Cindy The Clover: A Short Story

When lily went to South Carolina she goes to a lady named August. August is very artifice. Lily stays at her honey house for several months with her aunt Rooselyn. As she lives there she goes through many adventures and meets a ton of new people. She meets her true love Zach and two sister of August named May and June. She finds out a lot about her mother. She finds out that her mother Deborah stayed at the same honey house. She also finds out that her mother ran away from T-Ray when he was abusive. At the end T-Ray finds Lily at Augusts house and he threatens her that she has to come back home with him. Lily fights and eventually convinces T-Ray that she is better off with August and forgives him.

“I took everything out, and, stretching out among the fallen peaches, I rested them across my abdomen.” Lily takes all of her mother belongings and brings them close to her to make it seem like she is in her heart or with her. She misses her and wants her forgiveness for killing her by shooting her. She only wanted to help her. “I hate her.

Lily, a fourteen-year-old white girl, lives alone with her father, a peach farmer, in Sylvan, South Carolina. As the novel opens, she lies in bed, waiting for the bees that live in the walls of her bedroom to emerge and fly around, as they do most nights. T. Ray, her father, is abusive and does not believe her story about the bees. Her nanny and housekeeper, Rosaleen, believes Lily but also thinks Lily is foolish for trying to collect the bees in a jar. Lily recalls her very last memory of her mother, Deborah, who died when Lily was a small child. Lily thinks that she played a horrible part in Deborah’s death. In a flashback, readers learn that T. Ray told Lily that she accidentally shot Deborah while Deborah and T. Ray were fighting one day.

“Oh how rude of me, my name is Sara but of course even knows me as the flower witch. Would you three like to follow me to my backyard?” Sara asked while walking that way.

Finally, Lily had built up the courage to leave when she heard a voice declare to her: “Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open” (41). while she was looking at her jar with a bee imprisoned inside it. When Lily’s “jar” opened, she was able to escape her life with T. Ray and receive the freedom she’s desired, similar to how the bee would escape when its’ “jar is open”. Lily had matured because she was doing what she desired. Being free, Lily shed T. Ray’s imprisonment.

In The Secret Life of Bees, author Sue Monk Kidd, portrays the transformation of Lily Owens from a child burdened with the guilt of her mother's death to a strong and confident young woman, as a result of living with May, Rosaleen, and August. Lily, burdened with the guilt of her mother's death becomes terrified of her father, T. Ray. August and May guide Lily’s growth to a life of faith and devotion while Rosaleen remains as Lily’s constant companion. As Lily finds her true identity she transforms into a strong and confident young woman which helps her face the world and all of its challenges.

Lily Owens is a teenage girl who wishes her life was different. At the age of four Lily’s mother died after being shot. Everyday she wishes her mother would be there to protect her from an abusive father and a miserable life. Lily’s mother left very few possessions behind, only a picture and a mason jar. These items allowed Lily to feel safe. The memory of her mother helped her face each trial. She spent much of her life searching for a mother figure and recreating her mother’s story.

August: I was a housekeeper for Deborah. I used to take care of her everyday. I've heard about T. Ray from her mother, but I have never seen him in person. Deborah told me all about him. Then when Lily told me that she killed her mother, I couldn’t imagine dealing with that for the rest of her life. I told her that I love her and everyone loves her, just as much as her mother loved her. Her mother loved everyone. I gave Deborah a picture of black Mary a little bit before she died, and that is how Lily found us. She looked through her photo album. That is where Deborah kept all of her things.

It is hard to imagine a person who feels as though nobody loves them. A person who has no support system and constantly feels out of place. Lily strives to be accepted by someone, she feels unworthy of kindness and affection and does not understand the reason for her poor treatment. Throughout The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily’s various relationships throughout the novel ultimately strengthen and shape Lily as a person, helping her to move forward from her past struggles.

The sisters give Lily a home when her and Rosaleen had nowhere else to go. They introduce her to our lady of chain, mother mary, who will guide and strengthen Lily’s faith. This strength allows Lily to stand up to her worst fears. Lily has to confront August, herself and T-Ray with the truth the past. It is with the love, guidance, and strength that Lily is able to free herself from her past and T-Ray with her community behind her supporting her all the

Once his fear becomes reality and stands before him, the life of imprisonment he led for so long, overcame him and ceased to exist as did he. Nearing Andrew’s suicide, following the Nigerian vacation, Sarah talks about how “Andrew’s voice became agitated” and she hears him say “Just leave me alone…All that stuff happened a long time ago and it wasn't my fault” (26). Andrew is, in short, a depressed man, permeated with guilt. Although his connection with Little Bee is brief, Andrew continues to drown in the guilt of his beach nightmare, and labeling his mistakes as not his “fault.” Andrew’s relationship with Little Bee, even two years after the beach incident, strips him of self-control, resulting in a life confined to overwhelming guilt. Finally, Andrew confesses to the selfishness of his actions, and reveals to Little Bee that “the person” he is now “is the person [she] saw on that beach. He knows where the commas go, but he wouldn’t cut off one finger to save [her]” (193). Helplessly, Little Bee faces Andrew, but unwillingly, Andrew faces the root of his guilt and weaknesses in the form of a teenage girl. Andrew admits to his self-centered personality and shares his inadequacy to sacrifice for others. These final moments of his life, initiated by Little Bee’s presence, confirms a relationship’s ability to push someone over the edge, even to the extent

Mama continues to praise the yard for its comfort, citing it for its “breezes that never come inside the house” (Walker 2). Mama and Maggie dedicate a lot of time and effort into their yard, as it is the one place where they can exercise the little control they have over their environment. They are prideful in the yard, being apparent in their preference for it over the house. Despite not even having any grass, Mama claims that “A yard like this is more comfortable than most people know” (Walker 1).

In the final chapters of The Secret Life of Bees, Lily and many people in the Boatwright household have seemed to making changes for the better. June and Neil finally plan their wedding, Rosaleen registers to vote, and Zach is going to a white high school in the fall. Lily especially is able to make one change that could possibly change her life forever. One afternoon, when Lily was in the house alone, a loud banging interrupted the silence. As Lily expected this was going to happen sooner or later, she opened the door wide to see T. Ray with an unpleassant smile. The second he saw her, he came his old self, and as usual, T. Ray began to shout at Lily for leaving him, and demanded she went home with him and never left again. He barges into the Boatwright house where he finally ruins her dream life as she wanted nothing else but to stay

After Lily and August have a long talk about Deborah, Lily’s mother, Lily was very angry and upset. She could not believe her mother would abandon her. It made her feel unwanted and unloved. For a while she would sulk in the honey house and refuse to eat. After all the “Mary Day” celebrations

The bee had an ethereal voice that she never knew she had. It was as if overnight she formed this angelic voice. It made everything better. The flowers were perked up with vibrant colors. Everything around seemed to be becoming alive and full of life. Beatrice continued going around singing her heart out. She was doing the one thing she always wanted but never thought she could. She was bringing Houston back to life. Beatrice had started her journey to enlightening the city.