...102 12/10/13 Secret Life of Bees In 1964, Lily Owens is fourteen years old. She has no mother, a father whom she despises, and no friends to turn to when she needs a shoulder to cry on. Not only does Lily have to deal with feelings of loneliness and betrayal caused by her parents, but in a time troubled by negativity towards the Civil Rights Act, she is also faced with situations that force her to grow up very fast. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a page turning novel about Lily’s journey to find answers to her past. There are themes and symbolisms throughout the book. Racism, forgiveness/coping, and bees are big ones for many characters throughout the novel. The summer of 1964 in South Carolina comes at the peak for race relationships in American history, a summer when much of white Americans showed no respect towards the blacks. The nature of racism is discussed throughout Lily’s story. It is important to understand she grew up in the South, where races were separated by both law and attitudes. Lily does not attempt to reconcile her love for Rosaleen with her understanding that blacks are inferior to whites. “Rosaleen pulled back the towel; I saw an inch-long gash across a puffy place high over her eyebrow.” (Kidd). Is one of the first times she started to see racism, but not to the fullest understanding. When Rosaleen’s life is threatened by a system that Lily doesn’t understand, she knows only that she must save Rosaleen’s life, even if it means...
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...The novel, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, shows the tragic events in a young girls life and demonstrates how she overcomes her problems and finds herself. Lily Owens starts out as a troubled and confused girl. By the end of the book she overcomes her obstacles and becomes a confident young woman. Lily uses the pain from her father's abuse and mother's absence to mature into a young woman. When the story starts out, Lily Owens is a little girl who has always been put down by her father and as a result has a lack of confidence and lack of hope for the future. When lily thinks she hears bees buzzing in her room she called for her fathers help and T-Ray said " I guess they must have flown out of that cuckoo clock you call a brain. You wake me up again, lily, and I'll go get the Martha Whites, you hear me?" (Page 31/734). This shows here that she was abused physically and mentally . Instead of receiving comfort from her father Lily was made fun of and threatened. Obviously from the quote, we learn that the emotional and physical abuse were already a pattern in Lily's life. Already Lily's strength of character surfaces. Although she was afraid of her fathers form of punishment her courage and boldness are demonstrated when she says "still I couldn't let the master go entirely- T-ray thinking I was so desperate I would invent an invasion of bees to get attention. Which is how I got the bright idea of catching a jar of these bees, presenting them to T-Ray and saying...
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...The Secret life of bees There was a girl name Lily and her dad is name T- Ray. Her mother was name Deborah she died when she was younger. T-Ray beats Lily he is very mean to her and he wouldn’t let her do anything, or go anywhere. When she does something wrong he makes her kneel down in grits that was Lily punishment. One day Lily was laying in her room and listening to bees hit the wall. She told her daddy T-Ray while he was sleeping that is was some bees in her room he didn’t believe her. She asked him to come into her room so he did so when he got in there the bees where gone. Lily was upset, because that they were gone because she said the bees probably heard her talking to T- Ray about them. He said, Lily it’s not any bees in here” she told him they are in the wall. So Lily and T-Ray put their heads to the wall T-Ray didn’t hear them, but Lily did. He told Lily don’t call me anymore about those bees if you call me and it’s not major T-Ray told her I’m going to be mad at you . Lily has a house keeper that is name Rosaleen she takes care of Lily. One day Rosaleen and Lily went to vote uptown and these white men where there on the porch. The men had asked Rosaleen what are you doing here Negro. She told them that her name was Rosaleen, but they kept on calling her Negro so she poured snuff juice on their shoes. The men’s got mad and they called the Sylvan Police on her and the police came and got Rosaleen to take her to jail. When they got to the police station they...
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...Tess Ungerleider Mrs. Schlangen Honors English II July 14, 2014 The Secret Life of Bees In Sue Monk Kidd’s, The Secret Life of Bees, she demonstrates many literary devices such as motifs, foreshadowing, and themes. The one device that stands out the most is her use of symbolism. Symbolism is defined “as a literary element that uses symbols to signify ideas or qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense” (Literary Devices 1). In The Secret Life of Bees, symbolism is shown by Black Mary, the Wailing Wall, and the bees. In the novel, Black Mary represents something different for each character. For the store clerk and the people in the town, they see Black Mary as a label on a honey bottle. The clerk tells Lily that most people do not buy the honey “‘cause it’s got the Virgin Mary pictured as a colored women” (Kidd 64). For the Boatwright sisters, it stands for something completely diverse. They call Black Mary the Black Madonna. She represents their hope and aspiration, as well as their religion. Every night before they go to sleep, the Daughters of Mary all pray and worship the wooden statue. Another symbol she stands for is female power. Because of this, August Boatwright is able to help Lily become a powerful woman, and be able to stand up to other students and even T. Ray. Lastly, Black Mary signifies a connection Lily has with her mother because she found the wooden picture with some of her belongings. Through this picture,...
