In the story "Flower Garden" young Mrs. Winning has married into a well-respected family in the Vermont town. She wants to fix up the cottage with her husband, but that doesn't happen. Soon, a woman and her son move into the cottage. The woman, Mrs. McClane, fixes up the cabin just as Mrs. Winning had dreamed of doing. Mrs. Winning and Mrs. McClane become friends very quickly and their boys play together. Mrs. Winning sees that Mrs. McClane's son Davey treats her very nicely and she wishes that her boy and her husband would treat her that nicely, but that never happens. One day while they were in town together, the boys see a boy who was of mixed races and they call him names. Mrs.McClane becomes very upset and asks if he might work in her garden. The people of the town don't like this because the boy is half black. Mrs. Winning at first doesn't say anything about it and the garden grows very nicely. Later, she is mean to her friend and follows the town's disapproval. The garden now begins to look ugly (like Mrs. Winning's behavior). After a tree falls from Mrs. McClane's yard and they are having trouble removing it. She feels that the town's people are not kind to city people or any people who are different.
In conclusion, I felt that the garden represented Mrs. Winning’s feeling toward Mrs. McClane and the black boy. As the town influenced Mrs. Winning’s feelings, she started to being meant to Mrs. McClane and the boy. That is when the garden started die. I think that is what garden represented Mrs. Winnings feeling for her intolerant.
