The Lottery and Other Stories Summary and Analysis of "Flower Garden"

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When the younger Mrs. Winning attempts to describe the magic of the cottage to her mother-
in-law, the latter is rather unimpressed. Nonetheless, Mrs. Winning Jr. continues to spend
time with Mrs. MacLane, growing more envious of Mrs. MacLane’s close relationship to
Davey, while Howard does not display that much affection towards Mrs. Winning.

One day, walking through the neighborhood, Mrs. MacLane notices Billy Jones, a young boy
who is half-Caucasian and half-African American. Howard calls Billy inappropriate names,
and Davey copies him; however, Mrs. MacLane forces her son to apologize to Billy.

Mrs. Winning is surprised when Mrs. MacLane calls Billy Jones and offers him a job working
on her large garden.

The next day, Mrs. Winning tells her daughter-in-law that she disapproves of Mrs. MacLane’s
choice of employee, but the younger Mrs. Winning defends her friend. However, when Billy
Jones’s father offers to tend the garden instead of the son, Mrs. Winning Jr. does not allow
Howard to stay and play with Davey. Instead, she is shocked that Mrs. MacLane intends to
employ Mr. Jones for more than one day.

Later, Mrs. Winning Jr. runs into Mrs. Harris, another respected member of the community,
who comments on the amount of time Mrs. Winning spends with Mrs. MacLane. Mrs. Harris
pokes fun at Mrs. MacLane, which makes Mrs. Winning Jr. feel uncomfortable about their
association. This feeling is reinforced when the older Mrs. Winning tells the younger one that
she should influence Mrs. MacLane to fire Mr. Jones. Finally, Mr. Burton, another neighbor,
asks the younger Mrs. Winning to relay the message to Mrs. MacLane that Billy Jones should
not trespass in his garden. The younger Mrs. Winning is extremely resentful that people
assume she is so close to Mrs. MacLane, particularly as she is not an accepted member of the
community.

Meanwhile, Mrs. MacLane’s cottage and garden become the most beautiful in the entire
neighborhood. Yet, Mrs. Winning distances herself from the MacLane family. She attempts to
make her own husband and son Howard treat her the same loving way as Davey treats Mrs.
MacLane, but she is unsuccessful.

When Mrs. Burton invites Howard to her son Johnny’s birthday party, she asks the younger
Mrs. Winning if she minds that Davey MacLane is not invited. Mrs. Winning is offended that
Mrs. Burton thinks she would care either way, and she completely and explicitly disassociates
herself from the MacLane family, expressing disapproval of their lifestyle. When they run
into Mrs. MacLane, both Mrs. Winning and Mrs. Burton laugh at her.

From them on, Mrs. MacLane’s garden seems to suffer, though Mr. Jones continues working.
Finally, Mrs. MacLane openly confronts the younger Mrs. Winning about the change in the
community’s reception and treatment of her. Mrs. Winning hints that her employment of Mr.
Jones might be the cause, and Mrs. MacLane is genuinely perplexed by this suggestion.
Offended that Mrs. MacLane does not understand the unacceptability of hiring an African
American man, Mrs. Winning leaves and hypocritically thinks that Mrs. MacLane is a poor
person to blame her problems on Mr. Jones.
A bad thunderstorm knocks the Burtons’ tree into Mrs. MacLane’s garden. All of the
neighbors are outside, surveying the damage. When Mrs. MacLane makes a friendly comment
to Mrs. Burton about the situation, Mrs. Burton rudely rebuffs her. Mrs. MacLane wonders
aloud to Mr. Jones if she should give up on the cottage and return to the city. Mr. Jones
attempts to remove the tree but cannot, and Mrs. MacLane tells him that it will be the next
occupier’s problem. Davey spots Mrs. Winning outside the house, watching them, and though
they all greet her, she ignores them.

Analysis

The racism portrayed in this story is troubling , the racism in "Flower Garden" is prevalent in
the entire town, not just in one individual. In fact, it leads to the ostracism and eventual
indirect eviction of Mrs. MacLane.

The younger Mrs. Winning appears to have the ideal life. She is married into a well-respected
family, enjoys a comfortable lifestyle, and is the mother in a young family. However, she is
deeply unhappy because her husband pays little attention to her and she does not enjoy living
so firmly beneath her in-laws' wing.
Mrs. Winning suffers from a lack of closeness in her familial life. In essence, her lack of
personal attachment makes her just as unfulfilled and unhappy

These details are simply a more obvious physical manifestation of the firmness of tradition
and ritual in the Vermont town. She following the tradition held by the family, the oldest one
in town, into which she has married. Furthermore, this stagnancy eliminates any hope for
change or for the village to expand and become more accepting of city people, such as Mrs.
MacLane.
Mrs. Winning chose to marry into this family instead of pursuing her childhood crush on the
grocer’s son. She once envisioned fixing up and living in a quaint cottage in the
neighborhood, but now she is resigned to living in her husband’s family house.

She and her mother-in-law gossip about new neighbors who will move into the cottage. The
grocer confirms that a young widow and her son are moving into the cottage.