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...The Secret Life Of Bees The Secret Life of Bees is the story of Lily Owens, a girl who has shaped her life around one devastating memory—the afternoon when her mother (Deborah) was killed, when Lily was four. Besides her harsh and unyielding father ,T.Ray, Lily’s only real companion is Rosaleen, a tender, but fierce-hearted black woman who cooks, cleans and acts as her "stand-in mother." Set in 1964 in South Carolina, a place and time of seething racial divides, violence explodes one summer afternoon, and Rosaleen is arrested and beaten. Lily is desperate, not only to save Rosaleen, but to flee from a life she can no longer endure. Calling upon her colorful wits and youthful daring, Lily breaks Rosaleen out of jail and the two escape, into what quickly becomes Lily’s quest for the truth about her mother’s life. They are taken in by three black, bee-keeping sisters, May, June, and August, and Lily is consumed by their secret world of bees and honey, and of the Black Madonna who presides over this household of strong, wise women. Lily’s journey is one of painful secrets and shattering betrayals but that ultimately helps Lily find the thing her heart longs for most. Throughout the book, the reader comes to know a cluster of characters. One character that sticks out the most is June Boatwright. According to the book "her hair was cut so short it resembled a little gray, curlicue swim cap pulled tight over her scalp." June is a teacher at a 'colored' school, which is where she...
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...Secret Life of Bees Reading Log Ch.9 Chapter Summary: The chapter starts with Lily and August hanging around on a scorching hot day and because of the heat they had to go out and make sure the bees had everything they needed so they wouldn’t die. Afterwards, they returned to the house and found Rosaleen and May spraying each other with a hose. They soon after joined in, and then when June came out to see what was going on, Lily sprayed her with the hose drenching her clothes. In spite of her attempts to stay angry, June joined in as well. Afterwards June and Lily finally broke the ice and became friends. Later on within the chapter Zach and his friends were hanging near the theater where the white men were, soon after his friends get out the car and harasses the men and Zach got out of the car to join them while they loudly made fun of the men for thinking Jack Palance was showing up. When one of the men replied back, Jackson who is Zach’s friend threw his Cola bottle at the men and the police showed up and arrested them all... Character Summary: Lily is very charismatic and just an all-out nice person during this chapter, this is shown by her actions such as when her and June finally became friends with each other after the playful incident that occurred during the water fight with the hose. Also Lily shows that she is very charismatic by going to visit Zach in jail and show her support and love for the innocent young man, she appears that she may have feelings for him...
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...Symbolism is the subtext in everyday life that connects us to other people, places, and things that contain deeper meanings. In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd explains how the main the main character, Lily, has been going through her life and the many obstacles that come along with it. Through the book, many objects help symbolize things from her past or things she is starting to connect with, not just bees. Sue Monk Kidd mostly uses the bees in the The Secret Life of Bees to represent guidance, some of the characters’ roles in Lily’s life, and society in general. The symbols of the bees help Kidd convey the theme that one must rely on her “hive” in order to make it through life. Guidance was continuously shown throughout...
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...Often, in some stories, authors give their characters pasts which prominently affect their present lives and behaviors. This is true in Sue Monk Kidd’s novel “The Secret Life of Bees” as the protagonist Lily Owens is haunted and motivated by the memory of how she killed her own mother at age four. Kidd uses this one event to lay way too many important plot points and give the piece meaning as a whole. In Lily’s memory she is four years old and caught in between a spur of the moment argument between her parents when her mother, Deborah, produces a gun. When the gun gets knocked from her mother's hand Lily scrambles to grab it, and the rest is history. As Lily says herself, “She was all I wanted. And I took her away” (Pg.8). One of the main...
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...Michael Sarafian English 2 Honors 16 December 2010 Secret Life of Bees Analysis Can you imagine living in a world where racism surrounds you everywhere? The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd explores the story of a courageous young white girl growing up in South Carolina, battling racism while segregation takes place. The story starts out with Lily Owens and Rosaleen going on a quest and to escape far away from her father to find more about the picture of the Black Virgin Mary. Little does she know, she will learn the real word of all the hatred against blacks The first encounter of racism is at August Boatwright’s house. Lily asks August if she can stay at her house and June, August’s sister, comes in and immediately says “But she’s white (87). This part is significant and suggests that black and whites cannot get along with each other because of the hatred towards each other. August, surprisingly enough sais yes making a noble move. Lily’s first thought is how educated August is and how cultured she is. Like how she doesn’t judge people inside simply on skin color. Then Lily, being partially racist realizes that black people can be as smart as whites when she sees August noble move symbolizing everyone is equal and no race is more dominate than the other. The second encounter of racism occurs with Lily and Zack when they become friends because of their similar interests. The two discuss what they want to be and Zack’s dream was to become a lawyer and Lily rudely...
