What led lizabeths revelation about what she had done

Compassion is what led Lizabeth's revelation about what she had done.

Explanation:

"This was  the beginning of compassion, and one cannot have  both compassion and innocence."

Lizabeth is the narrator and main character in the short story "Marigolds", by Eugenia Collier. It is the adult Lizabeth narrating the revelation she had at the age of 14, after destroying the garden of marigolds her neighbor, Miss Lottie, grew with so much care.

Before this event, Lizabeth and the other children would tease Miss Lottie, calling her a witch, and throwing stones at her property. They live in an extremely poor neighborhood, and the story is set during the Great Depression. Everything is dilapidated, the only beauty being the Miss Lottie's garden. When Lizabeth hear her father's words of desperation for not being able to provide for his family, she gets angry. Her rage is what drives her to destroy the beautiful garden, as if Lizabeth did not want anyone to have beauty and happiness if she and her family could not have it.

However, for the first time in her life, Lizabeth understands the cruelty of what she has done. It was "the beginning of compassion" and the end of her childish innocence. Lizabeth finally understands why Miss Lottie's has the marigolds. It is precisely because life is miserable and difficult, because the world is ruthless. It was the only source of solace and beauty the woman had, and it was now gone. Compassion, shame, awkwardness arise in Lizabeth. Her understanding of the world is now different, new.