Skull. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Flowers
Quotes
She had often been as far before, but the strangeness of the land made it not as pleasant as her usual haunts. It seemed gloomy in the little cove in which she found herself. The air was damp, the silence close and deep.
Myop began to circle back to the house, back to the peacefulness of the morning. It was then that she stepped smack into his eyes. Her heel became lodged in the broken ridge between brow and nose, and she reached down quickly, unafraid, to free herself. It was only when she saw his naked grin that she gave a little yelp of surprise.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Myop gazed around the spot with interest. Very near where she’d stepped into the head was a wild pink rose. As she picked it to add to her bundle she noticed a raised mound, a ring, around the rose’s root. It was the rotted remains of a noose, a bit of shredding plowline, now blending benignly into the soil. Around an overhanging limb of a great spreading oak clung another piece. Frayed, rotted, bleached, and frazzled—barely there—but spinning restlessly in the breeze. Myop laid down her flowers.
And the summer was over.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Flowers LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Corpse and Skull Symbol Timeline in The Flowers
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Corpse and Skull appears in The Flowers. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Flowers
Suddenly, Myop realizes she has stepped into the skull of a man. Her heel is momentarily stuck, so she needs to free it from...
(full context)