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...The secret life of bees is a story based on a girl that is only 14 years old living in Sylvan, South Carolina, in 1964 which is located in the south that runs away from home for the simple reason that she just wants to be free of all the bad things in her life. But how does that connect to the relationship with lily and her parents and how it changes thought the novel ? Well it really does connect to the relationship of lily and her parents, because most of lily's problems are attributed to the connection she had with her parent or more like the connection she didn't have with her parents . For example lily didn't really have a connection with her mom, due to the fact that she was killed. And not by just anyone, at the beginning of the novel lily is told by T-ray lily's father at a young age she...
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...Foer, an American writer, once wrote, “She was like a drowning person, flailing, reaching for anything that might save her. Her life was an urgent, desperate struggle to justify her life.” Foer illustrates a young girl who is struggling to find meaning in her life. When one faces obstacles and constant trials at home, in school, or in life, they often seek to find answers for help. The steps that a person takes towards success often involves failure, heartbreak, and conflict. On the contrary, the height of the struggle can often determine the progress and the positive outcomes that a person may have in the future. Similar to Foer’s statement, Sue Monk Kidd, the author of The Secret Life of Bees, incorporates the literary devices, indirect characterization, symbolism, and allusion to reflect the obstacles and suffering a young girl encounters. Through the novel, Kidd manipulates these literary devices to portray the struggle Lily endures in a society where she feel secluded, in order for her to find a place where she belongs. Since Lily struggles to fit into a society where she feels secluded from her peers, Lily...
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...In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the author shows the racial struggle between blacks and whites in the 60s, during the Civil Right movement. The main black characters, Roseleen, August, May, June and Zach face a lot of difficulties as blacks; for instance, Roseleen was having a hard time to get the right to vote, June has a sense of intimidation towards white and May’s suicide is indirectly connected to the racial problem. Moreover, when Roseleen was just walking on the street, some Caucasian men pick a fight with her and then they beat her up until she almost dies. On the other hand, the main white characters, Lily and her father T. Ray, are racist. We can see how racism is influential when it comes to parents to child, and we...
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...The Secret Life of Bees The movie, The Secret Life of Bees, takes place in the summer of 1964 in Sylvan, South Carolina. This movie was not my first pick for the course paper, but it came on TV one night recently and I decided to watch it. This was a really good film and it showed how racism plagued our country not so long ago. Conflict Theory, originally the brainchild of Karl Marx, is the theoretical perspective that best fits this movie (Brym and Lie, 11). Racism, prejudice, and discrimination are the main focus of this movie while also telling the story of a young teenage girl named Lily (The Secret Life of Bees). Lily doesn’t see in colors or race, but sees only in the love, character, and value of a person. Lily, a young white girl,...
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...The Secret Life Of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd. Book Report, Dorthea Søiland The secret life of bees centres on Lily’s search for clues and connections to her mother, who was killed when Lily was a little girl. We get to follow her journey as she runs away from her abusive father along with her nanny Rosaleen. Lily is longing to be loved, because the lack of it in her past life is destroying her. “People who think dying is the worst thing, don’t know a thing about life” Lily, p2. The novel is an excellent written drama. It explores race, love and the idea of family and home in troubled times. The author of the book, Sue Monk Kidd, is a well-known writer who has written other known books such as “The Mermaid Chair”(2005) and “A Mother-Daughter Story”(2010). She has been on the New York Times bestselling list twice, which one of them were with this very novel. The secret life of bees was published in 2002 by Penguin Books New York. The story takes place in South Carolina in the 1960’s, which we can say is a time were racism was on it’s worst. Time and place has a lot to do with the story, and we get to look into a time were being black wasn’t easy. The main character of the book is fourteen years old Lily. She is a brave and smart girl, whose only wish for a birthday present is to know a little about her mother. Her fear of living a life without being loved is getting her to write poems, which she’s good at. All-tough Lily doesn’t have a mother she has a father, T....
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...what it is like to love, be loved and supported. In Sue Monk Kidd's, "The Secret Life of Bees," the story of Lily's experience as a teenager transitioning into a young woman is explored. She begins the story as a naive, neglected child and by the end, Lily is a more matured, young women. Within her journey, Lily experiences the influences of spiritually and motherhood . Lily was raised in the 1960's South by her abusive father, T.Ray. Daily, Lily struggles with the void she feels for her mother and T.Ray's physical and emotional abuse. After discovering a town affiliated with her dead mother, Lily joins forces with her caregiver, Rosaleen, and they both escape their burdens that remain in Sylvan, South Carolina. Lily's burdens include the absence of a mother and her abusive father and Rosaleen's include an unjust arrest for being African American. The...
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